Replacing laptop fan?

GunJack

VanyaHargreeves wrote: »

I found the part on eBay for £3.65 second hand; do you think it's worth it to get a new one, or will a second hand one be okay?

If it's stated as tested and working, you should be ok, especially if it's from a business seller where returns are accepted

VanyaHargreeves

GunJack wrote: »

If it's stated as tested and working, you should be ok, especially if it's from a business seller where returns are accepted

Yes, it is. It comes with a heat sink too - should I replace that as well? Would I have to replace the thermal paste as well? I don't know where to get the thermal paste, nor how to replace it...

macman

Any independent PC shop, or Maplin, will sell you a little tube of thermal paste if required.

GunJack

macman wrote: »

Any independent PC shop, or Maplin, will sell you a little tube of thermal paste if required.

...and when you have the heatsink off the processor, it's pretty obvious where to spread it, just don't put too much on there

Having said that, if your heatsink is ok, don't have to change it. It is good practice, however, to renew the thermal paste (or heatsink compound, as it's known in other electronics environments) if needs be while you've got the heatsink out anyway, which you'll have to do to replace the fan

VanyaHargreeves

Right. I'm a bit nervous about this all! I don't know if I can handle removing the motherboard, so chances are I'll ask at the PC repair shop down the road before I try it myself...Thank you all so much!

VanyaHargreeves

GunJack wrote: »

...and when you have the heatsink off the processor, it's pretty obvious where to spread it, just don't put too much on there

Do I just leave the stuff that's already on it?

macman

No, you scrape the old stuff off-use an old credit card or similar.

GunJack

VanyaHargreeves wrote: »

Do I just leave the stuff that's already on it?

If there is still sufficient on there (a thin layer on the square/rectangular plate of the processor or the corresponding underside of the heatsink) and it hasn't dried out (usually can tell if it's beginning to dry, as you get solid crumbly bits around the edges initially) then shouldn't need to renew it.

Gently test it with the end of a cocktail stick to see if it's beginning to solidify, if it is, carefully wipe off what's on there and put some fresh in.

closed

does it spin at all, when it's powered on, is the power connector on properly, is the fan catching on the case, is it overheating?

cit_k

Not sure on that model, but be careful that the heatsink is not also covering another chip (usually graphics chip or chipset) as sometimes that part of the heatsink is not flush with that chip and does require more than thermal paste (as their is a big gap between the heatsink and GPU).
Usually thats why a thermal pad is needed for that part, or paste and a suitable copper shim to make up the gap.

If you just put on paste, and there is a big gap, you are going to end up frying the chip.

The processor itself should usually be fine with paste.

You can usually tell if there is a gap or not by looking at the existing thermal pad on the bottom of the heatsink when removed,you should find the CPU part has a nice indent where the cpu was sitting flush on the metal, and pushed the thermal material out of the way. The GPU part will still be covered completely with the pad (with perhaps a small indent but not down to the metal) if there is a gap.


If you remove the heatsink/fan make sure you remove all the dust (its probably got a about a 1cm of thick fluffy dust built up if its a few years old).

Ensure you are unplugged from the mains, and the battery is unplugged from the laptop before you go anywhere near it with a screwdriver, a slip or a screw falling inside while the battery is connected can trash the board real easy.