[Lenovo Y500] What CPU fan is best?

[rusTORK]

When my first CPU fan on Y500 is broke i replaced it on something compatible (non-original) and planned to replace it later on original. Since that time happened a lot things, but i still using that non-original fan. But i did some research and here is what i founded:

 

I. ORIGINALS

 

1. Forcecon (marked as FCN on fan)

DFS5413005MH0T-FC1C (5V - 0.5A)

Spotted in: Y400, Y500.

 

2. Asia Vital Components (marked as AVC on fan)

BNTA0612R5H-P007 (5V - 0.5A)

Spotted in: Y410p, Y500, Y510p.

 

3. Sunon (marked as SUNON MagLev on fan)

MG60120V1-C230-S99 (5V - 2.25W (0.45A))

Spotted in: Y410p, Y500.

So, which to choose? Any recomendation? Maybe there also unexpected way (completely diffirent fan from another company for another laptop)?

 

 

Edited October 27, 2018 by rusTORK

[H658tu]

It doesn't really matter; any 5V fan will do as long as it physically fits. Its cable can be re-soldered to fit the plug, in case of a mismatch. Your system uses a voltage-controlled fan, but a pwm type can be turned into one by snipping the pwm wire. To be sure; red=voltage, black=ground and the other one, usually yellow, is tachy (rpm feedback). If it's a 4 or 5-wire cable then it'll be pwm-controled (mostly blue), the 5th will be another ground, which might be found on some of the Dell systems.

 

Of course, the one with the highest cfms will be preferable, but manufacturer ratings have to be taken at face value. So power rating (amps) and overall design might be a better indicator. All other things being equal a squirrel cage model works better. The FCN certainly isn't, while the AVC and Sunon might be, but the housing is obscuring the edge of the fan section.

 

Of all three the AVC will fare most poorly. The blades are far too thick and their weight will hinder the electric motor spinning up. The Sunon has a little less power than the FCN, but it uses a second permanent magnet to lift the rotor away from the stator (blades from base) and will be quieter at the same speeds and might actually push the same amount of air at lower power consumption since it suffers less friction.

 

[rusTORK]

1 hour ago, H658tu said:

Your system uses a voltage-controlled fan, but a pwm type can be turned into one by snipping the pwm wire. To be sure; red=voltage, black=ground and the other one, usually yellow, is tachy (rpm feedback). If it's a 4 or 5-wire cable then it'll be pwm-controled (mostly blue), the 5th will be another ground, which might be found on some of the Dell systems.

On my current fan (non-original by Delta) are 4 wires, but i no longer see fan RPM anywere (BIOS or software).

 

I took picture of my old original fan (FCN) before disconnect it - it's have got red, yellow, brown and black wires connected to JFAN1 on motherboard.

1 hour ago, H658tu said:

The Sunon has a little less power than the FCN, but it uses a second permanent magnet to lift the rotor away from the stator (blades from base) and will be quieter at the same speeds and might actually push the same amount of air at lower power consumption since it suffers less friction.

I will try to find that one. Wasn't really happy with FCN, which also wasn't cleanable. On delta i can just lift fan blades and clean everything and add oil or some grease.

[H658tu]

Then you'll probably need a 4-pin fan again. If there's no rpm report then the wires may be swapped, so make sure they match the lay-out of the original. Colours can be verified by looking at the fan's pcb; it'll be labeled there, even if they aren't at the motherboard end.

That Sunon won't be removable either; maglevs use sealed bearing and aren't meant to be taken apart. Shouldn't be necessary anyway since oil can be added from the bottom of the pcb.

Do make sure that it's a 4-pin though, or check again with the current fan by clipping the pwm pin; if it's still speed-controlled and not running 100% all the time then it's really a voltage-controlled system, regardless of whatever fan is hooked up.

[rusTORK]

11 hours ago, H658tu said:

If there's no rpm report then the wires may be swapped, so make sure they match the lay-out of the original. Colours can be verified by looking at the fan's pcb; it'll be labeled there, even if they aren't at the motherboard end.

Here is my non-original Delta KSB06105HB-AI10. Wires at JFAN1 connector on motherboard have got correct colors (red, yellow, brown, black), same as Forcecon DFS5413005MH0T-FC1C, but still... no RPM data.

[H658tu]

Could remove it from the housing, detach the blades and check the fan's pcb. Do the same for the original and you'll know for certain what is the purpose of each pin. Still, if it does have fan control then there's little to be concerned with.

[rusTORK]

25 minutes ago, H658tu said:

Could remove it from the housing, detach the blades and check the fan's pcb. Do the same for the original and you'll know for certain what is the purpose of each pin.

Can't do the same for the original, miss it for a long time ago, but i will look non-original PCB.

 

I also founded topic about fan mod - if cut brown wire - fan will allways spin at 100%.

 

[rusTORK]

I can't read what wrote on PCB, it's glued very well. If i try to remove it - it probably will be destroyed.

 

Since it's working:

Wire #1 - red wire is power and connected properly;

Wire #4 - black wire is ground and connected properly.

 

I disconnected wire #3 - brown wire from plug and inserted plug back in motherboard. As expected, after temp go up - it start spinning at full speed and don't stop even after temp go down.

 

In motherboard manual JFAN1 have next scheme:

#1 - +5VS

#2 - EC_FAN_SPEED

#3 - EC_FAN_PWM

#4 - Ground?

 

Since now fan spinning all the time and nothing telling it to stop i may guess brown wire (#3) was connected properly too. But yellow is still connected... and no RPM feedback.

 

Should i try to swap yellow and brown?

Edited November 4, 2018 by rusTORK

[H658tu]

Looks like pretty normal behaviour, except for the missing rpm signal. A missing rpm signal ought to result in 100% fan speed as well; this is a designed safety feature. The same could happen due to a disconnected pwm wire; signal=off is a much safer choice than a signal=on type. With both a 'malfunctioning' system would give you a bit of unnecessary noise, but never the risk of thermal issues.

Guess you could swap the brown wire to the yellow pin and leave the yellow wire disconnected. This is perfectly safe since the schematics indicate pin #3 (brown) sends the pwm signal to the fan. This would also result in 100% fan speed, but might give an rpm report back. If so then the brown an yellow wires are swapped on this fan and switching them on the connector would give back control plus the rpm signal.

Don't think that'll happen though. More likely the fan's defective or its rpm range is outside that of the one expected by the EC. Did you try with HWiNFO and SpeedFan?

[rusTORK]

11 hours ago, H658tu said:

Guess you could swap the brown wire to the yellow pin and leave the yellow wire disconnected. This is perfectly safe since the schematics indicate pin #3 (brown) sends the pwm signal to the fan. This would also result in 100% fan speed, but might give an rpm report back.

Tested this, didn't worked, but when i pressed Power button - it's instantly start to spin at 100% (in both: BIOS and Windows). When brown was disconnected and i pressed power button - fan did maybe 1 spin and stopped (in BIOS, and didn't spin in Windows till temp go high). Anyway, system still didn't see fan and no any RPM data.

 

I also tested connect yellow on place of brown (so all 4 are connected) - it also start to work on 100% when i pressed power button (in both: BIOS and Windows), but again - system don't see Fan and no any RPM data. I guess it's just defective fan itself.

 

11 hours ago, H658tu said:

Did you try with HWiNFO and SpeedFan?

Yeah, got both. SpeedFan show nothing (window with fans just empty). And in HWiNFO64 i see fan icon, but can't click on it.

 

I think i just wait when new fan from Sunon will arrive.

[Huezayfah]

You should try ideaFan, works pretty great and controllable.

[rusTORK]

On 2/19/2019 at 6:35 AM, Huezayfah said:

You should try ideaFan, works pretty great and controllable.

Nah... i am O.K. with a switch. I finally did it, but posted small video in another topic.

 

I just connected switch to brown cable.

[noraaustin72]

I dont think so its really matter a lot, but  Delta KSB06105HB-AI10 in my CPU, and there is no issue with it till now, it works best. I highly recommended you to buy this one.

[amorosog]

I didnt know there is possible to change fan! Nice post!!!