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In this guide I’ll be cleaning the cooling module in an Acer Aspire 3620 laptop. Most likely my instructions will work for some other Acer Aspire models. Fell free to leave a comment and mention the laptop model if it works for you.
This particular laptop was shutting down by itself while running some intensive applications. I found that the cooling module (heat sink and fan) is completely clogged with dust and needs a good cleaning. Unfortunately, in this model the cooling module is buried deep inside the laptop and it’s necessary to take the whole thing apart in order to access it. OK, let’s start.
If you need spare parts for your Aspire 3620 laptop (or any other laptops) try to search here. If you search by the laptop model and part name, most likely you’ll find it. For example, if you need a new keyboard, search for Aspire 3620 keyboard.
Step1.
First of all turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter and remove the battery. Remove the hard drive and memory covers from the bottom.
Step 2.
Remove four screws securing the hard drive assembly. After that slide the hard drive to the left and disconnect it from the motherboard. Now you can remove the hard drive assembly from the laptop.
If you are replacing the hard drive, you’ll have to remove the mounting bracket from the old one and install it on a new hard drive.
Step 3.
Remove both memory modules.
Disconnect two antenna wires from the wireless card (two yellow circles) and remove the wireless card same way you remove the memory module.
Step 4.
Remove one screw securing the CD/DVD drive. Push the drive from the laptop with a screwdriver. Pull the drive from the laptop.
Step 5.
Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop. Disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.
Step 6.
Carefully start removing the keyboard bezel as it shown on the picture below. Be careful, the bezel has a circuit board which is connected to the motherboard.
Step 7.
Place the keyboard bezel so you can access the screw securing the keyboard. Remove that screw. Do not forget, the keyboard bezel is still attached to the motherboard.
Step 8.
Lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palm rest. Before you can remove the keyboard, you have to disconnect it from the motherboard.
On the picture below you see the keyboard cable connected to the motherboard. In order to unlock the connector, move the brown part about 2-3 millimeters towards the palm rest. Do not disconnect the brown locking tab from the connector, it must stay attached to the base.
On the picture below you can see the same connector in the unlocked state. Now you can pull the cable and remove the keyboard.
By the way, if you are only removing or replacing the keyboard, you can follow steps 6-8. You don’t have to remove anything from the bottom.
Step 9.
Now you can disconnect the cable connecting the keyboard bezel to the motherboard and remove the bezel. This cable belongs to the power button board which is attached to the bottom part of the bezel.
Step 10.
Pull the wireless antenna cables through the opening in the laptop. Disconnect the video cable from the motherboard. Remove two screws securing the display panel.
Step 11.
Now you can remove the display panel assembly. In the next post I will explain how to remove the LCD screen and inverter board.
Step 12.
Disconnect two white cables from the motherboard same way you disconnected the keyboard cable.
Step 13.
Start separating the top cover assembly from the laptop base.
and remove the top cover assembly.
Step 14.
Remove five screws securing the laptop motherboard. Disconnect the speaker cable from the motherboard.
Step 15.
Start removing the motherboard from the left side as it shown on the picture below.
The motherboard has been removed.
On the next picture you see the bottom part of the motherboard.
The cooling fan is attached to the base assembly and can be easily removed and replaced now.
Step 16.
Now I’m going to remove the heat sink.
Remove five screws securing the heat sink and carefully lift it up.
As you see, the heat sink is completely clogged with dust. I’m going to use compressed air to clean it.
You’ll find some gray (or other color) stuff on the top of the processor, it’s thermal grease which helps to conduct heat from the processor to heat sink. If thermal grease looks dry, you’ll have to replace it with new grease. Otherwise, you can reuse old grease, just spread it evenly on the top of the processor and install the heat sink back in place.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:42 pm
Thanks, helped me in the deconstruction of my 3610. Different but similar enough, Thanks.
December 7th, 2009 at 2:26 am
Thank you so much..
It’s really a big help..
Cant do it with out this page..
more power..
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:15 am
[...] Earlier I published a guide for taking apart an Acer TravelMate 3620. [...]
October 14th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Jon,
Thank you for your generous donation. I just got it.
October 14th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I used your instructions to get at the cooling fan in my Acer 3610. Some minor differences, but your clear, illustrated instructions helped give me the confidence to pursue and get the dirt out of the cooling system. This both reduced the cooling cycle frequency, and cut way back on the noise from the fan – which was getting so bad that my friends on Skype were having difficulty hearing me over the “buzz-saw” sound from the computer.
Thanks for the help, and keep up the good work.
By the way, I just donated $10 via PayPal. I don’t know what the standard is in this business, but it felt right to me.
Jon
October 13th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Thanks replace the cooling fan but the laptop willn’t turn back on and power cable bad and can’t find a place to replace it
September 18th, 2009 at 7:34 am
Noresh,
You can see the CMOS battery in the STEP 14. In the lower left corner. The CMOS battery is on the right side from the ENE chip.
September 18th, 2009 at 3:31 am
Hi There,
Appreciate if you could label the CMOS battery!!!
Thanks
September 16th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Thanks for the tips & pics! It helps me a lot!
September 8th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Jared,
Not really. The CMOS battery is connected to the motherboard and hidden under the palm rest. You’ll have to remove the top cover (steps 1-14) in order to access and replace the CMOS battery.
September 6th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Hi, is there any simple way to replace the CMOS battery? anyway Thanks for this it really helps.
August 15th, 2009 at 4:14 am
Hi, I have the Acer Aspire 5610 and it has a built in webcam. There seems to be connection problems with it connecting to the USB connections on the M/B. I’ve had to disable it in the Device Manager settings. I’d really like to have it connected properly. Can you help please?
Many thanks,
Kev
August 11th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Andrew,
Same like in Toshiba laptops but it shouldn’t really matter. Both antenna cables are identical. You’ll get connected even if the black cables goes to main and white to auxiliary.
August 11th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Found it on another site. White is main, Black is Aux. Thanks for the guide, worked out great!
August 11th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Well I’m almost done but I’ve forgotton which color wire goes on which side of the Wi Fi card and I can’t tell by the photos. Please Help!!!
August 6th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Yea, you can completely take the laptop apart of you can just get some canned air and and blow the dust and crap off the heat fins like I did. My ACER kept shutting down when watching DVD’s for extended periods from heat. I blew out the heat exchanger next to the LAN port and problem solved.
August 2nd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Thanks for this guide, very useful for anyone looking for take apart howto instructions for this 3620 model Acer Aspire.
It’s a shame what would otherwise be a good value computer is plagued with this dust+heat problem.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Thanks for all of the help and photos….
I cleaned my fan and re-doped the chip but it the computer was still shutting down. I’ve narrowed it down to a faulty heatsink. It would get really hot near the chips but no heat was transferred down the “pipe” to the fan area….
I never thought a heatsink would go bad but apparently the gas that is sealed in the “pipe” had escaped…..
July 9th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Kemcho,
In order to start any laptop with video you need only three components: motherboard (with video card), CPU and memory.
Did you remove the CPU? Make sure it’s seated correctly and the socket is LOCKED.
Did you remove memory modules? Make sure memory installed correctly.
Test your laptop with an external monitor. Can you get video on the external monitor?