22 October 2009

How to improve fan control on HP/Compaq Mini

In a previous post I said that I had solved the fan problem on my Compaq Mini. The problem is that the fan is noisy and the control over the fan is bad. The solution? Build your own fan control!

The first step is to get all the tools. Your computer, a stapler (I used a stapler "gun"), office tape and a pincer of some kind:


Open the stapler and take out the clips. A stapler gun has coarse clips and that is good.


Use the pincer and remove about 2 clips


Use the pincer to bend the clips in a L-shape


Insert the clips into the fan exhaust of your computer:


Put some tape on it to put it in place:


Thats it! Now the fan is in your control! Well, to be specific the fan is not moving. And thats a good thing! For your ears! :)

I have used this construct for 4 months now, and I must say that the solution works! The computer gets a bit warm after a while. Really hot in the sun. I try to stay out of the sun and monitor the temperature with SpeedFan. Despite my solution I have never had any problems with instability.

6 comments:

  1. That's awesome :D
    I'll try it out!

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  2. i'd love to see the support representative comments on that when the hardware fails.

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  3. Yeah that would be a bit fun! But I figured that if the computer will break I will buy a new one! I'm actually writing this on my Compaq Mini, and have now used the stapler clip for 10 months now. So I am quite confident that the computer works without any cooling (with constant monitoring of the temperature of course).

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  4. Hi Lennart,

    is your netbook still good?

    I've got a HP mini 110 and its fan sounds like a bee.

    Till which temperatures did/do you drive the netbook and which CPU does it contain?

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  5. Oh, Yes the netbook still works! When I'm indoor it is about 23 degrees. The CPU gets around 40-50 degrees when playing video.

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  6. That seems very silly indeed. Why don't you just take the fan out?

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