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    Is this a good way to clean my T60's air vent?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by orca3000, Mar 4, 2011.

  1. orca3000

    orca3000 Notebook Evangelist

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    The vents are clogging up with dust again? I am thinking about just taking off the keyboard and blow compressed air directly into the fan enclosure. Are there any potential problems with this method? I heard over spinning the fan (due the air blasts) is not a good thing.
     
    orca3000, Mar 4, 2011
    #1
  2. dietcokefiend

    dietcokefiend DietGreenTeaFiend

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    On my T60 I ran into a similar problem. What I did was remove the keyboard, remove the keyboard bezel, and completely remove the heatsink/fan assembly. From there you can bend some tabs that hold a cover over the fan assembly, and remove the fan for total cleaning. While you are at it you can also put a drop of machine oil on the bearing to make sure it keeps quiet.

    I dont think overspinning would be a huge problem, but in theory it could gouge the bearing shaft and make for a really noisy and annoying fan.
     
    dietcokefiend, Mar 4, 2011
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  3. menos

    menos Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    I'm afraid there is a huge one. The dust gathered by a fan during the normal exploitation turns into a felt-like layer on the radiators. Once you blow the air into the assembly you risk that some particles of the felt will be spread all over the fan and will block the fan's blades.
    I would follow Kevin's advice: download the maintenance manual, disassembly the laptop and clean everything separately. It will take 30 minutes...
     
    menos, Mar 5, 2011
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  4. Mech0z

    Mech0z Notebook Evangelist

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    I use a compressor normally, just dont make the air go directly into the fan to avoid damage or blow from the start when the compressor is getting started as its less powerful there.

    And this is what I call a compressor, not sure if thats the english word for it though [​IMG]
     
    Mech0z, Mar 5, 2011
    #4
  5. princealyy

    princealyy Notebook Evangelist

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    I try to clean my laptop out compressed air all the time... however I have to agree, I would remove the keyboard before and removing the fan before blowing out debris ....
     
    princealyy, Mar 5, 2011
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  6. orca3000

    orca3000 Notebook Evangelist

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    Sound like it will take whole day for my all thumb hands to manage it. :eek:

    Bhy compressed air I mean those prepackaged cans sold at electronic stores.
     
    orca3000, Mar 6, 2011
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  7. BBuehler

    BBuehler Newbie

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    Either a vacuum or compressed air will have a possibility of overspinning the fan. I once did that to desktop when cleaning the dust out and within a couple days, half the fans were REALLY noisy and had to be replaced. Now, I hold the fan blades or stick something in them (toothpick) to keep them from spinning too fast.
    Be careful you don't blow wads of dust from the fan into the thinly spaced radiator and block the airflow.
     
    BBuehler, Mar 6, 2011
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  8. menos

    menos Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    menos, Mar 7, 2011
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