Royal_Phalanx
Member
My Optimus IV is working great- I love it, but my main concern now is how to clean the fans without running the risk of breaking the laptop. The fans are going to get dusty at some point.
Optimus IV- how to clean?
- Thread starter Royal_Phalanx
- Start date
Pagey
Bright Spark
I have always used an air pump to clean out any laptops, it'll even negate the need to delve into the laptop.
This is what I use. The reason I use one of these is because the airflow is strong but not too strong to cause damage, plus the hose allows me to get into awkward places.
When cleaning out laptop fans you ALWAYS blow the air in from the exhaust side, (on the Optimus IV, on the rear.) This is because when the laptop is in operation air is sucked in through the bottom and pushed across the radiator fins, this is where dust actually collects. To clean you're just reversing the airflow.
Best plan of action for cleaning:
1: Make sure laptop has shut down.
2: Remove battery.
3: Make sure lid is closed and rest the laptop upside down on something soft and stable, (you don't want to scratch the lid or have it sliding off to it's doom.)
4: Just to make sure the dust can exit properly from the fan enclosure, remove the three screws from the bottom panel towards the rear and remove to expose the fan inlet on the bottom.
5: Now the fun bit. Turn on the air pump and make sure it's set to blow, then aim the small nozzle at the back of the laptop where the air would normally come out and blow it into the radiator, this should make all that nasty dust come out of where the fan is.
6: Once you're happy, put everything together.
As a note: If you're not comfortable taking the panel off, you can also use a vacuum cleaner where the air gets sucked in to suck the dust out when you're blowing the dust into the fan enclosure, you don't have to hold the sucky end too close to the laptop either.
This is pretty foolproof and have been doing it this way for years and still works perfectly.
Hope this helps ya.
Daz
This is what I use. The reason I use one of these is because the airflow is strong but not too strong to cause damage, plus the hose allows me to get into awkward places.
When cleaning out laptop fans you ALWAYS blow the air in from the exhaust side, (on the Optimus IV, on the rear.) This is because when the laptop is in operation air is sucked in through the bottom and pushed across the radiator fins, this is where dust actually collects. To clean you're just reversing the airflow.
Best plan of action for cleaning:
1: Make sure laptop has shut down.
2: Remove battery.
3: Make sure lid is closed and rest the laptop upside down on something soft and stable, (you don't want to scratch the lid or have it sliding off to it's doom.)
4: Just to make sure the dust can exit properly from the fan enclosure, remove the three screws from the bottom panel towards the rear and remove to expose the fan inlet on the bottom.
5: Now the fun bit. Turn on the air pump and make sure it's set to blow, then aim the small nozzle at the back of the laptop where the air would normally come out and blow it into the radiator, this should make all that nasty dust come out of where the fan is.
6: Once you're happy, put everything together.
As a note: If you're not comfortable taking the panel off, you can also use a vacuum cleaner where the air gets sucked in to suck the dust out when you're blowing the dust into the fan enclosure, you don't have to hold the sucky end too close to the laptop either.
This is pretty foolproof and have been doing it this way for years and still works perfectly.
Hope this helps ya.
Daz