Inspiron 1501 getting hot - HELP!!

GunJack

macman wrote: »

A keyboard is easy to remove. You shouldn't normally have to take the screen out to access the fan and ducting on a laptop. It should be accessible from underneath.

that really depends on the laptop

I've had to clean several furry slugs recently (from between the fan and vent) and in all bar one case I've had to split the halves (i.e. screen and base) in order to separate the two halves of the base unit in order to access the fan :mad:

I really wish more manufacturers would think Maintenance when designing their bl00dy products !!! but it is good for business

googler

My 1501 was heating up with the fan running full tilt even when it was raised at the rear and on a desk with no soft material.

Turn it over; holding it with the ports and power point at the top, there's a maker's label to the right, with an air vent above it. With a can of compressed air (available at computer suppliers, electrical stores and supermarkets), give this vent a blast - at an angle, not directly into the laptop. Likewise at the back, at the opposite end from the power point, give that a blast too, and lastly to the rear of the CD/DVD drive, adjacent to the grillle on the base. This moved a load of dust out of mine, and the fan runs slower, the laptop cooler now.

Let us know how you fare after that.

Do this out in the open air, not indoors, so you don't end up breathing the fine dust that you blow off the machine. Face mask from B&Q is optional. If you have to do this indoors, have the household vacuum cleaner running close by to suck up what you disturb before it reaches your nostrils.

The area around the hard drive (marked Strike Zone) can also get hot if there's a lot of disk activity, and there's a finer grille next to this which may also be a candidate for the same treatment.

macman

This is certainly worth a try, but if the dust is compacted around the fan and ducting then physical removal may be the only way to shift it.

GunJack

macman wrote: »

This is certainly worth a try, but if the dust is compacted around the fan and ducting then physical removal may be the only way to shift it.

absolutely....the slug is usually situated at the back of the vanes of the grille, which is usually overlapped by the fan housing, so removal is the only good option, otherwise you blow some of the dust back into the lappy, only for most of it to get sucked back out to the fan region again

donny-gal

OK, I raised the laptop at the back a good 2" off the desk at the back, and it is still hot, so presumably it must be dust.

I downloaded Core Temp, and both cores are showing in Amber, with a 50-70% load atm, with Core 0 showing around 60C and Core 1 54C
DG

GunJack

yup, clean the slug

donny-gal

I have had the Dyson round it, and it has helped a little, think I had better wait until I get my replacement and transfer the data before risking taking the screen off :eek::eek::eek: I watched a Dell "engineer" well someone who had been trained up to come out under warranty and change bits, and he had a bit of a "mare" when changing the motherboard. DG

macman

You really won't get compacted dust out with a vacuum cleaner-not even a Dyson. At the very least use a can of air.
The longer you leave it running hot, the more potential damage you're doing to the hard drive or processor. Taking the screen off does not in any way endanger the data on the hard drive.

GunJack

donny-gal wrote: »

I have had the Dyson round it, and it has helped a little, think I had better wait until I get my replacement and transfer the data before risking taking the screen off :eek::eek::eek: I watched a Dell "engineer" well someone who had been trained up to come out under warranty and change bits, and he had a bit of a "mare" when changing the motherboard. DG

you must have had a poor-quality bod round then.....it's not that bad to do, probably an hour or so start to finish...

GunJack

macman wrote: »

You really won't get compacted dust out with a vacuum cleaner-not even a Dyson. At the very least use a can of air.
The longer you leave it running hot, the more potential damage you're doing to the hard drive or processor. Taking the screen off does not in any way endanger the data on the hard drive.

If you're going to use the aircan/vacuum method without stripping it down, hold the nozzle of the vacuum over the fan's INLET vent, whilst blowing the aircan in through the OUTLET vent. The slug builds up because the gap between the vanes on the outlet vent is very small, and as the fan is trying to expel the hot air (and the dust/fibres/carp that's been pulled into the inlet vent) by pushing it through the outlet, it just gets caught up on the back of the vanes. The faster the fan spins, the more it pushes and then compacts the dust & stuff onto the back of the vanes. Therefore, if you hoover over the outside of the outlet vent, you're just further compacting what's there already, as you're sucking in the same direction the fan's blowing

This will probably not be that effective if the slug's big and thick, but it will work better than just hoovering over the outlet vent