Difficulty

Easy

Steps

19

Time Required

                          1 - 2 hours

Sections

1

  • fan assembly
  • 19 steps

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  • BackLenovo ThinkPad R61i

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What you need

Step 1

              fan assembly
  • identify the exact type of your ThinkPad
  • get the right fan assembly, in this case FRU P/N: 42W2779
  • disconnect power-supply
  • detach battery

identify the exact type of your ThinkPad

get the right fan assembly, in this case FRU P/N: 42W2779

disconnect power-supply

detach battery

1024

Step 2

  • find all five screws with the shown symbols and unscrew them

find all five screws with the shown symbols and unscrew them

Step 3

  • unscrew all the shown screws
  • These ones are tiny
  • watch the sizes of the screws

unscrew all the shown screws

These ones are tiny

watch the sizes of the screws

Step 4

  • remove the palm rest carefully
  • If you have a touchpad or fingerprint reader watch the cables
  • blow the dust away

remove the palm rest carefully

If you have a touchpad or fingerprint reader watch the cables

blow the dust away

Step 5

  • lift the keyboard carefully
  • watch the cable
  • Use a spudger to detach the cable
  • lift the keyboad and leave it on the side

lift the keyboard carefully

watch the cable

Use a spudger to detach the cable

lift the keyboad and leave it on the side

Step 6

  • just for reference: images showing the keyboard-connector
  • blow the dust away

just for reference: images showing the keyboard-connector

Step 7

  • unscrew the left and right screw of the keyboard bezel and speakers

unscrew the left and right screw of the keyboard bezel and speakers

Step 8

  • unscrew the first two screws of the shielding

unscrew the first two screws of the shielding

Step 9

  • carefully lift the wireless antenna cable from the cable guide
  • unscrew the last two screws from the keyboard bezel

carefully lift the wireless antenna cable from the cable guide

unscrew the last two screws from the keyboard bezel

Step 10

  • watch the claws of the bezel (Sorry, no image!)
  • carefully pull out the keyboard bezel
  • flip the bezel 180°
  • watch the cables

watch the claws of the bezel (Sorry, no image!)

carefully pull out the keyboard bezel

flip the bezel 180°

watch the cables

Step 11

  • remove the wireless antenna cable from the cable guide of the fan assembly
  • you might want to use a metal spudger to widen the cable guide if necessary

remove the wireless antenna cable from the cable guide of the fan assembly

you might want to use a metal spudger to widen the cable guide if necessary

Step 12

  • unscrew the fist, tiny screw of the clip
  • unscrew the longer screw of the clip
  • remove the clip

unscrew the fist, tiny screw of the clip

unscrew the longer screw of the clip

remove the clip

Step 13

  • remove the shorter screw of the second clip
  • remove the longer screw of the second clip
  • remove the clip

remove the shorter screw of the second clip

remove the longer screw of the second clip

Step 14

  • remove the last two screws of the fan assembly
  • detach the power cord with a spudger

remove the last two screws of the fan assembly

detach the power cord with a spudger

Step 15

  • CPU with thermal grease
  • other chip with termal grease
  • carfully lift the fan assembly
  • you may need to pull a little more because of the thermal grease

CPU with thermal grease

other chip with termal grease

carfully lift the fan assembly

you may need to pull a little more because of the thermal grease

Step 16

  • blow the dust away
  • take a spudger and remove the old thermal grease

take a spudger and remove the old thermal grease

Step 17

  • get a paper-wiper
  • wrap the wiper around the spudger

get a paper-wiper

wrap the wiper around the spudger

Step 18

  • get some alcohol on the wiper
  • clean the CPU with the wiper
  • clean the chip with the wiper
  • Ensure there is no old thermal grease left
  • Follow this guide to add new thermal paste to the CPU.

get some alcohol on the wiper

clean the CPU with the wiper

clean the chip with the wiper

Ensure there is no old thermal grease left

Follow this guide to add new thermal paste to the CPU.

Step 19

  • now place the new fan assembly
  • pay attention to the thermal grease on the backside of your new fan assembly
  • press down the CPU- and chip-connector
  • don’t forget to plugin the power cable of the fan assembly

now place the new fan assembly

pay attention to the thermal grease on the backside of your new fan assembly

press down the CPU- and chip-connector

don’t forget to plugin the power cable of the fan assembly

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                                                                                      6 other people completed this guide.

Author

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                    Dennis

Member since: 01/06/2013

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tech4eleven - Feb 28, 2013

Reply

This worked perfectly for a couple of my IBM Lenovo R61s. It was spot on except in step 3 you need to remove both screws by the red circles in order to the get inside bezel off, for the R61 anyway. Thanks for the great tutorial!

Ioannis Kolaxis - Feb 12, 2017

Reply

Excellent guide! It took me less than 1 hour to complete all the steps, and get my R61 up and running again! Thanks a lot