Laptop Fan Not Working Well

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

"Neil" <> wrote in message
news:EzEIj.36834$. net...
>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.

GT wrote:
> "Neil" <> wrote in message
> news:EzEIj.36834$. net...
>> 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.
>
>

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0/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.

G.G.Willikers wrote:
>

snip

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

Your wording is interesting ...

Regards

--
John Doue

kony wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:31:19 GMT, "G.G.Willikers"
> <> wrote:
>
>> http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...0/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.
>
>
> 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" <ContactGT_remove_@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:47f35e76$0$23353$...
> "Neil" <> wrote in message
> news:EzEIj.36834$. net...
>>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.

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

I have a gateway 4535GZ laptop, and when I run ubuntu, the fan is always spinning. I was wondering if there was some fix to this issue at all?

I was considering trying to use powersaved, but was wondering if thats safe to do and if it will have a positive or negative effect on battery life or if it'll have any effect on the fans that are always spinning.