Laptop fans - cleaning with compressed air - advice needed :)

eskimo

So I have my Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop, and I have my can of compressed air with the thin tube connected. What now? Anyone ever done this before? I've never taken a laptop apart before.....

seraphimvc

same asking:D gonna clean my 1 years old laptop after exams too.any chance you get the compressed air can in dublin?would love to get one too!

roberthurley14

seraphimvc wrote: »

same asking:D gonna clean my 1 years old laptop after exams too.any chance you get the compressed air can in dublin?would love to get one too!

they sell them in "pc"world

Voodu Child

It depends on the model of laptop, and how much access it gives you to the internals.

Basically you're looking to clean any intake vents, exhaust vents, clean the fanblades (they lose efficiency if they have a layer of dust) and clean the cooling fins/vanes on the heat sink. Most laptops have a grille of very fine copper vanes at the exhaust vent, and the fan blows directly through this to remove heat from the whole heatsink unit. You definitely don't want this getting clogged up with dust.

So how you do it depends on how well you can access these areas. Sometimes there's easy access just by removing a panel or two. The most important thing is that you don't want to be blowing dust further into the laptop.

kikel

Agree with everything Voodu says. I'd even add that using compressed air is pointless unless you have full access to the fan and heatsink.

The Inspiron 1501 will need to be dismantled to give the fan and heatsink a good clean.

Blowing air in through the vents will just dislodge the dust and dirt. When ya start using the laptop again it will be blown back to the same position.

anton

I've just vaccumed two of my laptops through the vents, without opening them. Worked like a charm - they were overheating before I did that.

Blazer

god no..:eek: .you're using a can of compressed air and blowing it into fans that were not designed to take that pressure.
If you are going to do this make sure to stick something to hold the fan blades still while you do this otherwise you'll damage the bearings on them.

eskimo

Voodu Child wrote: »

It depends on the model of laptop, and how much access it gives you to the internals.

Basically you're looking to clean any intake vents, exhaust vents, clean the fanblades (they lose efficiency if they have a layer of dust) and clean the cooling fins/vanes on the heat sink. Most laptops have a grille of very fine copper vanes at the exhaust vent, and the fan blows directly through this to remove heat from the whole heatsink unit. You definitely don't want this getting clogged up with dust.

So how you do it depends on how well you can access these areas. Sometimes there's easy access just by removing a panel or two. The most important thing is that you don't want to be blowing dust further into the laptop.

Thanks for this

derickdezy

compressed air and a good Hoover will definitely make a difference , for a thorough job , needs to be opened and blown for all angles, and maybe even remove heat sink clean the paste of the processor and put some new paste there. be careful !

monkeypants

Make sure you immobilise the fans before starting with the air. If you don't, you'll probably end up just spinning the fans faster than they're supposed to and damaging them.

Oh, and keep your face clear. If you get a facefull of dust you'll be sneezing and uncomfortable for days.