Laptop Fan Not Working Well

[Neil]

I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 which is 1.25 years old. When I first got it,
the fan worked great, and you could feel the air being blown out the back.
Now you can't anymore, and the laptop's getting very hot. There was a lot of
dust on the intake vents, and I blew the dust off of those, but it didn't
help. I'm guessing either the fan is burnt out or damaged, or it's caked
with dust.

I guess my only option would be to open the case and blow dust off the fan,
but I was trying to avoid opening up the case. Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Neil

 

[GT]

I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 which is 1.25 years old. When I first got it,
the fan worked great, and you could feel the air being blown out the back.
Now you can't anymore, and the laptop's getting very hot. There was a lot
of dust on the intake vents, and I blew the dust off of those, but it
didn't help. I'm guessing either the fan is burnt out or damaged, or it's
caked with dust.

I guess my only option would be to open the case and blow dust off the
fan, but I was trying to avoid opening up the case. Any other ideas?

I poured a cup of tea over my 6400 a few months back and had to take it all
apart - getting it open is easy - 1 small tipped cross-headed screw driver
to undo the screws and a small normal screw driver to prize bits off. I can
have my 6400 openned up in about 2 minutes now! You remove most of the
screws on the bottom of the case, then work with the computer the 'normal'
way up - the base stays where it is and you remove parts from the top -
first the strip under the screen, then the keyboard, then the grey main
'lid' - that is enough to get you to the CPU cooling arrangement. -
instructions are on the Dell website - go to support, then use the 'tag
number' on the bottom of your PC. This PC can't get onto javascript sites,
so I can't find the page to link for you, but I can post instructions here
if you want - let me know.

 

[G.G.Willikers]

I poured a cup of tea over my 6400 a few months back and had to take it all
apart - getting it open is easy - 1 small tipped cross-headed screw driver
to undo the screws and a small normal screw driver to prize bits off. I can
have my 6400 openned up in about 2 minutes now! You remove most of the
screws on the bottom of the case, then work with the computer the 'normal'
way up - the base stays where it is and you remove parts from the top -
first the strip under the screen, then the keyboard, then the grey main
'lid' - that is enough to get you to the CPU cooling arrangement. -
instructions are on the Dell website - go to support, then use the 'tag
number' on the bottom of your PC. This PC can't get onto javascript sites,
so I can't find the page to link for you, but I can post instructions here
if you want - let me know.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/index.htm

Dell laptops are about the easiest to do a breakdown on.

Small Flat head screwdriver. Small Phillips screwdriver. And make sure
you have Thermal Compound for remounting the heatsink assembly.

 

[John Doue]

snip

Dell laptops are about the easiest to do a breakdown on.

snip

Your wording is interesting ...

Regards

 

[G.G.Willikers]

Why would you need to take the heatsink assembly off at all
unless replacing the CPU?

How about doing a thorough job, rather than something half-assed?

The original factory thermal paste is generally crap and dries out over
time. If the machine is already having heat issues, why would you not
cover all your bases?

Not to mention that a good dose of Arctic Silver is always an improvement.

If the machine is gunked up, your going to want to get the hair/ dust/
filth out of every crevice. inside the fan housing, in the vents and grill.

IF you're going to open it up, you might as well do a good job.

 

[GT]

Perhaps using a vacuum cleaner to such out from the air intake would pull
out any debris.

If that does not work, perhaps some compresses air would help. If it was
clogged, you might be able to break it up and allow it to blow itself out.

Open the case, as was suggested, is not that hard, just be careful and
don't break the snaps, and make sure you keep track of what came from
where.

Even easier than that - there are no 'snaps'. No need to keep track of
things - you only have to remove 9 identical screws from the bottom, then 3
parts from the top - a small plastic strip, a keyboard and the large lid of
the case. Can't get them back in the wrong places!

 

[GT]

I poured a cup of tea over my 6400 a few months back and had to take it
all apart - getting it open is easy - 1 small tipped cross-headed screw
driver to undo the screws and a small normal screw driver to prize bits
off. I can have my 6400 openned up in about 2 minutes now! You remove most
of the screws on the bottom of the case, then work with the computer the
'normal' way up - the base stays where it is and you remove parts from the
top - first the strip under the screen, then the keyboard, then the grey
main 'lid' - that is enough to get you to the CPU cooling arrangement. -
instructions are on the Dell website - go to support, then use the 'tag
number' on the bottom of your PC. This PC can't get onto javascript sites,
so I can't find the page to link for you, but I can post instructions here
if you want - let me know.

I've found it - on this page, follow 3 sets of instructions: the hinge
cover, keyboard then palm rest:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6400/en/sm/index.htm