Cleaning the dust out of a loptop?

[CorporalClegg]

Anyone had much experience with this?

I'm still relatively new to the laptop world. My current laptop has been running a bit hot.

I think it really needs a good interior cleaning.

I looked at the user manual and to get to the heat sink, I pretty much have to take the whole thing apart. There's ~30 screws (some of which are really small), the keyboard has to come out as does the screen.

I'm a little leery of doing all this as it just seems a lot more tedious (and subject to failures/accidents) then taking apart a PC.

Anyone with some experience like to share some suggestions or tips?

And could someone please change the title?

 

[Dream]

Make sure you really really want to open it.

After you open your laptop, it will likely break the warranty that you have for it. You won't be able to get free repairs anymore if you have that on your warranty.

 

[Deks]

Warranties are highly overrated, and I couldn't detest more laptop manufacturers that make things impossibly difficult by forcing you to disassemble the laptop so you can clean it from dust (which is bound to happen at some point - and some laptops get dirty faster than others - which also depends in how dusty area one lives).

On the flip side of things, 'really really wanting to open it' doesn't hold ground.
A laptop can easily overheat due to dust clogging the air-vents (especially if you do cpu intensive tasks or even play some games - both of which will produce higher temperatures by default - you don't want dust clogging the vents in such a case).

Alternatively, you could look for some help in your area from people who are more experienced in laptop dis-assembly.
And if your warranty isn't up, then you might as well take it to the shop where you got it and ask them to do it for you.

Other than that, look into your dis-assembly guide and follow instructions carefully.

There is another option you might try though - but I wouldn't recommend it.
Get compressed air can, press it to the air vent and push in the air.
But this could easily push the dust deep into the laptop (and you don't want that).

 

[CorporalClegg]

I did actually call a few places first. The cheapest bid I got was $70 which just didn't seem worth it since I'm usually pretty good with this sort of thing.

And as far as the disassembly directions, they're really poor which is partly why I'm so hesitant.

 

[Deks]

Dis-assembly guides are not exactly given out to people.
They are seemingly reserved for manufacturers mostly... but its possible to get your hands on one.

But if you have instructions on how to dis-assemble your laptop... then follow it until you reach the cpu, heat-sink, etc.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Warranties are highly overrated, and I couldn't detest more laptop manufacturers that make things impossibly difficult by forcing you to disassemble the laptop so you can clean it from dust (which is bound to happen at some point - and some laptops get dirty faster than others - which also depends in how dusty area one lives).

On the flip side of things, 'really really wanting to open it' doesn't hold ground.
A laptop can easily overheat due to dust clogging the air-vents (especially if you do cpu intensive tasks or even play some games - both of which will produce higher temperatures by default - you don't want dust clogging the vents in such a case).

Alternatively, you could look for some help in your area from people who are more experienced in laptop dis-assembly.
And if your warranty isn't up, then you might as well take it to the shop where you got it and ask them to do it for you.

Other than that, look into your dis-assembly guide and follow instructions carefully.

There is another option you might try though - but I wouldn't recommend it.
Get compressed air can, press it to the air vent and push in the air.
But this could easily push the dust deep into the laptop (and you don't want that).

The compressed air would actually be a good first option.

There is a path and multiple vents for airflow and he could try it from both directions.

As long as you see dust coming out, you know you're on the right track and if you see a temperature drop you should be OK.