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In this guide I explain how to disassemble a HP Compaq 6730s – 6735s notebook and remove the cooling fan which is mounted under the motherboard. Basically I will take the whole notebook apart and remove all internal components one by one.
Why wouldn’t HP make a door for the cooling fan? Why should it be so complicated to replace the cooling fan?
Let’s start to disassemble the notebook.
If you need new replacement parts for you HP Compaq 6730s-6735s notebook, you can find them here.
STEP 1.
Remove the battery.
Remove covers from the hard drive, wireless card and memory.
STEP 2.
Remove one screw securing the DVD drive (red circle) and pull the drive from the notebook.
Remove memory modules (in my laptop I had only one module installed).
Remove the hard drive, you’ll find details instruction on the sticker glued to the hard drive caddy.
Unsnap two antenna cables from the wireless card. Remove two screws securing the wireless card (green circles). Remove the wireless card.
STEP 3.
Remove five screws securing the switch board cover (red circles).
Remove two screws securing the laptop keyboard (green circles).
Remove eleven screws securing the laptop bottom cover (yellow circles).
STEP 4.
Lift up the switch board cover. You can separate the switch board cover from the bottom cover with a piece of soft plastic. I’m using a guitar pick.
Be careful, the switch board cover is attached to the motherboard. Do not pull the cable from the connector yet.
STEP 5.
Lift up the keyboard and place it on the switch board cover so you can access the keyboard cable connector.
The keyboard is connected to the motherboard via a flat ribbon cable. Before you pull the cable and remove the keyboard, you’ll have to unlock the connector.
On the picture below you can see the keyboard connector unlocked. Now you can pull the cable and remove the keyboard.
STEP 6.
After the keyboard has been removed, you can release the switch board cable and remove the cover.
STEP 7.
Remove four screws securing the notebook speakers.
Unplug the speaker cable from the motherboard.
Remove both speakers.
STEP 8.
Release the wireless card antenna cables.
Unplug the webcam cable from the motherboard.
Remove four screws securing the display hinges (red circles) and one screw grounding the video cable (green circle).
STEP 9.
Lift up and remove the display panel assembly.
In the next guide I’ll explain how to get inside the display panel and remove/replace the web camera module.
STEP 10.
Remove two screws securing the top cover assembly.
STEP 11.
Carefully lift up the top cover assembly.
Be careful, the touch pad cable is still attached to the motherboard.Release the touch pad cable and remove the top cover assembly.
STEP 12.
Now we can access the motherboard.
Unplug three cables pointed with arrows.
Remove three screws securing the motherboard.
Lift up and release the RJ11 (modem) jack.
STEP 13.
Start removing the motherboard from the laptop case.
The motherboard has been removed.
STEP 14.
Finally, you can access and replace the cooling fan.
Simply remove one screw securing the cooling fan to the laptop base and replace it with a new one if needed.
If you are replacing the motherboard you’ll have to transfer some parts to the new board.
Transfer the DVD drive connector, modem card, heat sink, processor and modem cable.
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August 22nd, 2010 at 2:27 am
great help . you save me a lot of money
August 22nd, 2010 at 1:46 am
Very helpful instruction. Can anyone advice me on this problem: 6735s Screen gets black (shuts off and everything else is running). It happens without any reason. Sometimes goes black after 5 mins, sometimes after whole day. I thought some contact is failing. I tried to open/close LCD screen thinking that there was problem, but with no luck.
Can it be connected with battery failing recently?
Even if I remove battery and hook it to AC power, problem still exist.
Also, Laptop was warm all the time in region left to the touch pad.
Any answer is highly appreciated.
August 21st, 2010 at 3:07 pm
This worked a charm. I had fan constantly on at full power, so loud, and overheating problems. Now fan is on a lot less, loads quieter, and no overheating problems. Thanks a lot for the guide! Much appreciated. I was left with one screw after reassembly though. Why is there always one screw left! Every time! Haha. Aaron
August 13th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Is there dust in heat sink?
August 5th, 2010 at 5:04 am
thanks for this message
although my problem is not with the fan but with the charging port/power jack
can it be changed or do i have to change the entire motherboard
please i need your advice as this is urgent thanks
July 29th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Caution. Do not forget the 2 screws at the corners of the bottom case, coverd in rubber mounts. You can not remove the top case if these are not removed in step 11.
July 26th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Your easy to follow instructions were of tremendous help to me. My wife’s 6735s was noisy and running hot and would sometimes shutdown. I was able to open it up and clean the fan and associated parts with my vacuum cleaner. It is now as silent as when it was new and running at a normal temperature. Many thanks for your help.
July 19th, 2010 at 3:22 am
Whilst following this guide and reached removing the top cover assembly, it feels as if the top cover assembly itself feels as though it is stuck/ connected, below where the keyboard would be. Is the panel itself quite stiff, or could I have missed a section? When attempting to ease it up the panel feels like it could snap.
Thanks, Niall
July 17th, 2010 at 9:21 am
I am unable to get past the BIOS admin password.
I have removed the CMOS battery (over 30 mins) re-inserted but still asks for the password.
Are there jumpers on the motherboard to clear the CMOS please?
July 12th, 2010 at 11:37 am
Phill,
Just in case try reconnecting memory modules. Remove memory modules one by one and test the laptop with each module separately.
If you have the same problem with only one module installed (either one), most likely this is motherboard failure.
You’ll have to replace the motherboard OR replace the laptop.
July 12th, 2010 at 8:58 am
Good walkthrough there nice easy steps.
Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem on my 6735s has just started to act up. When attempting to boot up the screen is blank, Hard drive light shows oragne and the light by the caps lock flashed 5 times which according to HP means General system board failure.
Anyone got a fix or is this a replacement job.
Cheer
June 26th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Man, it’s great! You really helped me! CUz I had the overheating problem with my 6735s!!! Greets from Ukraine!
June 21st, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Hi! Thank you very much for this nice tutorial. Everything worked like described. Without this tutorial this job would have been a lot more difficult. Thank you!
June 13th, 2010 at 11:31 am
Thank You for this great guide. I used it to fix the overheating problem which this laptop has.
Regards,
Tom
June 12th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Jim,
Usually you can find the motherboard part number on a sticker in the memory compartment.
Remove memory modules and search for a white sticker.
The motherboard part number looks something like this: SPS: XXXXXX-001
Find the part number and google it.
June 10th, 2010 at 1:48 am
Hi, I have new 6730s, with motherbord failure , pls tell me if I can find motherboard part number without tearing apart whole laptop
June 6th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Thanks a lot…I save money with this because I didn’t take my laptop to a service to clean my cooler. It’s very useful, you can make this at home.
But be very carrefully!