Acer S5 - Magic Flip Port Sound (Fan failure?)

[bigben2wardpitt]

A family friend of mine has a Acer S5 (http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/12/3151427/acer-aspire-s5-review). I think it' a few years old.

She contact me the other day to tell me that the magicflip's motor (I think she means the fans, but it could be the actual motor that raises and lowers the magicflip) is making the terrible noise that the above Verge review mentions - but it's doing it nonstop. It's on constantly. I have not witnessed this problem in person - yet.

I'm conflicted on trying to troubleshoot this myself. I'm usually her software side tech support, not so much hardware, so id probably take it to the guy I use locally that works on computers. But more so than that.. I''m not sure it's fixable.

If both fans are working properly, and they're just constantly running, I'm not sure what I can do about that. Even if I send it off. If its the magic flip's motor, I feel like this is a specialized piece from Acer, that would require re-ordering from them specifically, and may be kind of expensive.

She openly mentioned just buying a new computer, so that's certainly an option, but if I can fix her computer for less than $200, it seems silly to buy a new computer. I'm just not sure that's possible!

Any thoughts on what I should do, or better yet, anyone have experience with this god awful magicflip?

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

Bump.

 

[Raduque]

The noise in the Verge video review when they raise or lower the magicflip sounds like aluminum scraping against itself. If the laptop is making that exact same noise constantly I have no idea what it could be. Most small electric motors make a groaning or grinding sound the bearings are failing. If you've ever heard one going bad, you would not mistake it for the MF noise.

Another question to ask is, is the magic flip working as intended, or is it stuck in an open or closed position?

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

It seems to still function, as it is staying open. But she has left a USB stick in it for fear of it closing apparently.

She mentioned that is a "grinding irregular sound" and causes a "low grade vibration" in the keyboard. Could be the bearings, as you mentioned.

 

[Raduque]

Grinding irregular sound seems to be a failing fan to me. I've never seen one cause the whole machine to vibrate though!

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

Well. It's an ultra book so there isn't a whole lot of space for anything! The sound now is like a constant failed revving.