laptop runs hotter as time goes on -- should I clean something?

My Compaq laptop runs hotter as time goes on. I've had it since March 2008, so nearly a year and a half now.

The cooling fan seems to run constantly now, where before the fan would run only when a game was running. The laptop feels hotter too, again pretty much all the time where before it would run fairly cool unless playing a game.

Does the fan get blocked with dirt and dust, or an inlet? I can see an inlet and outlet for air to the fan, but I cannot see the fan itself. Is there some maintenance for the CPU cooling that I should do by now?

Thanks.

 

I came across a Compaq laptop with the same symptoms. I put a thin screwdriver through the grill to hold the fan from spinning and blew compressed air back through the air vent in the reverse direction. A large cloud of dust came out. It worked perfectly after that.

On other laptops I have worked on, taking the keyboard out allowed access to the cooling fins then the dust could be loosened and blown out.

Take it to a repairers if you are not confident.

Matt

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm on vacation but I'll try them when I get home.

 

Not having a can of compressed air, I decided to take the laptop apart and clean the fan and heat sink.

Turned out to be much harder to do that than I thought. I got partway through, then decided to put it back together and buy a can of air tomorrow.

I've been using the laptop mostly on my lap, but sometimes have it lying on a bed or couch. Rarely do I put it on a table or desk. I suspect it has a lot of dust inside.

 

Thanks for the update. Let us know the outcome.