Laptop fan thinks it's a vacuum cleaner

I think this is the best forum for this post. Mods please move if I got it wrong.

I currently need to take my laptop to bits every few months. I'll hear the fan constantly cycling between low and high speed, and know that the job needs to be done. Dust accumulates and can only be dislodged with a can of compressed air. It's a pain to do and takes quite a bit of time. The laptop is operating in a normal environment that sees the occasional visit from the duster and vacuum cleaner.

I was thinking about adding a DIY filter to the air intake that I can change weekly and avoid the disassembly. What material might I use to trap the dust without impeding the airflow to the fan?

Metric Tensor

I bought these for a desktop I was building last year - dirt cheap and reasonably effective.

They are designed to be mounted to a 120mm fan - not sure if that would be possible on your laptop though. You may just have to tape them to the bottom.

http://amzn.eu/aVu4Mt9

Metric Tensor

Metric Tensor wrote: »

I bought these for a desktop I was building last year - dirt cheap and reasonably effective.

They are designed to be mounted to a 120mm fan - not sure if that would be possible on your laptop though. You may just have to tape them to the bottom.

http://amzn.eu/aVu4Mt9

Thanks. I don't think I can hack those to work, but the spec helps: "Mesh hole diameter is 1 mm".

K.O.Kiki

Have you tried cleaning & changing the thermal paste on the CPU?

K.O.Kiki

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Have you tried cleaning & changing the thermal paste on the CPU?

I don't think that's the issue. When I de-dust the fan, the cooling works optimally for a number of months. Therefore seems like dust alone is compromising the ability of the fan to get enough cold air onto the copper heatsink.

eddieb88

are you using this laptop on you lap or couch etc?

its going to fill with dust if that is the case

Metric Tensor

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks. I don't think I can hack those to work, but the spec helps: "Mesh hole diameter is 1 mm".

They do restrict air-flow a bit. It made almost no difference to the temperature in the desktop but it was a low powered machine with a nice bit of space to start with.

I'd recommend installing RealTemp or something like that to get a feel for your processor temperature during various uses so that you can see if putting a mesh over the fan has a majorly negative impact.

ED E

Other half who likes to wear foundation?


Buy a roomba, keep the dust levels down.