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Is Your IBM Laptop Annoying You? Save $500: Fix it Yourself!

xx_`alicee 4 June 2007 Tutorials 177 Comments

Is your IBM laptop making a “buzzing” noise and preventing you from doing anything productive? No, it’s not your imagination. Nor is this noise the consequence of listening to earphones for too long (although that does contribute). The noise is coming from your CPU fan.

Some noticeable signs of aging that your laptop gives are:
-It becomes very hot under your laptop
-You can feel the keyboard getting hot
-Your laptop will overheat or freeze
You may have considered taking your laptop to a repair shop, but after you have read this article, you will be able to fix it yourself! Not only will you save hundreds of dollars, but you will almost certainly feel a sense of accomplishment.

1. CAUTION: Before removing any components, turn off the computer, unplug all power cords from electrical outlets, and remove the battery pack.

This step is essential. If you don’t disconnect the laptop from every electrical outlet, it may cause severe electrical shocks.

2. Remove ALL screws from the cover under your laptop. Then remove the keyboard and keyboard bezel.

[NOTE: These are the mandatory parts, but you may also want to remove the battery pack and hard drive.]

3. Locate the CPU fan (it has three screws).

4. Unscrew the three screws. Then carefully take out the fan.

[NOTE: When taking out the fan, insert your tool horizontally from the CPU. Push your tool into the gap lightly until the fan comes out. Be careful not to damage the copper plate.

5. You will find a lot of dust in the fan. Obviously, you should first clean away the dirt.

You’re right: The noise is coming from all that dust.

6. Apply some thermal grease on the square area in the middle of the three screws.

This enables the copper plate and the core of the CPU to be able to fully come into contact with one another. The core of the CPU contains heat and the function of the copper plate is to cool down this heat. The CPU fan cools down the copper plate, which in turn cools the core of the CPU. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for the copper plate to be able to fully come into contact with the core of the CPU.

7. Brush off the dust from the rest of the laptop.

Since you’ve already disassembled your laptop, why not give it a good cleaning?

8. Put the CPU fan back together again. Screw on the three screws.

9. Install the keyboard bezel.

10. Install the keyboard and tighten all the screws on the back of the laptop cover.

11. CAUTION: After re-installing these components, do not turn on the laptop until you have made sure that all screws, springs, and other small parts are in place and nothing is loose inside the laptop. Verify this by shaking the computer gently and listening for rattling sounds. Metallic parts can cause electrical short circuits.

Now you’ve fixed your laptop!

Disclaimer:
All handlings are done under your own risk. The author of this article and AFMag cannot be held responsible for any damage done to the hardware from any misunderstanding from this article.