Claening a laptop fan - Dell Inspiron 1764

[David.WE.Roberts]

First, Google found and watching this you get to about 9:30 before the fan removal starts, by which time virtually everything else has already been removed.

AFAICS there is no immediately obvious way to get at the fan apart from completely stripping the laptop, which does have a very high risk factor.

So are there alternative strategies to clean a laptop fan without disassembly?

I have a couple of days before my son sets off for Australia with it, so if I break anything I will almost certainly not have the time to fix it.

Cheers

Dave R

[Fredxxx]

I've used compressed air applied to the outlet side where I've first locked the fan by a screwdriver.

Certainly saw a lost of dust exit the laptop.

[David.WE.Roberts]

Thanks - allegedly already been tried but I think I'll give it a go just to observe the results.

At the moment the fan whines like a banshee but there is virtually no air flow from the vents.

Cheers

Dave R

[Tim Watts]

Get a very powerful air-in-a-can (the ones with metal "straws" work well (I use Kenair Air Duster). Blast it in every cavity, and primarily the air vents.

You will surprised what comes out! Best to do this outside...

[Niel H]

Could the bearings in the fan be goosed? Air duster, as already advised, always works fine for me by the way.

[David.WE.Roberts]

I am wondering if one problem is that the fan is 'whiney' and so makes it sound worse than it really is.

Pretty sure it is not pushing air through as it should anyway.

Searching for an air duster at the moment.

Can you quieten a whiny fan with a little WD40 in the vent, or is this just asking for trouble?

Cheers

Dave R

[GB]

What happens if you use a vacuum cleaner on the outside of the case, where the air vents are? What's wrong with that?

[John Williamson]

Before you do anything that may turn the fan blades at any great speed, such as applying a vacuum cleaner or air jet, make sure the blades can't move, or you may well blow the control circuitry, even on brushless fans.

[David.WE.Roberts]

Is that because whizzing them round turns them into a generator?

Cheers

Dave R

[David.WE.Roberts]

Kenair? Kinell! Expensive.

Any high street sources for Kenair?

Maplins has some bits, but the web site shows them out of stock.

Jessops show a vacuum kit - but it is not clear if this also works as a duster or if you need another nozzle.

Jessops seems potentially the best option for a quick turn round at the moment as long as the vac kit can act as an air duster.

Cheers

Dave R

[Brian Gaff]

I was worried about the sound of this fan. I have a dell inspiron and its fan is very quiet. Are you sure the fan is not faulty in some way? Brian

[David.WE.Roberts]

Noted further up :-)

Considering if a small spray of WD40 might quieten down the fan.

IIRC this works for heater fans in cars.

Cheers

Dave R

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

1) Doesn't work very well, sucking-from-everywhere as opposed to blowing-in-a-straight-line 2) Risk of static buildup transferred to your kit. Bzzt!

Cheers - Jaimie

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

Cheers - Jaimie

[David.WE.Roberts]

On the subject of static - you can get quite a strong air blast by using a

12V compressor for car tyres and fitting the metal thin nozzle used for blowing up footballs (feetball?).

Seems to me that this may have similar issues to using a vacuum cleaner.

However, if so, is there any way to reduce or eliminate static, such as earthing the metal nozzle?

Cheers

Dave R

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

It can, but not for very long - WD40 is a cleaner, not a lubricant. It might work for a bit, *if* you can get the spray into the business end of the fan - and that's usually very well hidden from the surface grills.

It's not *very* likely to do any harm, but it's possible the solvents could interfere with plastics (case and ribbons and PCBs) as well as risk to screen coatings.

Generally the trick to refettle fans is a drop of 3-in-1 or similar to the spindle, but that might necessitate some or all of the disassembly that you don't fancy. In the case of a fan that's gone properly off balance and destroyed its bearing, no oil will do much anyway.

Is it definitely not something flapping in the blades?

Cheers - Jaimie

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

Only if you touch the kit together.

That would do it. Have the laptop plugged in to the mains as well.

Frankly, the risk of static is vastly oversold.

Cheers - Jaimie

[Steve]

For small jobs like this one I use these

For blowing out dusty/cruddy computer cases I have a small compressor out in the garage.

[Rob Morley]

Asking for trouble, and not a very good lubricant anyway, I think.

[Graham Nye]

They can be but remove the dust first.

Spraying WD40 round your laptop is asking for trouble. I suppose you could argue that once you've stripped the laptop down and got at the fan you could lubricate the bearings only but they are supposed to be sealed for life and replacement of the fan is the only way to be sure of a long-lived repair.

The fan speed is automatically regulated to get the required cooling. If the ventilation ducts are clogged with dust the laptop will increase the fan speed, and hence noise, to compensate. So the first step is to get rid of the dust then check to see if the fan speed and noise return to normal.

As well as the video you found it's also worth having the Dell service manual, e.g. from

or follow the support links around Dell's website for a UK-specific manual.

(I thought the video author was going to take a club hammer to his laptop until he switched it on and revealed it to be an electric screwdriver. :-)

The fan is close to the edge of the case on this model. If you can block the fan rotation by sticking something through the ventilation grilles you may be able to blow/suck the dust out without having to strip down the laptop.