I had a core i3 laptop with a large access panel in the bottom- remove ONE screw and you get access to the FAN for a thorough cleaning.
Now I have recently upgraded to a core i7 laptop, and after the purchase realized it's incredibly difficult to access the fan.
The manufacturer (HP) provides a service manual-the trouble is this notebook doesn't have a bottom access panel, it opens from the top (keyboard) side.
You have to remove 21 screws, rubber feet, and then unplug 5 flex cables to access the fan (cables requiring removal: power button cable, keyboard cable, keyboard backlight cable, touchpad cable, and fingerprint scanner cable).
No way i can do this regularly once every two months-the risk of damaging a cable and (or) the motherboard socket where it goes, is too much.
Any suggestion on how i can clean the fan on this?
Do canned air/ vacuum cleaners really work? Let's start with a correction. You state "Manufacturer HP". You mean Brand HP.
I was in the industry 30 years. This is correct:
http://www.xoticpc.com/laptop-manufacturers-really-makes-laptops-ip-11.html
I think about 20% are configured by HP from subcomponents that were contracted out, and 80% are fully contracted. HP is the new Acer. They never made any either. Dell does very few also, and only some Thinkpad in Lenovo is Lenovo.
Now that manufacture and design are better set, They are sealing the bottom more as the Lithium polymer batteries are thinner and contained, and a thinner laptop has more structural integrity sealed. Apple did it for a long time and does fine on their price gouging.
Newer laptops are running U suffix CPUs of lower performance but even lower wattage. The low wattage means less heat means less stress on cooling.
Unless in a dusty environment, they should need less cleaning.
I wouldn't keep pulling it apart.
You can try a vacuum if you want and see how that works. I know exactly what you mean. I can't access my laptops fan either, I would have to take the whole computer! Canned air works great, but if you can't access the fan then there's really no point in using it. I've never cleaned my fans, not because I don't want to its because I can't. A laptop is best blown out to clean and not opened. Outside, use a leaf blower to force air threw the vents. However, The fan is never hard to access on a laptop
The goal is not to see how many pieces to can get it into but to clean the fan and vents. You shouldn't have to open your computer that often. Unless you are experiencing overheat problems just let it be.
