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Cleaning the fan.
Hello,
I have an Inspiron 1420 laptop and I wanted to know how to clean the fan. It's been a year and the strength of the fan seems to have gone down. I am guessing it is the dust accumulation. I use a laptop stand which raises it a bit so that there is airflow but recently it has been heating up a bit. Please do let me know how I can resolve this. Thank you.
swarai
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July 12th, 2009 22:00
Hello DexAZ. Thanks for your reply. Do I use the canned air directly into the fan at the back or the vents on the side? And won't the dust just go in deeper if I air it from outside? But I shall definitely try it. Thank you once again.
DexAZ
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July 12th, 2009 22:00
I've had good results using "canned air". You can get it at Walmart, OfficeMAX, Staples, Radio Shack, Best Buy etc. Just a couple shots in all the vents and the dust bunnies come flying out. Also give the keyboard a few shots to flush out assorted nasty stuff hiding there too.
I've seen little vaccums that are intended for cleaning computers but naver tried them.
Laptop runs cooler after the canned air treatment. You'll be surprised with the cloud of dust that gets blown out.
DexAZ
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July 12th, 2009 23:00
I'm running an Inspiron 6000 bought new in 2005. Have had to have the motherboard replaced 3 times due to power jack issues. (BTW, extended warrentee well worth the $$ as it covered this serviceing) Each time the tech did find dust deep in the laptop which a spray of canned air dislodged easily. No way to tell if the dust was through normal use or as a result of the use of canned air. Tech said he sees dust way inside most laptops.
I feel blowing the dust out with canned air lets the fan, heat sink and heat pipe run cooler and here in Airzona heat is a _major_ concern. Our extreamely fine desert dust finds it's way into everything so I blow canned air into all vents, jacks and openings as well as the open DVD/CD tray every fews weeks.
My 6000 has held up well through 4 years of what I would consider rougher than normal use. When it needed service, DELL was right there to take care of it. I will be replacing it with another DELL in the next month or so. My wife is looking forward to using it for her email & Marjon. So the 6000 will have an easier time in semi-retirement at home than on the road with me.
swarai
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July 13th, 2009 21:00
Thank you DexAZ for telling me more about the canned air. I did try it on my laptop and I hope it works. I don't see the dust on the fan too. The heat is low right now. We will see after a few days :o) I hope my Inspiron will also be with me for 4 years like yours did. Good luck with your new one and thank you once again. I appreciate it.
dwolff51
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November 25th, 2009 04:00
I might have a great solution for you. I had the same problem on my Inspiron 1420. There is a little door on the bottom of the case right next to the fan opening. I took it off and exposed what looks like a heat sink, held in by 4 screws. I removed the heat sink and exposed a LARGE compressed dust ball. Then I looked in the opening toward the fan, and there was an even BIGGER dust ball. I didn't used compressed air, but the dust came out very easily with a tweezer. If I had compressed air, I would have blown it out as well; but I really think I got it all. The laptop has been running great ever since. Here's a link to a diagram: