Heating Issue

Here is Dell's guide on accessing the processor fan assembly.

Processor Thermal-Cooling Assembly

 

@Rockster - i'll try downloading it.
@Silvio - My fan does not have a cap for me to unscrew, thus i have to go through the trouble to opening the whole thing just to clean it. Thanks for the advice though.
@ Whiskeyman - thanks for the link.

 

Hehehe ... that link looks familiar

http://www.windowsbbs.com/hardware/76279-heating-issue.html#post412991

 

re: the link .........
We know Whiskeyman wasn't out drinking all night so the logical conclusion is that great minds think alike.

I'm inclined to throw a little further encouragement at jAsOs. If you have a prett decent mechanical apptitude, popping that case open and following those instructions isn't that tough. On the other hand, if you feel somewhat limited in this regard (and be honest with yourself), then you can always take this to someone who can open your case and clean out the heatsink fan assembly.

MrSilvio made a couple of very good suggestions and you may want to follow his guidance and try them before taking the plunge. I keep a flat 3/8" artists brush in my toolcase and its sole purpose is for cleaning heatsinks, fans and other areas that tend to impregnate with dust.

 

I've made whole CPUs from scratch before so i guess opening a laptop isn't that hard, just takes some practice. I bought a can of compressed air, is it enough to clean up all the dust?

 

That should be sufficient. A couple of other thoughts along the lines of MrSilvios comments - if you can locate a small brush, that may come in handy. I also use Q-Tips both dry and dipped in isopropyl alchohol for cleaning various things. If you find a lot of caked-on buildup on say a fan blade, all the air in the world isn't going to do you much good but a moistened Q-Tip with alcohol will work wonders. Caution here - easy does it. Don't go slopping alcohol around. You also don't want to blow air on your fan to see how fast you can make it spin or how high a frequency whine you can create - that can ruin the fan's bearings or bushing. Gently prohibit the fan from spinning when you are blowing air at it - or let it spin ever so slightly if you must. And, while a small brush attachment from a small vacuum cleaner can be effective, one needs to be very careful about any kind of an electrostatic discharge. Common guidance is to keep vacuum cleaners away from computer parts, but again a little common sense and restraint goes a long way here.

Keep us posted & Good Luck.

 

I've just cleaned up my heat sink.
It had like almost 1 centimeters think of dust on the exhaust part of it.
I simply used a can of compressed air and my hands to remove the dust, and my temperature went down almost 20 degrees Celcius.
It normally in the 60s when i'm just surfing and now its in the 40s.

Thanks alot for the help!

 

Congratulations. Not only was your original diagnosis correct, but you flushed out some pretty good suggestions and then made an informed decision. For another $20 or so, one of those laptop coolers isn't going to hurt you either.

Well Done jAsOs!

 

Thanks.
I've got a Notepal Infinite coming my way which ensures that my laptop will stay cool and i'm still considering redoing the thermal paste.