how often do i have to remove the back cover of my laptop to clean it on the inside

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by cns00, Feb 7, 2021.

  1. cns00

    cns00 MDL Novice

    Jul 31, 2019
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    i have an alienware 17 r5 laptop. i am using a coolpad which has 3 rings

    in the past when i was in my old bedroom i often noticed that there were dust rings on the 3 coolpad rings and also there were 3 dust rings on the bottom of the laptop. i wiped the dust rings and then it comes back after few weeks

    i took the alienware laptop to a repair shop mid july 2020 and a technician removed the back cover to clean the laptop from the inside. i saw that there was a thin layer\bit thick layer in the center of the laptop around the battery area

    after july 2020 i had to move to another bedroom in my house. i noticed that there was no longer 3 dust rings under the laptop when i am in new bedroom

    now 7 months have passed since i took laptop to repair shop for cleaning from the inside. once a month i am using can of compressed air and i am spraying air through the bottom grill at the laptop fans and through the vents as a precaution to make sure that they are clear and that there is no dust stuck in them

    when is next time i have to take laptop to repair shop so back cover is removed to clean the dust from the inside? before i was under the impression that i need to remove the back cover once every 6 months and people told me that's not needed

    is it after 9 months or 1 year passed or 2 years since last time back cover was removed to remove the dust?

    there are people who are obsessed with cleaning the laptop. once every 3 months they remove the back cover and they use electric duster to remove the dust. that's not necessary and the important thing is that there is no dust on fans and vents and i am making sure of that by using compressed air can. air can is not that efficient and it just unsticks the dust and it shuffles it around inside the laptop and the back cover should be removed to remove all the dust. however, the amount of dust inside the laptop now should be less after i shifted to new bedroom
     
  2. ohenry

    ohenry MDL Senior Member

    Aug 10, 2009
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    I think the answer would depend, to a great extent, on just how difficult it is to remove the back. Notebooks used to have several easily removed panels on the back. These days, most have a single piece back cover which has to be (very carefully) pried off. Makes me wonder just how many times you can pry off that back cover before you break something, or the catches wear out, or ...

    And don't even get me started on those little flat ribbon cable connectors which break if you look at them wrong.
     
  3. MrG

    MrG MDL Expert

    May 31, 2010
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    Caution: if using canned air I have found that it contains moisture on the first blasts.
     
  4. zen45

    zen45 MDL Addicted

    Feb 25, 2010
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    how often you have to clean out yor computer depends on how clean the environment is, dog hair cat hair dust how clean the air is around your computer , is it close to an air vent that has clean filtered air . i clean mine about once a year or year and a half, so far its been pretty clean when i look inside .
     
  5. Mr.X

    Mr.X MDL Guru

    Jul 14, 2013
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    Normal conditions?
    Do it once a year.