can you clean a laptop fan without taking it apart

Laptops accumulate dust during their lifetime just by being on. This is caused by the cooling fans that suck air into the laptop case. Dust can be a problem for laptops because it can build up on the cooling hardware and reduce its effectiveness. Periodically cleaning a laptop will keep it from overheating due to dust buildup. The most convenient way to remove the dust from cooling hardware, such as the fans, involves spraying compressed air into the laptop. Take your laptop outside. This process will cause dust to spray out of your laptop, so it is best to do it where this won't make a huge mess. Also, some cans of compressed air have a horrible smelling additive that should not be used indoors. Turn off the laptop. Locate the side vents on the laptop. These are normally towards the back of the machine, on either side or the rear of the laptop. They look like little plastic grills, and one vent will be for exhausting warm air. This is the vent with the fan. Place the nozzle of the compressed air can inside the fan vent located in the previous step.

The nozzle doesn't have to go in far -- about a quarter inch is far enough. Press the trigger on the can of compressed air to release a burst of air into the laptop. The force of the burst will disperse the dust from the fan. Ask Laptop Freak: My Laptop Keeps Shutting Off for No Reason You May Also Like A laptop that sees a lot of use can easily become overrun with foreign matter, smudges and dust. Cleaning the dust from... Removing dust from the air helps ease allergy symptoms and creates less dust in the home in general. A few simple steps... Various problems can cause a laptop to malfunction. Over time, dust will eventually seep into a laptop and stick to the laptop... Geek Vs Geek: Robot battles, hoverboard drag race, and more How to Clean a Toshiba Laptop Fan The Effects of Overheating on a Laptop How to Clean Dust From a Laptop How to Reduce Laptop Fan Noise How to Check the Cooling Fan on an HP Pavilion Laptop How to Blow Out My Laptop

How to fix a noisy MacBook Pro fan You Might Also LikeToshiba suddenly shuts down by itself posted in: Overheating, Toshiba Problems | “My Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without any warning. Sometimes it works fine for hours, sometimes it shuts down in 10-15 minutes.” This complaint we hear from our customers over and over again. About 15-20% of all Toshiba laptops we get for repair, suffer from an overheating problem. This is one of the most common problems with Toshiba laptops we deal with. Indications of laptop overheating problem: The keyboard and the bottom of your laptop are very hot when the laptop is working. The CPU fans are working all the time at maximum rotation speed and operate much louder than before. The laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning. When it just started, the laptop was shutting down after 1-2 hours and how it shuts down after 5-10 minutes of operation. The laptop works fine when it runs idle, but shuts down as soon as you start using any memory demanding applications (DVD player, image editing software, video editing software, etc.).

Sometimes you have to open the laptop case all the way down. Carefully disconnect the fan cables on the system board and remove the fan. If the fan makes unusual sound when it spins (grinding sound), I would recommend to replace the fan. Clean the fan and the heatsink with compressed air. I would also recommend removing old thermal grease from the CPU and applying new grease for better heat conductivity. UPDATE: I just received a nice tip from MC N’Colorado. I think it could be useful for all of you with guys: I decided to use a shop vac to suck the dust out and it worked. I tested it by letting the machine run all night and it worked. It’s been a couple of weeks now and I’m glad I did it. I was ready to take the machine apart, now I’m glad I didn’t. I’d suggest you use a heavy duty shop vac to clean out the fan and heat sinks first.Try to fix the problem without taking the laptop apart first but I would recommend using a powerful air compressor instead of a vacuum cleaner.

If your laptop is still under warranty, you can take it to any Toshiba Authorize Service Provider and fix the problem at no charge to you. Toshiba Satellite A15 Clogged Heatsink Toshiba Satellite A35 Clogged Heatsink Toshiba Satellite P15 Clogged Heatsink. You can support my work!If your laptop fan starts rattling and grinding, it usually means its time for a replacement. If you're just trying to eke out the last few months of your computer's life, though, you can keep the fans working temporary with some lubrication. We've shown you how to clean and lubricate your fans before, but one reader over at Mac OS X Hints realized that a bit of lubrication can even save a fan nearing the end of its life, at least for a little while: When my 2007 MacBook Pro's left cooling fan started rattling really loudly last night, I thought I was in for a time-consuming repair. Every place I called had a 2 or 3 day lead time on the part and a 2-day turn-around for the repair once the part was in.

The fan itself costs at least $40, and the labor charges were at least $60. I was irritated at the prospect of spending at least $100 on a 4-year-old notebook that I plan to replace in like two months when the new model comes out.I dipped a swab in some motor oil (sewing machine oil would probably be better, and soybean or canola oil might be adequate) and put a light coat on the metal spindle pin. I popped it back together and tested it. Now it's silent again, almost like new!As we've said before, 3-in-1 household oil is probably the best to use on your fans, as opposed to motor or vegetable oil. This trick won't revive your fan completely, but if your laptop is at the end of it's life, this should help you eke a few more months out of your fans before it's time to get a new computer. If you're planning on keeping your computer around, you'll probably have to replace your fan. Hit the link to read more. Repair MacBook Pro Cooling Fan Rattling [Mac OS X Hints]You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook.