Comments on: Cleaning Dell Inspiron 5100 Cooling Fan Part 3

By: gNat

gNat — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:17:35 +0000

(Just call me mister posts-a-lot!)
Stop the presses!

PROBLEM SOLVED

First, thank you for your time and consideration!
Second, after reading an article here:
http://danandsherree.com/2005/04/02/our_dell_inspiron_11.php
I found a solution in the comments!!!

AK posted on June 20, 2005 12:02 PM (5 years ago!)
“There is a really easy solution if you loose video after reseating the CPU. [...] there is a small turn screw on the left hand side of where the CPU sits. If you look closely, there are small LOCK and UNLOCK icons on either side of the space where you would turn. After seating the CPU, simply turn the little notch to UNLOCK then back to LOCK, screw your heat sink and fan back in, replace all screws and parts.”

I immediately opened it up, “unlocked” that screw, undid the screws-with-springs, removed / reseated the CPU (it’s attached the bottom side of the screws-with-springs big ol’ case) and “locked” that little screw. I reassembled everything and fired it up. BAM! It worked!!!

Thank You!!!

Adino: Awesome! Thanks for sharing the solution!

By: gNat

gNat — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:40:19 +0000

Thanks! No hard feelings. Totally my mistake.
Continuing the investigation at http://bit.ly/cghq9d, but I’m out of my depth for trouble-shooting. Thanks for your DIY instructions!

Adino: I’m just glad to help. Btw I’m using a Mac now hehe

By: gNat

gNat — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 22:22:21 +0000

(cont’d)
Oh boy. So, to recap: I did everything as outlined above, even removed the heat-sink unit (aka: microprocessor thermal-cooling assembly http://bit.ly/adnO56). I removed a wad of dust the size of my finger and reassembled everything.

I had unplugged the computer, but I had not *removed the battery* from the computer.

Question: Did anyone else remove the heat-sink unit w/out having removed their battery? If so, and if it did not result in the destruction of your computer, I’d love to hear it. Otherwise, if everyone else removed their battery and I didn’t, then I guess I have a good idea what’s wrong.

Obviously this is my bad, and I am not blaming Adino or anyone for my gaff. But perhaps, in the Warning Warning Warning section up front on page 1, you could mention this?

The following is a quote I wish I’d read earlier from the Dell Inspiron 5100 documentation site http://bit.ly/ctLJ7R

NOTICE: To avoid damaging the system board, you must remove the main battery before you service the computer.

Still, great site. Thanks for helping everyone!

Adino: I hope you manage to find a solution!

By: gNat

gNat — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 21:46:56 +0000

Thanks for the site, Adino! I too had the loud fan on an old Dell Inspiron 5100. After reading this blog I was excited to clean the machine. Cleaning was easier than I expected. Except … I put it back together again and now the monitor is blank. I pluged an external monitor into the back of the Dell, and that too showed blank. Anyone have any tips? I don’t know if it’s stuck in some kind of sleep mode or what. If (when) I figure it out, I’ll post here to help any one else suffering the same fate. Thanks!

Adino: Oh no… could you have accidentally damaged a cable or something?

By: emma

emma — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 10:38:04 +0000

thank you – great walk through just cleaning my dell now, really hopeful that it works better now. thank you

Adino: It should work better

By: cinthb

cinthb — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:56:21 +0000

Hey Adino, I just bought a 5100 on ebay and knew I should scan the web for issues, and that brought me to your 3 yr. old blog, still helping Dell owners, and gathering more tips along the way. Very cool. I now have the fan cleaned, but would still like to see pics of the thermal paste applied to CPU before I attempt it.
Thanks anyway

Adino: Sorry I can’t provide any photos, but I’m sure there are other sites that have step-by-step instructions for applying thermal paste.

By: kevin

kevin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:29:19 +0000

Thank you very much for all the detail. My girlfriend was working with an ice pack under her laptop so it wouldn’t shut down. It no longer overheats.

Adino: Glad to help Kevin!

By: Dimon, Russia

Dimon, Russia — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:34:12 +0000

Some interesting pics of Dell Inspiron 5100 for its cleaning and upgrating:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/sm/index.htm

Adino: Thanks for the link Dimon! It’s an excellent reference for those of you who want to go deeper into the bowels of the Inspiron 5100.

By: Dimon, Russia

Dimon, Russia — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:50:34 +0000

Adino, thank you!

At the start of cleaning of my notebook Dell 5100 I’ve could not open it because blue panel did not to want to be removed. But I try to pull it to myself (direction to keyboard) and blue panel has been taken off!!!

Also, I pull out thermal block with CPU and radiator. I think, that CPU is glued to thermal block I cleaned radiator and fan. I want next cleaning to clean space between plates of radiator by velour paper.
Thermal grease I have not replaced because I aware to break the CPU.

Thank you!!!

Adino: Wow, I didn’t dare to remove the thermal block. Thanks for sharing your experience!

By: Erick

Erick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:54:48 +0000

Nice post bro… you solved my problem.
thanks alot.

Adino: You’re welcome, Erick!

By: Anand S

Anand S — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:18:55 +0000

Thanks Adino,
It is really a very helpful post. I had this problem and your step to step guide with photo’s was very useful.

Thanks again for a very useful post.

Anand.

Adino: No problem Anand, glad to help.

By: 5150 owner

5150 owner — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:21:23 +0000

my dell 5150 is nearly 6 yrs old, still running. had the motherboard replaced through dell few years ago. Do you know if this cleaning of the fans you posted will work on the Dell 5150?

Adino: I’m not sure… if the casing design is similar then I guess it would work

By: Writer's Coin

Writer's Coin — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:35:50 +0000

Wow, exactly the info I wanted. Thanks a ton! Let’s see how long we can keep our 5100s on the road!

Adino: You’re welcome, glad I could help!

By: a 5100 owner

a 5100 owner — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:37:18 +0000

Adino : hey i’m back its now 09 well seemed the unit did the same thing started to get loud and was getting hot so i did the same thing that i did last time but this time i took the whole fan/heatsink off next to the fan is 4 screws that have springs on them those are what u need to take off.

1.) unscrew the 4 screws that hold the fan/heatsink down to the cpu
2.) cleaned out unit u can now clean most of the bottom and all of the heatsink with out sticking qtips in there
3.) i checked the cpu and cleaned all the crapo that was left from the paste that was on there from years and years ago. this is a good step make sure it looks all shiny
4.) also on the back side of the heatsink u should clean all the crapo off that aswell
5.) re apply new termal paste <— this is key when i just opened the unit now the paste was all gone seemed it might have been gone for a bit now.

Arctic Silver 5 is what i re apply on the cpu

what u need to do with this is just apply a thin line one 1 side of the cpu after that u take a index card and smooth it out from side to side make sure its not to much and not to little u just need a thin line.

after doing both the computer now runs even smoother then before. so if you still have your 5100 kicking i would open it up and re apply the paste on the cpu ASAP and clean out the fan trap lol

Adino – thanks again for the great guide hope all that read this check the comments left to see extra stuff that was learned maybe u can add that to your page like a extra tip if needed to clean and re apply paste to cpu if needed

Adino: Wow, thanks for the instructions for cleaning the heatsink and reapplying thermal paste. I think what you did will work even better!

By: ghostface

ghostface — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 06:22:52 +0000

post2

yup, i just cleaned the fan and there was a huge lump of dirt in the grill thinggy
thanks again!

Adino: You need to clean it quite frequently, about once every six months I think.

By: ghostface

ghostface — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:56:52 +0000

just want to say thanks for the nice tutorial on cleaning

my dell was just a second-hand unit and they said it was three years old so i probably need to clean it, even though i live in a cold place, it still can be a little hot at the bottom (or maybe im choking the fan since i placed it on top of the fluffy bed XD)

ty again, ill start cleaning tomorow

Adino: You’re welcome!

By: Tom Brandolini

Tom Brandolini — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:14:17 +0000

Thanks for putting this up. I have found this process works better if the entire cooling assembly is removed. To do this you unplug the fan from the motherboard, undo the four screws on top of the cooler and pull it out. Removing the whole unit will allow you to clean all the built up dust out of the cooling fins with compressed air. And definitely coat the top of the cpu with some thermal paste (can get at Radio Shack) before you reinstall the cooler.

Adino: Thanks for the suggestion

By: John

John — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:21:13 +0000

This worked. The entire back vent was blocked and even though she was trying so hard to cool, it just wasn’t happening.

After finishing and testing the difference in airflow is amazing and that loud fan is a thing of the past.

Thanks for taking time to compile this. You’ve added lots more time to the life of my Inspiron.

Adino: You extracted a great carpet of dust didn’t you? Glad I could help John!

By: Fritz

Fritz — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:21:52 +0000

you have fixed one of the 2 problems i have with my one and only love. I’ve been using it for years and just recently started cracking it open to fix various problems (keyboard, monitor..etc…)

heck, keeping a 5100 alive should be a nationally reconized hobby!

thanks for your help!

Adino: You’re welcome Fritz!

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:14:57 +0000

Hey Adino,

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. you REALLY helped me a lot with my 5150.

Adino: You’re welcome Nick