Hp DV7T-7000 Quad Edition Fan Modification

I finally became frustrated enough with the excessive temperatures of my laptop that I disassembled it to figure out what I needed to hard wire the fan to a potentiometer.

I found a collection of dust on the heat sink at the side of the laptop, and I discovered that the fan's shroud wasn't open at the rear heat sink. The rear heat sink has been sitting in still air since I've owned the laptop. The top of the fan was also open which would allow air to escape underneath the keyboard.

I don't do any gaming, but I design using SolidWorks often. My cpu temperature was in excess of 200 degrees Fahrenheit on occasion, and the computer would become noticeably slower.

I used a milling machine to mill away the baffle blocking the rear heat sink. I blew out all of the dust, and I used aluminum tape to seal the gap between the heatsinks and fan. The top of the fan was also taped over.

My cpu temperature has only peaked at 170F tonight. It's hovering around 135F now.

After I compile the necessary parts, I'll install a potentiometer to manually control the fan speed.

I circled the baffle in red. The fan is upside down in the opening it normally resides in. In the second photo, you can see the dust free heatsink at the rear.