Cleaning your fan(s) is one of the most effective ways to reduce heat build-up on your notebook. Like everything in this world notebooks collect dust; not only does the dust limit the amount of airflow through the notebook chassis, but it also creates small air pockets which further insulates the heat inside the notebook. Despite the fan(s) being in constant motion, you’d be surprised to notice dust particles attached to the fan blades, and other parts of the fan. The heat radiator is also prone to getting clogged and this can lead a futile exhaust system. There is no real way to prevent this and the key is to maintain your notebook.

1. First locate your fan. This should be pretty straight forward.  Some notebooks may not have direct air intake for the fan, look for a vent on the side or back like in the image on the right.
    
   
2. The next step is to see if your fan is accessible, many notebooks do not have easily accessible fans. By easily accessible, we mean lifting up a panel to access the fan. If you do not have such a panel there are two options. Option one being disassemble your notebook until you have access to the fan, we recommend this only if you know what you are doing and it should be mentioned that disassembling your notebook may void your warranty. If you do not feel comfortable doing so you can proceed to the next step.
   
3. The next step is to actually clean out the fan, we recommend Qtips and a can of compressed air. Make sure you power down your notebook, remove the battery and ground yourself before performing any invasive notebook surgery.
   

   In our case we used a nail file since a needle is not easy to spot in a photograph, we recommend you use something smaller and less invasive.

   If you have access to the fan:		If you do not have access to the fan:
   Access the fan and remove the fan if you can. Use a Qtip to get to get rid of the bulky bits of dust in both the fan and the heat sink. From there use compressed air to blow dust out of the heatsink, but be careful not to blow dust into the other parts of your notebook. Unless you have a special can of air make sure NOT to tilt the can of compressed air. Finally make sure all is clean and reassemble your notebook.		Begin by taking a tooth pick or similar object and stick it in the fan to prevent it from spinning. DO NOT STICK IT THROUGH THE HEATSINK! Only do so if you have direct access to the fan through a vent but never attempt to do so through a heatsink   Next use compressed air and blow it into the fan. Unless you have a special can of air make sure NOT to tilt the can of compressed air.  Also try and blow towards and through the heatsink as well. If you do not have access to stop the fan from turning use short bursts of air. Forcing your fan to run at a higher RPM than designated can damage your fan.

Here is a before and after of a heatsink.

We have seen notebooks that end up with a BOD from overheating run smooth and return to their functional state after this simple maintenance. If you have access to your fans we recommend you do this at least once every 6 months to prevent long term dust collection. If you do not have direct access to your notebook fan, we recommend you clean out your fans at least once every 3 months as dust can coagulate into larger clumps and become more difficult to eradicate.   Those are the bare minimum, we clean ours every month to prevent any build up and we recommend you try and do the same.

What not to do:

• Use a vacuum cleaner (creates static electricity which can kill your notebook)
• Tilt the can of compressed air