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I took my laptop apart (Epic Fail Almost!)

johnkitchens
johnkitchens Posts: 5,227
in Off Topic
I have an HP laptop that I have had for a few years. For the past year or so the fan runs a lot, and it will overheat and shut down. I blow the fan out pretty often, and it will get better, but yesterday I noticed the fan was quiet. Like a two year old not in the same room quiet. I knew that wasn't good and sure enough the fan had stopped working. 

It wasn't long after that it overheated and shut down. I decided I would take it in to the repair shop to get the fan replaced. After about 5 minutes I decided what the heck. I will crack it open and take a look. What harm could I do! 

After taking 57 screws out I was able to remove the back cover. The keyboard was still attached, and I saw there was a lot of dust in and around the fan. I blew it out and cleaned everything as best I could. 

I then put it back together. I plugged it in and the power light came on. I felt pretty good about it. I pressed the power button. No dice! Nothing. Dead as a door nail. 

I took it back apart and quickly discovered in my amateurish haste I had removed the ribbons, or wiring harness, for the power, the touchpad, the keyboard, and two more things, but I am not sure which two. I just saw two more dangling ribbons. Yikes! 

They were still there, but they were no longer plugged in. When I removed the back it yanked them out. They didn't appear damaged, but I couldn't figure out how to put them back and then get the cover on. Then I realized that I had to pop the keyboard out. After I did that it took about two minutes to hook everything back up. 

I put all 56 screws back in, I had one left over, and fired it up. It worked like a charm and even the fan worked! 

I guess the dust had it locked down. I learned something and saved a repair bill. 

Sometimes I do get lucky. 

Louisville, GA - 2 Large BGE's
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Comments

  • grege345
    grege345 Posts: 3,515
    i hate when i end up with an extra screw. hopefully it wasnt important

    LBGE& SBGE———————————————•———————– Pennsylvania / poconos

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  • TTC
    TTC Posts: 1,035

    My right had man at work (and an engineer) is a tinkerer of the first order, guy can fix anything. He swears by using his phone to take pictures of whatever he is taking apart at each step.

    A while back I got bucky and decided to put brake pads on my truck, had I not taken tons of pics it would have been a massive, massive fail.

    Glad you got it back together.

    XL BGE, Blackstone, Roccbox, Weber Gasser, Brown Water, Cigars --  Gallatin, TN

    2001 Mastercraft Maristar 230 VRS

    Ikon pass 

    Colorado in the winter and the Lake in the Summer
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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,459
    John channeling his inner engineer!  I love it!
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  • minniemoh
    minniemoh Posts: 2,145
    There's always an extra screw...
    L x2, M, S, Mini and a Blackstone 36. She says I have enough now....
    eggAddict from MN!
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  • Zmokin
    Zmokin Posts: 1,938
    minniemoh said:
    There's always an extra screw...
    Extra parts leftover just means you've modified it to be lighter. =)

    Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
    Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
     and a BBQ Guru temp controller.

    Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
    Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.

    Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line
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  • johnkitchens
    johnkitchens Posts: 5,227
    theyolksonyou said:
    John channeling his inner engineer!  I love it!
    I am not very mechanical at all. I took apart two Direct TV dvr's to repair the fans with success, but other than that it is about all of the tinkering I have ever done. 

    Louisville, GA - 2 Large BGE's
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  • Hungry Joe
    Hungry Joe Posts: 1,568

    Wish I had an extra screw.

    Really though, is there any such thing?

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  • johnkitchens
    johnkitchens Posts: 5,227
    Hungry Joe said:

    Wish I had an extra screw.

    Really though, is there any such thing?

    According to my wife there isn't. : ( 

    Louisville, GA - 2 Large BGE's
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  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,815
    That's cool.  As a kid/teenager, I would take appart all kind of stuff. I still remember fixing one of those yellow Sony Walkman... Nowadays, I rarely take the time to try repairing broken stuff...

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
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  • DMW
    DMW Posts: 13,833
    Nice job on the fan cleanup. I hate working on laptops. One of the many reasons I moved on from the PC repair racket awhile back.
    They/Them
    Morgantown, PA

    XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer -  PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE  - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker
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  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,981
    theyolksonyou said:
    John channeling his inner engineer!  I love it!
    He's dreaming about  Georgia Tech
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  • johnkitchens
    johnkitchens Posts: 5,227
    DoubleEgger said:
    theyolksonyou said:
    John channeling his inner engineer!  I love it!
    He's dreaming about  Georgia Tech
    That hurt me to my core! 

    Louisville, GA - 2 Large BGE's
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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,459
    John, you already have the girl, it's okay to want to be a geek like us. She's on the hook. 
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  • logchief
    logchief Posts: 1,426
    Maybe you could now start cold calling India and saying your name is Deepak and offering tech support.  Instead of them calling the US and giving some phony John name.
    LBGE - I like the hot stuff.  The big dry San Joaquin Valley, Clovis, CA 
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  • blind99
    blind99 Posts: 4,974
    paqman said:
    That's cool.  As a kid/teenager, I would take appart all kind of stuff. I still remember fixing one of those yellow Sony Walkman... Nowadays, I rarely take the time to try repairing broken stuff...
    @paqman that was the Sony sports Walkman. I wanted one so bad when I was a kid!
    Chicago, IL - Large and Small BGE - Weber Gasser and Kettle
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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    I Sir would not have had this outcome. Mine would've ended up in the circular file. Nice safe John. 
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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