Member Avatar for stpakk

It looks like there are 3 fans (2 on the bottom and 1 in back) on my compaq presario 2500. Two of the fans (1 on the bottom and 1 in back) don't seem to ever come on. It seems like as a result the last fan starts running within minutes of the computer turning on and does not turn off. Is there a system issue that I can fix?

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This thread documents the typical Presario 2500-series symptom: one lower fan runs while the others rarely start and the chassis reaches unsafe temperatures (see reports from , , , and ). The goal is to separate three things quickly: a dead fan motor, a working fan with a lost heatsink/thermal contact, or a motherboard-level failure (damaged regulator/fan-controller or ripped traces).

A practical, safe diagnostic sequence (in order):

  1. Power safety and visual check — remove AC and battery, open the case, inspect fan blades, headers and wiring for damage, and look for torn solder pads or missing chips (the PCMCIA-area damage noted by @CompCrasher86 is important).
  2. Manual spin test — spin each fan gently; roughness or seizure is a failed motor bearing.
  3. Connector voltage check — with AC connected and case open, measure DC at each fan header with a multimeter (ground vs power pin). Presence of the correct supply means the board is driving the fan; absence points to upstream power/control failure.
  4. Bench test the fan — if the fan label shows its rated voltage, briefly power the removed fan from a bench supply to confirm the motor runs.
  5. Heatsink/thermal paste check — if fans run but temps stay high, remove the heatsink, clean old compound and reapply high-quality thermal paste before reassembly.

Repair choices and cautions: replacing a failed fan is the cheapest fix. If the fan works on the bench but no voltage appears at the header, the fault is motherboard-level and will likely need board repair or replacement (especially when a nearby chip or traces are damaged). If overheating has already damaged other parts (as reported by ), budget for further replacements. Board-level fixes require soldering skill or a service shop.

Short-term safety: avoid heavy use while temperatures are high, back up important data, and run the machine on a hard flat surface to allow airflow. If the board shows physical damage or fans never get power, professional repair or a donor board is the safest route.

Member Avatar for MarkDoif

It looks like there are 3 fans (2 on the bottom and 1 in back) on my compaq presario 2500. Two of the fans (1 on the bottom and 1 in back) don't seem to ever come on. It seems like as a result the last fan starts running within minutes of the computer turning on and does not turn off. Is there a system issue that I can fix?

I have exactly the same problem with my Presario 2510 Laptop. Only today the second bottom fan came on for a little while. My CPU is at a constant temperature of 50/60 degrees celsius and that's not good i think. You have a solution for the problem allready?

Member Avatar for NB PC Services

Hey Guys!
I have the exact same laptop with the same problem. My fans used to be on conatantly. I looked and they were full of dust etc so last night i stripped the laptop down and totally cleaned the fans. The guy who had it before me must have had dogs becuase they were full of dog hairs!
Trust me i have seen cleaner kebab shops! lol
Anyway now the fans are clean only the bigger fan at the bottom comes on. Therefore to test if the fans were working i left the laptop defragmenting on my bed to let it get real hot and sure enough the fans did kick in.
I agree that the laptop seems to get too hot before the fans kick in. The only cure i can see for this is to get an extra cooling fan. You can get a sort of panel that sits underneath the laptop and has fans inside it. Just go on ebay and search for laptop fans and you will see what i mean!
Hope this helps, Nick

Member Avatar for needer7

I have been doing a lot of research on the cooling fan and found out the cooling fan (or lack of a working one) was the major flaw with the 2500 series. I am getting ready to go in and completely replace mine. IT worked, and CONSTANTLY ran, and still overheated to the point where it burned up my DVD/CD-R drive. Good luck though!

Member Avatar for CompCrasher86

I have a similar problem but I think I am on a different boat than you guys. Recently I bought a Netgear Rangemax wireless card for my Presario 2500 because I didnt get the built-in WiFi when i got my laptop. This morning, I woke up and my laptop had fallen off of my bed-side table and it must have landed on the card because the card was pushed all the way in to the laptop, which wasnt supposed to happen. When I took the laptop apart I found that the PCMCIA port had broken out of its spot and ripped a small black chip next to the slot off of the motherboard. The computer still boots fine and everything works, just none of my fans come on, ever. This worries me because now the laptop gets extremely hot so since then, I have stopped using it. The chip looks like a TI chip and reads

PU2211A
(Texas instruments Logo)37K
D2VL

The pins on the upper of the chip are still attached to the motherboard but ripped out of the chip, whereas the ones on the bottom are still attached to the chip but ripped out of the motherboard

Anybody who can make sense of this and who may have an answer please reply... THANKS!

Member Avatar for ishmael9100

That is completely natural. I have a Compaq Presario 2500 and the two fans you said that does not come on, comes on for me until I took apart my laptop and cleaned the fans. Now only one fan runs and that is the same fan you said runs. It is natural because the other two fans will only come on if it feels like the one fan running is not enough to keep your laptop cool.

Hope this helped

Member Avatar for mhearne

That is completely natural. I have a Compaq Presario 2500 and the two fans you said that does not come on, comes on for me until I took apart my laptop and cleaned the fans. Now only one fan runs and that is the same fan you said runs. It is natural because the other two fans will only come on if it feels like the one fan running is not enough to keep your laptop cool.

Hope this helped

My Compaq Presario 2500 is overheating far beyond the point of safety. It is the large one beneath the dvd/cdrw drive. When I open the drive and feel it, it is hot enough to burn my skin, so for now I'm using an external cdrom drive.

I don't know whether to replace the fan or not. Since I have to open the case anyway, I'll test it before ordering a replacement.

Edited by mhearne because: n/a
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