Cleaning laptop fan with a vacuum cleaner

Question

I have a Thinkpad T440p and the fan seems to be dirty from no hot air coming out of the laptop. All the disassembly guides show that I need to take the whole fan assembly out but I have no thermal paste left nor do I have any cans of compressed air.

Can I just take a vacuum cleaner to the fan and clean it that way?

Solution

I have done that several times with a 1500 W vacuum cleaner and several Dell Precision and Latitude laptops. Note that these Laptops ar blowing out air from the fan through a filter to the outside. Some others may suck the air in through that filter.

BUT: First make sure that the small fan gets only a fraction of the full suction power, it is not as robust as a normal, big desktop cpu fan. So, if you come near with the vc tube to the laptop fan, give it only a very short time, then hold it off.

NEVER put it directly onto the fan for longer than a short fraction of a second! You will see, when the fan begins to rotate fast. Try to hinder it, if possible, with a match or a needle (don't loose that into the laptop's body).

If your vc allows power justification, use the lowest possible setting. The most efficient way, although, is to clean the fan with a little brush, then use a small vc (for the kitchen, f.i.) to clean the fan's surroundings, if you don't get it out.

ANOTHER BUT: From my experience, the most blocking dust is placed in the filter, not in the fan. So you also can try to suck out the air from the inner side of the filter with the vc, if reachable. Try to block the fan from beginning to rotate, while doing this.

To clean the filter from the outside, I had several times to "bite the dust", i.e. blow air from my lungs, which is much stronger than most cans you can buy, directly from the outside of the filter to the inside (with opened Laptop-casing). I put my lips around the filter output.... Urgh!

With some coughing later, I have to add. And do it near a window or outside, because there can come out a lot....

You can try this "natural" method, of course, with the fan, too, but be careful not to spit on the surrounding electronics.

I have to add, make sure you are grounded when using a vc, to prevent electrostatic (dis)charge.

Comments

[Ramhound]

You will likely damage your laptop if you do that. You should get some thermal paste (since you need it to solve your thermal problems) and a can of compressed air. Please don't use the wrong tool for the job. Do I risk destroying the fan if I use a vacuum cleaner on my laptop?

[User Not Found]

I don't think that it will harm laptop as its just sucking the air out...as far as I know most internet laptop cleaning guides involve vacuum cleaners (and hair dryers but they are bad)

[fixer1234]

In addition to the advice in the answers, stretch a piece of stocking over the vacuum hose and secure it with a rubber band. That way, if the vacuum sucks in any small loose parts, at least they will be recoverable.