# Laptop Fan Working Extra Hard



## MANTO (18 Mar 2011)

Hi All,

Over the past few weeks, the fan in my laptop is working extra hard (i can hear it getting louder) & the laptop is hotter than normal (not good) - any ideas guys?

Thanks
M


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## MrEBear (18 Mar 2011)

It could be a case that the fan is dirty and is having to work harder to get cool air in. If this is the case it can be a bit fiddly to clean. One method I've tried is to use the small nossell attachment for your hover and set it on it's lowest power setting. You still need to be very careful as if it is too strong or there are any small components near the fan it can pull them out of place. 

If you don't feel sure of yourself in doing this your best bet is to get a professional to look at it. 

Best of luck. Bear


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## MANTO (18 Mar 2011)

Thanks Bear,

One of the lads from IT suggested the same thing, i will give that a go. I will have to be careful, the Dyson might be a little too strong


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## pudds (18 Mar 2011)

Or you can get a can of compressed air in most computer shops.


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## PaddyW (24 Mar 2011)

MANTO said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Over the past few weeks, the fan in my laptop is working extra hard (i can hear it getting louder) & the laptop is hotter than normal (not good) - any ideas guys?
> 
> ...



Acer laptop by any chance?


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## sean.c (6 Apr 2011)

Might also be worthwhile checking that the air outlets are free from lint buildup. My laptop fried it's motherboard because of blocked outlets.


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## jetski (14 Jun 2011)

pop dust building up in your heatsink...


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## rcanpolat (15 Jun 2011)

Im going to agree with everyone here and say yup, its dust!

I also recently had a motherboard fried because of blocked inputs. In fairness it was an 8 year old p4 (it heated my study) but i never thought of cleaning out the vents. When she finally died on me i opened it up and found a 1 inch thick clump of dust, hair etc blocking the air intake to the heatsink and fan over the processor socket. Processor ended up getting too hot and fried up some of the surrounding electronics.

If all is clear though you could always try SpeedFan and if its supported on your laptop then manually force the fan to spin down. Google it to find a link because this is only my 2nd post and i cant post URL's yet

Ughhh


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## Woodie (15 Jun 2011)

Could also be an issue with a software upgrade.  I know that some DEll laptops had issues with the graphics chips overheating and a software release was made to put the fan on almost all of the time.
Probably the cause is dust but the above is another possibility.


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## AlbacoreA (16 Jun 2011)

pudds said:


> Or you can get a can of compressed air in most computer shops.



I used compressed air. Using a hover seems a bit extreme. 

Computers need to be cleaned out every so often. They fill up with dust.


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## thelegend (16 Jun 2011)

i had a compaq /(HP) labtop that used to do that, the rubber feet on the base of the laptop wore down with time, and both the air in take and air exhaust are on the base, because the rubber feet were worn down this restricted the air flow therefore the fan had to labour more vigerously to keep the components cool. instead eventually it overheated, fried the battery, and started giving trouble.


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## ondeball (16 Jun 2011)

I have an Acer and noticed the same thing, overworking fan, for the last few weeks.

Last night it shut down when I was in the middle of doing stuff twice before eventually throwing up the BSOD and shutting down. At this point I put it to one side and I'm hoping it will be back to normal this evening. 

Though I'm basing this hope on absolutely no logic at all.


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## AlastairSC (19 Jun 2011)

Yep, get the dust out. Also consider putting it on a rigid table mat or some such, to ensure there's proper air circulation underneath. Or glue an extra few mm of felt or rubber onto the feet to raise it a little. Or (the ultimate) how about a usb-powered fan built into a base like this - http://www.everythingusb.com/belkin_laptop_cooling_pad_13845.html


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