Lenovo All-in-One C20 Fan Gets a Clean

 

Computer fans collect dust and fluff and need cleaning every six months to a year to work efficiently, and if left to collect dirt can cause excessive noise and even computer shutdown due to overheating.

So why don't computer manufactures make them an easily accessible maintenance item? Why do they make the task difficult for even somebody with experience of computer maintenance? Why (in the case of my Lenovo C20 fan above) do they make the task so difficult that the vast majority of computer owners could not do it without damaging cabling and components, and probably rendering the computer inoperable, even though this is a piece of routine maintenance that will need doing regularly?

A cynic would say that they expect you to ditch the computer in a couple of years, so aren't bothered what happens when the fan gets dusty, because you'll probably just go and buy a new one.

Opening the case of this computer was difficult enough, involving removing hidden screws and popping the screen from the body with a screwdriver. Having done that, I expected the fan to be accessible for cleaning, but no, no sign of it. I had to remove connections from the motherboard, unscrew it, lift it to the side and remove a metal screen before I could get to it.

I'm not going to give detailed instructions because if you are experienced at computer repairs, you can probably figure it out, and if you aren't, this is not a task you should carry out. I was doubtful myself that the computer would work when I put it back together, but fortunately it did.

This is not a task I will be repeating anytime soon. The computer only has a very low powered netbook CPU, and is not used for demanding tasks, so the fan rarely spins hard, and I have not noticed any excessive noise or overheating in the seven years I've had it, so maybe in another seven years I will risk cleaning the fan again.

But really, why couldn't there be a hatch behind the fan as it lies against the back of the case? This would allow regular dusting. Sadly the computer seems to have been designed as a throw away item. Next time I think I will buy a tower that is designed to be serviceable and upgradeable.

Here are some photos of the procedure for anybody brave enough to try it.

Now why couldn't there just be a hole in the back to get at this???

How often to clean a laptop fan?

I recently noticed the fan on my "new" laptop was making a slight noise. It's always been very quiet before, so I decided to take a look inside. Here's what I found:

Looking back, I realised that the laptop was almost two years old. So, to answer the question in the title to this post, every six months to a year, probably. Don't leave it till you hear excessive fan noise, because the fan in the picture above has obviously been working very inefficiently for a long time before I noticed the noise.

In case anybody needs to know how to clean the fan on a Toshiba Satellite C50D-B-120, here's how to do it:

1. Put the machine on its lid and take out all the screws in the back (you'll need a magnetic screwdriver to lift them out).
2. Pull out the battery and the dummy CD/DVD drive (or the real drive, if you have a more expensive model).
3. Lift up the case back by putting your fingers inside the CD/DVD drive housing and pulling up. The case back will pop up. Continue to pull up as the case back clicks open towards the other side of the case.

I cleaned the fan with an air duster. Stop the fan from spinning while you dust it to avoid damage. I also used a paint brush to clean the fan vanes because they were still dirty even after blasting with air, and then gave them another air dusting. Don't forget to clean the accumulated dust off the inside of the case back too.

Refitting is the reverse of the instructions above. The case back will need pressing into place round its edge.

Which leads me to the question: why do laptop manufacturers make it so difficult to clean a laptop fan when it is something that needs doing regularly?

Cleaning a Compaq Presario 900 laptop fan

This laptop is ten years old now, so there can't be too many about, but if you do have one, here's how to clean it.

Not by taking out every screw on the bottom of the laptop, which is what I tried. Just take out the two screws in the back behind the multimedia keys panel and gently pop it out, then the keyboard will lift up to reveal the fan.

Or I should say fans, because there are actually two. There's one conventional fan which blows air through a grill connected to the heat sink, and another small circular propeller-type fan in the back on the right whose purpose was not clear to me.

The heat sink grill was not especially dirty considering it hadn't been cleaned in ten years, but enough to restrict air flow.

It's surprising considering the fact that  laptop fans need regular cleaning how difficult they can be to access, especially when you don't know what you're doing.

With a nice clean fan, the laptop runs Debian Linux just fine, even if it is ten years old. Dig out that old laptop, clean it up and give Linux a spin!

Cleaning a laptop fan and heat sink

A bit of dust inside a laptop can see the fan blowing hard almost constantly. It only takes six months or so for this dust to accumulate and have a noticeable impact on the loudness of the laptop. The problem may not be noticeable from the outside.

But if the fan seems noisy, it's worth taking a look inside. Google should provide instructions; with mine it's just a case of unscrewing the CPU panel on the back. You'll find some copper heat ducts and a fan blowing out through the copper grills of the heat sink.

A closer inspections reveals how dusty the fan is.

Now is probably the time to look up a professional cleaning guide. Cleaning the fan with an artist's paint brush and then giving it a good blow like I do is probably not a good idea. However you clean the fan, keep a finger on the central part to prevent the fan spinning, as that can damage the fan.
I like to clean the heat sink fins with a small strip of card.

Holding the laptop up to the light reveals nice clean copper fins.

Don't panic if the fan makes a horrible grinding noise when you boot up again. My does but it settles down to a gentle whooshing then silence after a while.
If yours doesn't, maybe you should have followed the advice about using a professional cleaning guide.
Keen eyes may spot that I have broken off the bars of the case grill that used to cover the copper heat sink grills. I did this one summer when temperatures where I was living were in the low 30's Celcius. The plastic bars prevented me cleaning some of the slots in the copper grill, and also restricted air flow. Breaking them off noticeably reduced fan noise in hot weather. As the laptop is only used on a desktop, possible damage to the copper grill was not an issue.

Laptop fan is loud

Quite often when I do a distribution upgrade or hop, I begin to notice how loud my laptop fan is and wonder if it's the fault of the new system. Invariably it turns out that the heat sink is in need of a clean. I confirmed this today. Using my new install of Debian Wheezy, I was sure the laptop fan was loud, and wondered if it was Wheezy's fault. But booting back into Squeeze on the dual boot system, the fan was equally as loud. Time for a clean.
I think the period of version updates or distro hops has coincided with the build up of dust on the heat exchange fins on this laptop. The period for both seems to be about six months.
It only takes a surprisingly thin coating of dust on the copper heat exchange fins to get a laptop fan blowing hard almost constantly.