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Old laptop fan got loud, so I tried a $6 phone repair kit fix
My 2015 ThinkPad started sounding like a jet engine last Tuesday, and the local shop quoted me $95 just for labor plus a new fan. I pulled the bottom panel and found the fan was clogged with dust, so I used a plastic spudger and a soft brush from a phone repair kit to clean it out. Now it runs quiet again and I'm wondering if anyone else has revived noisy fans with just a thorough cleaning instead of replacing them.
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sarahsullivan23d ago
A $95 labor quote for a five minute dust cleaning is wild to me. That shop had to know the fan was just clogged, not dead, and still charged you like it needed a full teardown. I opened up my old Dell a few years back and pulled out what looked like a felt blanket of dust and pet hair, it was nasty. After a quick brush and some canned air it spun like new and never made that grinding sound again. Shops make way more money selling you a new part than spending ten minutes cleaning the old one.
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