Laptop overheating

Hi all,

I work on a DELL laptop. It sends out very heat air from its vents. I think probably there is some (or large amount of) dust on hardware devices inside it.
I know that best way is to open it and clean those pieces by (say) an air compressor, but there are two points here:
1- Do you agree that this warm air is because of the dust and I need to solve this issue by cleaning the hardware snips?
2- I haven't opened any laptop ever, I somewhat scare (because that laptop is not mine). Do you still say me to do it? If so, what rules I should observe before, when and after opening the laptop?

Thanks.

Hi Kurdman. Me too a Dell user. Dell was good at laptops. But now it has failed to cope up with the development that other brands like Lenovo, ASUS has made. It has a decade old heat sink design. Also it has poor fan speed controls which rushes up and comes down unreasonably. I had debated a lot with dell care at Twitter and over phone too. I got fed up with thier response that "Use your laptop at clean environment. Keep less ambient temperature." They add that 'we are ready to help' at the end. But my phone call is not gonna impact thier cooling policy with laptops.

Now answer to your question.
1 - Yes dust build up could cause less airflow to the vents causing thermal energy accumulation.
2 - If you are not sure, never do that. Get a compressed air can or a blower (with air intake filter), blow in through vent back and forth for sufficient time for dust to exit. Too much air pressure could cause fan bearing to fail, so keep sufficient distance while using blower.

Also note that you are feeling hot air exiting the laptop means "the processor is cooling, heat is removed, not its is getting hot". Unless you feel any hot spots over your keyboard, touchpad or arm-rest, you are good to go.

Thanks.

Your info has the sign of a long period of having experience and dealing with the heat problem of Dell laptops!
For solution, I try to blow the air from any vent in a fine distance (for example, 10 cm) and with a enough speed by an air compressor.

Thank you.

Mayank Parmar said:

Kurdman, i will suggest you to try to open it and clean it up. Incase any of the hardware component gets overheated, it might malfunction and usually the resolution in that case will be to get that hardware replaced.
Since you haven't opened any laptop, in this case search on you-tube and you should find a video how to open laptop (specific the make and model).

Doing so will void your warranty. and any small errors could end up spending $300 or more on repairs. Have any experienced technician to do that dismantling job.

Your fan might not be running at all. That's why the mother board on my Dell laptop died. Have you tried or heard of Speed Fan? http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php î

These work great for cooling USB Laptop Notebook Cooler Cooling PAD 3 FAN Blue Light | eBay ...I use it for a router but their designed for laptops

if youre on X86 windows which you are !! you can use I8K Fan GUI it works well and has three fan speeds (or 64 With Hardware support) and you can change the fan speed !! or use Hwinfo or Speedfan

I recommend that you do not open your laptop yourself unless you have the necessary tools and enough confidence. You will always be inexperienced with opening laptops and until you open your first laptop, you will stay that way so you have to start some time? ..
My recommendation is if you do decide to open your laptop, download the service manual, get some precision screwdrivers, find a youtube video of your laptop being cleaned and be careful. Laptop screws are small and putting too much pressure or using the wrong screwdriver might damage the screw and make it unscrewable .. .. thats the thing to avoid .. also get a paper and pencil and somewhere to keep the screws.. counts the screws while unscrewing, and know where you took em out from. Good luck man, if i were you id just get a cooling pad.