Fan doesn't turn off

[tadaskr]

hello everyone,
I have question about my laptop toshiba satellite a300 22w. Should it fan turn off at idle when temperatures is CPU Intel Pentium Dual core T4200 37C/99F, ATI Mobility Radeon HD3400 40C/104F ? Fan slow down at these temperatures, but after few minutes again kick off again and never stops.
Thanks for help

 

[johnb35]

Laptop fans should never turn off as there is more heat in a laptop then a desktop and the fan needs to run constantly to keep the temp down.

 

[The_Other_One]

Laptop fans should never turn off as there is more heat in a laptop then a desktop and the fan needs to run constantly to keep the temp down.

I totally beg to differ there. The fan on my Dell comes on very little, and one of my old HPs would almost never come on (and wouldn't get all that warm either).

Back to the original question, it really depends on the laptop, the processor, and the heatsink. Smaller laptops may have less room for adequate air circulation plus may have a smaller heatsink than some larger laptops. And of course, some laptops produce more heat than others, all depending on many factors.

Now if the fan didn't use to run so much, there could be a few causes for this. Most likely is you have got lots of junk loaded up on the computer (software running in the background) thus causing it to work harder than it used to. Also, depending on the age, the heatsink could have dust caught up in it.

 

[johnb35]

I don't think they actually turn off, thinking they just slow down to where you can't here them as much?

 

[gamblingman]

fan

The fan on my Dell Inspiron 1520 never turns off. It slow WAY down, but never off.

But I wouldnt find it weird that it never turns off, why would you want it to? I would consider it good that its on, if your fan turned off completely I would suspect a problem. The cooler it runs, the longer it will hopefully last. Toshibas are pretty hardy anyway.

Keep it in mind when you go places with your laptop. If the fan is ALWAYS on, even at very slow speeds you will need to be cautious of dust. Setting it down just anywhere would not be a good idea. I usually keep a microfiber cloth that I use to dust any surface I'm going to put my laptop on, cant be too careful.

Oh an liquid is bad for them too (ha ha)

 

[funkysnair]

if the cpu fan turned off you would find the temps on the cpu would rise quick and the fan would come in at full speed, so at the end of the day the fan would be going off and on all the time (seems a little bit silly and im sure it would wear out the fan quicker)

 

[Flaring Afro]

I don't think they actually turn off, thinking they just slow down to where you can't here them as much?

I'm pretty sure this is true. At least it's the case for the laptops i've used. You can't hear it but you can feel it in the exhaust vent.

 

[funkysnair]

well its like graphic cards fans, in size and in db's....

gpu fans are always spinning just low, i cant here my ati hd4890 now but if i open up call of duty then i can here it!

cpu fan should be running the same, silent and slow when surfing the net-start to install something then the cpu starts to work and the fan speed increases along with the db's

dont worry about it unless fan is 100% all the time

 

[newgunner]

Like everyone else has said. The fan doesn't stop completely. Even on conservative systems like netbooks the fan doesn't stop. Though it's quiet enough to barely be heard the fan is still pushing air out for good reason.