Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Case of the Bearded Computer

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    I recently remembered to clean the intake filters on one of my computers - the only one that *has* such filters. They were a bit furry, especially the one with a fan behind it, but they were still easy to clean. (No, I didn't take a picture.)

    The *inside* of the machine is still pretty clean. I don't live in a high-dust environment.

    Comment


    • #17
      When I worked at a computer store in college we got a machine in for service that was about 10 times worse than that.

      I will never forget the "Holy shit!" that came from the tech in the back when he hit it with the first bit of compressed air and a veritable mushroom cloud of crap spewed forth from the machine.

      I felt sorry for him that day.
      "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

      Comment


      • #18
        I'm probably going to need to open up my laptop soon. Got home from work yesterday, opened the lid (taking it out of hibernate), got a complaint about the cooling fan not working. Compressed air blasting solved that, at least for now. I strongly suspect that I'll find a lot of dust and cat hair in there. (Amazing how much a short-hair can shed.)
        "Crazy may always be open for business, but on the full moon, it has buy one get one free specials." - WishfulSpirit

        "Sometimes customers remind me of zombies, but I'm pretty sure that zombies are smarter." - MelindaJoy77

        Comment


        • #19
          Ah yes, I had to deal with this recently in regards to my boss's laptop, a 5-year-old Dell. First, it started throwing the BSOD randomly, with Windows' startup scan not being able to fix whatever unspecified problem it claimed to find. Soon, the issue progressed to random shutdowns, which to me pointed to overheating; though no errors to this effect had popped up, I decided to investigate its innards anyway.

          After unscrewing every screw I could find (and a few I couldn't until watching a YouTube tutorial about a similar machine), I pried enough of the keyboard cover off so I could gain access to the blower fan. After removing said fan, I quickly noticed a patch of brownish mung (cookies for the reference!) in the area between it and the CPU radiator fins which resembled deteriorating weatherstripping foam, but was likely a combination of cigarette tar and hair.

          After extracting as much of the crud as I could, I used a vacuum hose to clean the blower fan itself, reinstalled it, put it all back together as best as I could, washed my hands thoroughly, powered the laptop up, and soon was able to detect warm air blowing out of the side vents, as would be expected. Saved him from having to buy another laptop and got a nice little bonus for my efforts, though not nearly enough, if you ask me...
          -Adam
          Goofy music!
          Old tech junk!

          Comment


          • #20
            Were on a laptop do you blow it out?
            Figers are vicious I tell ya. They crawl up your leg and steal your belly button lint.

            I'm a case study.

            Comment


            • #21
              Where? Depends on the laptop. Most have the fan somewhere on the left side (you should be able to see the vents, and possibly a gleam of copper heatsink) or at the back-right. Most "cans of air" have a tube you can use to put the blast where it's needed.

              My MBP has two fans, both at the back, one on each side. There's no way to get an air-tube into the intake side, but there wasn't too much gunge in them when I eventually got around to opening it (to replace one of the fans, which had failed). It runs fine on one fan, mind.

              Comment


              • #22
                Quoth Cia View Post
                Were on a laptop do you blow it out?
                In the case of this computer (Dell 1464), after removing the top portion of the bottom half, as well as the keyboard, the fan can be gotten to. Remove two screws and the fan cable, pull the blower fan, and you now have access to the vent slots, as well as the radiator which takes heat away from the processor. I suppose a can of compressed air with a tube on the end of the nozzle could be used at this point to blow the dust out of said slots, but I didn't see this as being necessary in my case, as the gunk came out in nice, big disgusting chunks. I did use a vacuum cleaner hose to suck the dust and crud out of the fan housing before putting it all back together. Of course, the internal configuration of various laptops differ from one model to another, but the general principles should be the same.
                -Adam
                Goofy music!
                Old tech junk!

                Comment

                Working...
                X