My laptop fan was screaming until I blew it out with compressed air

Had a Dell XPS that sounded like a jet engine every afternoon. After 3 months I finally opened the bottom panel. The fan was caked in dust bunnies. Used a $6 can of compressed air from Target. Took 2 minutes and now it runs silent. Anyone else put off cleaning their fans for way too long?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey2684d ago

Read somewhere that dust bunnies actually insulate heat, making fans work harder.

the_ben4d ago

Walk into any apartment building and you'll see the same thing - vents caked with dust, AC units wheezing, people wondering why their electric bill is so high. Its the same with fridge coils, dryer vents, even the little mesh screen on your microwave. We just let stuff pile up until the thing has to work twice as hard to do the same job. Then we blame the appliance instead of the layer of fuzz suffocating it.

ray_burns3d ago

Man, you're not kidding. I waited until my old laptop would actually shut down from overheating before I finally popped it open. The dust was so thick it looked like a little felt blanket over the fan blades. A quick blast with compressed air and some q-tips for the tough spots and it was like a brand new machine. Good reminder to check those vents every few months, especially if you keep it on your bed or a soft surface.