Laptop Repairs » Repairs

Acer Travelmate Laptop Removing Dust from Heatsink HSF

admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:00:30 +0000

In the summer months you might have noticed your laptop fan making more noise than usual. This is because dust and lint gets wedged between the fan and the heat sink and the airflow becomes limited. This can cause the laptops components to overheat and the fan spins faster to compensate for bad airflow.

This overheating will reduce the performance of the laptop and it’s battery charge and could also reduce the laptops lifespan. I recommend cleaning out the heatsink every 6 months or more on all makes and models and desktop computers not just laptops.

Acer Travelmate Laptop Removing Dust from Heatsink HSF

How to Replace a Smashed or Cracked Toshiba Laptop Screen

admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:03:44 +0000

This is a Toshiba 17″ Laptop with a smashed LCD screen. On this model I had to remove some screws from the base and three screws from inside the battery bay before the bezel could be released.

I’ve changed the way I display the photo’s. Click to enlarge them they will open in Lightbox. If you hover over the middle right or left side you get an arrow which will goto the next step (photo).

DC Jack Repair on Gateway MA7 Laptop

admin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:53:48 +0000

Here I have a DC Jack to replace on a Gateway MA7 Laptop, there was no power to the laptop and the battery would not charge. These symptoms can also indicate a faulty AC Adapter so this was tested before any work was carried out on the laptop.

To replace the DC Jack you need to remove the motherboard from the laptop completely, this is a long and complicated process and alot of screws to account for. It takes me 2 hours to complete the DC Jack repair on a laptop so allow yourself more time if this is your first attemp.

If you do not not have a desoldering iron station I do not recommend you attemp a DIY repair.

Desoldering the DC Jack

Motherboard with DC Jack removed

New DC Jack Solder joints

New DC Jack fitted top view

Gateway laptop parts

Step 1 Attach the external VGA

Step 2 Attach the front speakers

Step 3 Sit the motherboard in the base

Step 4 Screw in the motherboard to the base

Step 5a Attach the palmrest

Step 5b Screw it down

Step 6 Connect the touchpad

Step 7 Screw in the VGA bolts

Step 8a Screws under the battery

Step 8b Screw in the base to the palmrest

Step 9 Apply thermal compound to the CPU

Step 10 Put the HSF into the laptop

Step 10b Screw in the heatsink

Step 11 Fit the memory

Step 12 Fit in the wireless card

Step 13 Fit in the hard drive

Step 14 Attach the LCD screen

Step 15 Attach the wireless cable

Step 16 Connect the display cable

Step 17 Slide in the DVD-RW

Step 18a Connect the keyboard

Step 18b Secure the keyboard with screw

Step 19 Place the rear panel back on the base

Step 20 Another perfect repair