How to Clean a Laptop Fan Without Compressed Air


Laptops always have a cooling system for their internal components and processors which deal with millions of calculations per second. For this to work, it requires electrical charges.

Because of heavy work and poor cooling, the processor might overheat, work very loud every time you are using it.

However, if the fan is not working properly and not cooling your laptop enough, it might lead to the processor’s malfunction. That’s why in this post, I’ll walk you through steps on how you can clean one of the most important parts of your laptop – a fan.

Pros And Cons Of Compressed Air

The air that’s inside the can is always dust-free, making it easy to clean the dust from the keyboard or any other part of a laptop.

However, the cons about compressed air is that it’s not environmentally friendly and high air pressure might make more harm than help.

For these reasons, I will show you how to clean laptop fan without compressed air.

Cleaning a Laptop Without Compressed Air

You should not remove the computer’s hardware unless you have proper knowledge of the computer’s parts.

Things you will need:

  • Lint-free cloth to clean the laptop;
  • Static-free mat to place the laptop when cleaning;
  • Screwdriver;

  1. Unplug the paptop

    First, you have to ensure that your computer is not plugged into any power source when you want to start dusting it. You also need to make sure you place it upside down, most preferably on an anti-static mat.

  2. Remove the bottom panel

    After you have unplugged your laptop from any power source and placed it upside down, remove the bottom part of your laptop. Many laptop manufacturers create different laptop panels, but most of them use screws that can be removed using the small Phillips screwdriver.

    If you find that your laptop has tiny screws, you can use needle-nose pliers, tweezers, or electronic forceps.

    After removing the screws, put them on a small cup or dish, and if the length and size of the screws vary depending on where you have removed them, make sure to note their exact location. The cooling of the fan should be visible from thereon.

  3. Hold the fan in place

    The next step is to hold the fan with your finger so that it does not rotate. It is not advisable to remove the fan because removing it without proper knowledge of the hardware can damage the processor leading to losses there were not planned for.

  4. Use a cloth to clean the fan

    Now you can start by cleaning the fan’s face using a cloth by carefully rubbing dust away from the center. As the cloth you are using gets dirty, clean it continuously or use different clothes.

  5. Clean the vents gently

    After cleaning the fan’s face, you can go ahead and clean the vents which are on the inside of a laptop. Clean it properly, and any other part you notice dust has accumulated.

  6. Carefully blow into the fan

    When you are done with all the hard work, gently blow into the fan to dislodge any dust that might have fallen into the fan and repeat it until the fan is sparkling clean. After you are done, replace the bottom cover.

Cleaning a laptop fan is simple and only takes about 5 minutes. I hope these steps will help to clean the fan of your laptop and you will be able to use it for a long time before getting a new one.


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