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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.
June 14th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Is it possible to replace the vga fan, cost and labor? mine totally stopped working, its been 3 years now. I have the aspire 5560 ati x1600, the shape and model looks identical to the aspire 3620. the computer it self is still working but i have an external fan underneath and external side fans.
plz dont say “buy new laptop”
June 8th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Thank you so much
June 6th, 2009 at 6:20 am
Hi,
I still have the same problem with my Aspire 3620. It randomly performed a shut down. Instead of taking it completely apart, I’m not technically adept, I decided to use a fan from the outside for cooling. It’s not the ideal solution, but it works.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Just an off note. It is a better idea to always replace the thermal grease when removing a heatsink from a processor. Trying to reuse the old grease will usually lead to overheating problems in the future. Just my opinion, based on 10 years experience!! (I recommend Arctic Silver 5 thermal grease — a little expensive but the best stuff out there!)
May 25th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Darren,
First of all, check both memory modules. Make sure memory modules are connected properly.
Did you remove the heat sink while cleaning the laptop? It’ possible you accidentally pulled the CPU from the socket. Make sure the CPU is seated correctly.
Try reseating the CPU and make sure the socket is locked.
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:43 am
Thanks for the info I went through all the steps cleaned out the dust, put it all back together but now it won’t turn on.
Any ideas what I could have done wrong?
I have an acer 2420
Thanks
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:15 am
Thanks for this manual!
May 17th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Great guide, was curious if you might be able to think of what I can’t. My kid spilled some soda on my laptop, Acer Aspire 3680, layout is very similar to the 3620. Basically, I let it dry out, worked fine afterwards, then about a week later it started having problems booting up, always could tell if it was going to or not based on if the CPU fan would kick in. Another week later the entire thing goes dead. I’m still getting the power light to come on when I press the power button, but no matter what I do the CPU fan won’t kick on and it won’t boot up. I’ve used the guide to pull it apart and cleaned off all the left over stickiness from the soda and inspected the motherboard for any burn marks indicating that it might be fried, checked CPU fan to see if it’d spin, etc. Everything looked good, put it back together and still nothing. Any ideas?
May 15th, 2009 at 10:54 am
where CMOS?
May 10th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Hey Laptop Tech,
Today I followed this guide in order to clean my mothers laptop. Everything was going perfectly until I reassembled the laptop. I started up with laptop and the monitor didn’t work. I tried taking the whole thing apart and redoing it twice. I know for sure that the Video Cable is plugged in and so are both of the Wifi card cables that are connected to the screen. If you have any ideas of about what the problem may be please respond as soon as you can.
Thanks In Advance,
Adriel Cedeno