Are my fans in trouble?

[MadDemon64]

So recently my laptop fans (I have a dual-fan laptop) have started acting a tad strange. Normally they stay around the same speed, 1700-1900 RPM, with a light load. However, Fan 1 started to slow down and Fan 2 started to speed up yesterday. Now they range from 1500-1600 RPM and 1900-2100 RPM, with a light load, respectively. They still slow down when my laptop is unplugged and speed up when gaming, although Fan 2 takes longer to slow down and can be stuck between 2000-2200 RPM after a gaming session if the fans.

Does anyone know what could have caused this problem? Is it even a problem? Is this just something that happens as laptops get older (it's not that old, just a little over a year). Is it possible to get the fans back to the old speed, or is it even necessary? I have found no problems at these speeds (so far), so I'm wondering if I'm just overreacting.

 

[kaptainkuftic]

It could be that the fans are getting old, one of them is beginning to give out, so the other speeds up to compensate and keep the laptop at a constant temp.
If you don't minding voiding any potential warranty, I would open it up, spin the fans manually, see if one of them is harder to spin than the other, and maybe blow dust out with compressed air or something.

Have you noticed it getting any hotter now that the fans are spinning unequally?

 

[InvalidError]

The most likely reason is that lint is clogging up the heatsinks.

 

[MadDemon64]

It could be that the fans are getting old, one of them is beginning to give out, so the other speeds up to compensate and keep the laptop at a constant temp.
If you don't minding voiding any potential warranty, I would open it up, spin the fans manually, see if one of them is harder to spin than the other, and maybe blow dust out with compressed air or something.

Have you noticed it getting any hotter now that the fans are spinning unequally?

No, it isn't getting any hotter. I even tested out playing a game or two and it speeds up just fine.

 

[MadDemon64]

The most likely reason is that lint is clogging up the heatsinks.

I cleaned it maybe a week ago using compressed air. I will try cleaning it again.

 

[kaptainkuftic]

It could be that the fans are getting old, one of them is beginning to give out, so the other speeds up to compensate and keep the laptop at a constant temp.
If you don't minding voiding any potential warranty, I would open it up, spin the fans manually, see if one of them is harder to spin than the other, and maybe blow dust out with compressed air or something.

Have you noticed it getting any hotter now that the fans are spinning unequally?

No, it isn't getting any hotter. I even tested out playing a game or two and it speeds up just fine.

Yeah, my recommendation would be just to try and blow dust out. If that doesn't work, I would test the fans by opening it up and spinning each.

 

[MadDemon64]

Question: Could resetting the embedded controller fix the problem? Or cause it?

 

[MadDemon64]

It could be that the fans are getting old, one of them is beginning to give out, so the other speeds up to compensate and keep the laptop at a constant temp.
If you don't minding voiding any potential warranty, I would open it up, spin the fans manually, see if one of them is harder to spin than the other, and maybe blow dust out with compressed air or something.

Have you noticed it getting any hotter now that the fans are spinning unequally?

No, it isn't getting any hotter. I even tested out playing a game or two and it speeds up just fine.

Yeah, my recommendation would be just to try and blow dust out. If that doesn't work, I would test the fans by opening it up and spinning each.

I don't know if I am mechanically inclined enough to do that. Also one of the screws to take the cover off is covered by a "warranty void if sticker is broken" sticker.