Cooling fan for Dell Vostro 1500 ?

April 29, 2013 6:06 PM

I was wondering if having a dead cooling fan in my Dell Vostro 1500 laptop would make the screen go wonky ? I purchased a new cooling fan, but I have no idea how to install it.
posted by therealshell to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Sure, overheating can cause graphical corruption.

If you bought a compatible fan it is often as easy as as powering down the laptop, removing the battery, removing one or more panels on the bottom, removing the existing fan, inserting the new one, and reassembling the laptop. However, if you don't have a good magnetized set of small screwdrivers are or otherwise uncomfortable doing this yourself, it's a 10-minute job for any competent repair shop or mildly geeky teenager. While you're in there it's probably worth blowing or vacuuming out any accumulated dust on the heat sink or the inside of vents in the case.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 6:20 PM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

I have that same exact computer. I replaced the fan on mine. There are detailed instructions online, I *think* I found mine on dell.com. There are a few different fans as I recall, some of them are very easy to get to and some are a little harder, but with a set of small screwdrivers and the instructions they are all quite doable.

And yeah, I cleaned all the crap out of mine when I had it open.

FWIW my battery is totally dead now, kinda sad :(
posted by RustyBrooks at 6:36 PM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Here is the service manual. It doesn't look like too difficult of an operation.
posted by tresbizzare at 9:42 PM on April 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the service manual link tresbizzare. I think that I will have a go at replacing the busted cooling fan today.
posted by therealshell at 8:50 AM on June 6, 2013