The fan is one of the important components of a laptop that functions to cool components that will experience overheating on the laptop. Every laptop generally has at least one or two cooling fans, which are located on the main processor and graphics chip.
Some laptop designs also use a heatpipe system to draw heat out of the laptop, with a single heatsink cooling fan attached to the heatpipe. Each heatsink has many fins that work to dissipate heat. However, generally dust can accumulate on the fins thereby reducing cooling efficiency.
Modern laptops generally have a slim design, which allows dust to accumulate more easily and reduces cooling efficiency. One of the consequences that can occur due to the accumulation of dust on the fins of your laptop is to make the noise on laptop fan or more difficult to turn off than usual.
Overheat or the condition of the laptop getting hot quickly, is not something that can be ignored. One of the causes of overheating laptop is because the fan is dirty or damaged.
Overheating can cause all sorts of problems, such as reducing laptop performance, draining the laptop battery (causing low battery life), and can damage your computer hardware.
So to avoid this from happening, the following article will share tips for you on how to clean the fan on a laptop.
Use the Compressed Air
If you are not very confident in using a screwdriver to disassemble your laptop, then the only way is with compressed air. Compressed air is generally sold at the nearest convenience store or supermarket in the form of a bottle (air duster).
The steps you need are:
- Make sure the laptop is turned off if possible, and make sure the battery is removed if possible.
- Insert or guide the nozzle of the air duster into the vent (or at least as close as possible). Then start spraying the dust out, if possible also spray part of the fan. But one thing to note, do not spray for too long, because this is at risk of condensation (caused by the low temperature of the expanding air). But you are also advised not to put the nozzle too close, because this will risk damaging your laptop fan.
- Try to block the fan rotation using a long plastic object.
This will make it easier for you to clean the fan. However, if the fan is rotating, the cleaning process will be more difficult.
Without the Compressed Air
The way to clean a laptop without compressed air is with a screwdriver. For those of you who are confident enough to open a laptop using a screwdriver, the steps you can take are as follows:
- Turn off the laptop
As with the previous method, make sure the laptop is turned off if possible, and make sure the battery is removed if possible.
- Remove the plastic or metal panel on the base to get the fan in position (if applicable).
This depends on the type of laptop used, but if the fan still doesn’t see it, then you need to do another method or you can look for tutorials on how to open the panel for various brands of laptops.
Be careful not to damage the ribbon cable (remove it first if necessary). You may need to loosen the glue with a heat source.
- Once the fan is visible, use a small brush to remove dirt and dust.
If you still want to use compressed air for this step, make sure the nozzle is not too close to the fan, and be sure to block the fan rotation.
It is better if you remove the fan at this point and make sure any other debris on the bottom of the fan (which could clog the heatsink or air vents) is removed.
Also, make sure the fabric you use is lint-free. A lint-free cloth is a special type of cleaning cloth that does not remove hair during use.
Being free of lint means the fabric is less likely to create a charge, which can cause ESD, which could potentially damage the laptop. When finished, reassemble your laptop according to the initial conditions.
Is it good enough to use a vacuum cleaner as an alternative to an air duster?
The answer is strongly discouraged, this is because the vacuum cleaner can cause several problems on the laptop, such as causing a buildup of static electricity around the laptop, the vacuum cleaner is not effective in removing dust and dirt from the laptop fan, and has the potential to damage the power cord and hardware of your laptop. .
A few tips for cleaning your laptop fan. The thing to note is to make sure each component is in good condition and is not affected by other substances.
Make sure you clean your laptop once every six months. If you must disassemble, make sure it is absolutely necessary to avoid potential damage or problems when reassembling.
If you find problems after cleaning the laptop fan, such as the laptop not turning on and so on, be sure not to disassemble it and contact a more experienced person to avoid things that are not desirable.