How can I clean the interior of a laptop from dust?

[WinAndLinuxTutorials]

:welcomewave:

Last year, when I wanted to upgrade the RAM of my oldest laptop (Dell Inspiron 6400 ), I removed the cover where the RAM slots are located. I Found that there is some dust there, but I didn't clean it because I don't know how to clean the interior of a laptop the correct way, so I may damage a device or something. Now I think it will have even more dust.

Can you help me clean it?

My questions:

1. 1. Is this type of activity dangerous (eg. resulting in a device damage, etc...)?
2. What are the tools required to clean it?

Thanks

 

[Dejan]

Seriously man, do your OWN RESEARCH for once in a while.
I looked at your posts, the majority of them are simple question that can be answered with one Google search.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Extend-your-laptop-s-life!-Clean-the-dust-out-of-i/

This was the FIRST result on a Google search, not that hard..

 

[Dieselman]

Kudos to that Dejan. Everywhere you go there are spray cans of air you can buy. Staples,BestBuy,Target,Walmart. Most of them are called Air Duster which is basically canned air. Its not rocket science and this is how people have been cleaning ordinary keyboards out for years. You actually don't even need that. Just blow as hard as you can it will will do the same thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_duster

 

[Dejan]

Kudos to that Dejan. Everywhere you go there are spray cans of air you can buy. Staples,BestBuy,Target,Walmart. Most of them are called Air Duster which is basically canned air. Its not rocket science and this is how people have been cleaning ordinary keyboards out for years. You actually don't even need that. Just blow as hard as you can it will will do the same thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_duster

Thanks.

 

[MetalShaun]

I use a soft paint brush.

 

[WinAndLinuxTutorials]

Seriously man, do your OWN RESEARCH for once in a while.
I looked at your posts, the majority of them are simple question that can be answered with one Google search.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Extend-your-laptop-s-life!-Clean-the-dust-out-of-i/

This was the FIRST result on a Google search, not that hard..

I know I can easily search, but I want your recommendation also. Anyway thanks for the help.

 

[AyeAyeCaptain]

Nice to know you got the answer you required, with regards to the comments made (about doing your own research) there is no need to be so harsh. This wonderful place called MT is a hub for asking and finding such information as opposed to using Google. It is not like other forums in you must be 'elite' in order to join in.

Fair comment on the Google aspect, but can Google bring in personal comments and touches such as what MetalShaun wrote. Even when you search elsewhere, the reason you find them is because they were in the same situation as WINT was.

So on that not, calm down guys please? It's okay to ask, and he does his own little things with regards to vids etc...

 

[Dejan]

I've tried not be "harsh" for some time now, I've answered some of his questions reluctantly instead of telling him to use Google, I mean I relies it's good to help, but some things can be answered pretty easily. In reply to WinAndLinux's post, cleaning out a laptop goes pretty much the same way all the time.

Anyway, guess this thread is solved.

 

[bogdan]

Shut it down, remove the battery. You'll want to clean the vents and the fans that are accessible after you remove one of the covers underneath your laptop. You can use a can of compressed air, cotton swabs, etc. Try to blow the dust outside the cover (don't push it inside) and keep the air-can nozzle at least a few inches away from the components. Also try not to tilt the can too much as it might spray a bit of liquid if you do so.

 

[Dieselman]

You will learn more and go farther in life if you do things on your own. If everyone does all the work for you then you will never learn a thing. What do you when you have a school project to do? Ask everyone else how to do it? Cotton swabs are not a good idea cause they leave behind lint. All you need is blow everything off with 1 can of air. Its that easy.

 

[AyeAyeCaptain]

Shut it down, remove the battery. You'll want to clean the vents and the fans that are accessible after you remove one of the covers underneath your laptop. You can use a can of compressed air, cotton swabs, etc. Try to blow the dust outside the cover (don't push it inside) and keep the air-can nozzle at least a few inches away from the components. Also try not to tilt the can too much as it might spray a bit of liquid if you do so.

Was gonna point that out as well with regards to the nozzle and moisture, but I think you give sound advice.

 

[WinAndLinuxTutorials]

You can use a can of compressed air,

I have a blower, can that do the job?

 

[McLovin]

I use a air compressure and then blow all the dust out. Surely gets rid of all the dust.

 

[Dieselman]

You can use a can of compressed air,

I have a blower, can that do the job?

A leaf blower. Sure go right around. Blow the ram chips right out of the mobo. Actually I had a blower bolted to the intake of my 454. Man I miss my Firebird.

 

[Valentin N]

Can you tell me what laptop you have. what you can do in general is to take you vacuum cleaner hold it where the hot air comes out and where the laptop intakes cool air.

I am asking you for the model so that I can give you better tip.

Post some pic of it to that we can get some idea how it looks like.

 

[WinAndLinuxTutorials]

Can you tell me what laptop you have. what you can do in general is to take you vacuum cleaner hold it where the hot air comes out and where the laptop intakes cool air.

I am asking you for the model so that I can give you better tip.

Post some pic of it to that we can get some idea how it looks like.

It is Dell Inspiron 6400 (6 years old). At that time it was even more expensive than my main one.

Here is a review of it: http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-inspiron-6400-240060982.htm

Specifications: http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-inspiron-6400_specs-240060982.htm

Note: All the specifications are same, except: It had a 60GB HDD, 512MB RAM (I replaced it with 2GB RAM), Windows XP Home Edition (I replaced it with Professional), Intel Centrino @1.60GHz

 

[Valentin N]

Can you tell me what laptop you have. what you can do in general is to take you vacuum cleaner hold it where the hot air comes out and where the laptop intakes cool air.

I am asking you for the model so that I can give you better tip.

Post some pic of it to that we can get some idea how it looks like.

It is Dell Inspiron 6400 (6 years old). At that time it was even more expensive than my main one.

Here is a review of it: http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-inspiron-6400-240060982.htm

Specifications: http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-inspiron-6400_specs-240060982.htm

Note: All the specifications are same, except: It had a 60GB HDD, 512MB RAM (I replaced it with 2GB RAM), Windows XP Home Edition (I replaced it with Professional), Intel Centrino @1.60GHz

The best thing would be to disassemble it and then clean it. I will post some video how to do it.

Part1


Part2


I hope this helps.

 

[MetalShaun]

Unless you are having overheating problems then there isn't much point opening the case up fully like in the above video. Taking a laptop apart is easy, putting it back together is the hard part. But if you do make sure you keep track of which screw goes where, I have a few little plastic tubs that I put each size screw in. Or what I have done for particularly tricky laptops that aren't labelled very well I take a picture of the back and use it as a map to place the screws onto as I remove them. Use a soft paint brush and some compressed air and clean as you go. It would also be worth removing the heat sinks and cleaning off and reapplying the thermal compound if you are stripping the machine down that far.