Sound and smoke

shanered

My Hp pavillion g-series laptop is making a weird kinda scratching sound from the vent on the left hand side, there looks to be smoke coming out when this noise starts.
It only happens when the laptop is turned at a 45 degree angle from horizontal, nothing seems to be wrong otherwise other then this strange noise and smoke, I'm thinking it could be a fan perhaps?
Not sure what to do....
Any advise please??

Monotype

Smoke is a sure bad sign. I'd avoid using the laptop until it's fixed. A lot of HP laptops are notorious for overheating, and that's when the cooling is working as it is supposed to.

It could be a broken fan and your system overheating as a result. If the fan is blocked, you can probably open some of the underneath panels and clean it out. Best way to clean it out is with compressed air. To buy locally, it might be €5-10. Places like Peats or other computer shops probably sell it. Don't go wiping off sensitive electrical components.

If the fan is dying or broken you'll need to get a replacement.

shanered

thanks I'll look into that, ill pop into one of the shops and see what the story with that compressed air is, also, could a computer rookie like myself replace a fan, is all you need one of those screwdrivers for glasses to open it up and replace?
Thanks for the help so far also!

Monotype

The fans can sometimes be fairly customised so replacements are not always easy to find - installation and removal can vary a bit too. It's usually not too bad though. You'd take a bit of care to examine which screws are connected to what, not to force anything too much and just to take care around sensitive electronic components.

I think when I opened my own laptop there a while ago, there was no separate fan, just the one cooling the processor. If you were to replace that, you would possibly need thermal paste as well. This is all speculation about what might be needed though.

shanered

Cheers for the help, sounds like I could be messing around a little out of my knowledge, suppose the clever thing is to drop it in for a free quote off the local computer repair place.
Once its not a crazy price suppose ill get them to do it.

Any idea roughly how much I'd pay for this to be fixed?
Cheers for the advise, I apprieciate it!

areyawell

yea I wouldn't open a laptop without having expierence with it, hard drive and ram and stuff is grand to open up but the main motherboard is dodgy to do without expierence. It will probably cost around the hundred euro mark. Takes a while to open up the laptop and put it back together.

Monotype

It depends on how the laptop is laid out. Sometimes the fans are easily accessible and you don't have to go near the main bulk of the motherboard. Laptop designs aren't standardised like that. It could be a lot of work, but on the other hand, it might be just 4 screws and few sprays of compressed air.

shanered

Thanks, Ill let ye know what they say anyway!