Hot take: I was wrong about using canned air on a laptop fan

Had a student's laptop overheating, the fan was making a grinding noise. I always used canned air to blow dust out, but this time it just pushed the dust deeper into the heatsink. A tech I know in Phoenix told me to hold the fan still with a toothpick and then blow it out. Tried it, cleared a huge dust clump and the temp dropped 15 degrees. Anyone have a better method for those tiny, fragile fans?

3 comments

3 Comments

grace_gonzalez468d ago

Been there. I once made a desktop fan sound like a jet engine by just blasting it. The toothpick trick is solid, I use a plastic spudger now to lock the blades. It's a small step that saves a lot of trouble.

eva_adams688d ago

Saw a video where a guy used a small paintbrush to loosen the dust first, then held the fan with a plastic tool before using the air. It made a huge difference because the brush gets the clumps moving without forcing them in deeper. I tried it on my old gaming laptop and it was way less messy.

grantmartinez8d ago

That Phoenix tech is onto something. I learned the hard way after turning a friend's laptop into a dust bunny condo. The canned air just packed it all in like insulation. Now I keep a box of toothpicks next to my tools, they're perfect for jamming in the fan blades before you blast it. Feels a bit like surgery, but way cheaper than a new motherboard.