Are your frequently experiencing overheating issues with your laptop?
Is your laptop showing poor performance?
Is the laptop fan getting louder day by day?
The chances are high that your laptop fan has become dirty, and it needs a good clean-up! When laptops become a bit old, the fan builds up dust around them, preventing them from functioning smoothly. Thus, your laptop starts overheating. If you leave your laptop in this condition for long, then your laptop may die soon!
Maintaining your laptop is the first step to extend its lifespan. Overheating of laptop due to fan’s inefficiency damages the internal components.
Especially if you own gaming laptops, chances are high that you experience overheating issues with your laptop often, attributing to a number of factors. Read – How to cool down your laptop, to know more!
1. Using Compressed Air
Cleaning a laptop fan with a compressed air can is most common and accessible. This process is helpful for those who hate using screwdrivers. Here we go with the simple process of
- All you require is a ‘can’ of compressed air.
- Switch the laptop power off and take off the battery.
- Find out where the vent is on your laptop.
- You may find it on the underside, but it highly depends on the model you are using.
- Take help from the manual or manufacturer’s website to get confirmed.
- Target the nozzle of the compressed air can occur at the event without pushing it more profound. Now blow the air on the fan blades.
- You can also use the exhaust vents to blow air. These vents are present on the rear of the laptop or the sides. It will help to remove clogged dust from the fan.
NOTE: Keep the burst of the air blow very soft otherwise, condensation may occur due to the low temperature. Also, don’t try blowing with your mouth as it may cause humidity and fluid to enter the laptop.
2. Opening up laptop
If welding a screwdriver makes you happy, this process is perfect for cleaning the laptop fans.
- Turn off the laptop, flip it and remove the battery for precaution.
- Dismantle the plastic or a metal base panel. It will showcase the fan. If you still can’t see the fan, remove more parts by unscrewing.
- After accessing the fan, clean the dirt and dust gently using a brush.
- Unscrew the fan and clean its underneath area.
- Now put the parts in order and screw them up nicely.
NOTE: Opening your laptop will invalidate the warranty of the laptop.
3. Cooling pads
Depending on which brand you’re choosing, you can get laptop cooling pads at lower or expensive prices. This pad acts as an external fan for your laptop, which takes the load of the internal fans and makes it calm and quiet.
It creates excellent air circulation around your laptop, but it can push more dust inside the fans over time.
4. Replace the fans
If you notice the fan is creating a louder whine than usual and clean-up is not working, your fans need replacement.
Order a fan matching your laptop model and suiting the dimensions. Replace the old damaged fan with the new one.
Points to remember
While cleaning the laptop fan, here are the important considerations:
- Use a long plastic object to stop the fan blades, else it will be tough removing dirt from a rotating fan.
- Don’t use vacuum cleaners as they are ineffective in cleaning laptop fans. They may also create static electricity around your laptop.
- The camera lens air duster also works well in place of a compressed air can.
- Please don’t open your laptop until you are too confident about it, or you may end up damaging the laptop permanently.
- Go to the windows task manager and check if any app uses too much CPU time. If you get it, stop the app. This kind of over-consuming apps causes the fan to run at top speed.
Conclusion
The easiest way to clean the laptop fan is using compressed air. Of course, there are other methods for you, but you should be very cautious while using them. Take help from YouTube tutorials to achieve perfection.
The best advice is to clean your laptop every six months to keep it cool and peak performer.