A fan blowing hard is not the fault : it is the symptom. The machine is fighting heat it can no longer get rid of.
And that fight has a visible cost : beyond a certain temperature, the processor deliberately slows itself down to survive. That is why overheating and slowness almost always come together - the machine is not dragging because it is old, it is dragging because it is too hot.
The heat produced by the processor passes to a heatsink through thermal paste, then out through a fan across very fine fins. Three things can fail : the fins clog with dust, the paste dries and stops conducting, the fan wears and spins more slowly. All three happen with time, and often together.
Blowing from outside moves the surface dust, but the real problem is elsewhere : a compact mat forms between the fan and the heatsink fins, in a place no jet of air reaches without dismantling. On a machine over three years old that is genuinely running hot, cleaning from outside buys only a few weeks.
A full clean means opening the machine, removing the fan and heatsink assembly, taking out the mat of dust and replacing the thermal paste. On a device more than five years old that paste has invariably dried out : replacing it often drops temperatures by fifteen to twenty-five degrees.
A fan that squeaks, clicks or vibrates is near the end of its life and can be replaced - an inexpensive part, provided you act before it stops altogether.
A machine that runs permanently hot ages fast : components cope badly with repeated heat cycles, the battery degrades more quickly, and the drive does not appreciate it either. A service every two or three years costs a fraction of an early replacement.
We record temperatures under load before and after the work, which lets you measure the result rather than assume it. Cleaning and thermal paste are handled through a workshop drop-off, in Lyon.
Every two to three years in domestic use. Far more often with pets, tobacco, or in a dusty workplace : hair and particles clog heatsinks very quickly.
It gains a few degrees, especially in summer. It is only a supplement though : if the internal fins are blocked, no external fan will make up for it.
That happens when a program is working the processor in the background, or after a changed power setting. Look at what is running before concluding there is a hardware problem.
Would you rather we took care of it ? See our laptop repair service, in Lyon and across the Rhone.
Full clean with temperature readings before and after.
Automatic assistant: it can make mistakes. Never share a password or a card number.
