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In the following guide I remove the motherboard from a Compaq Presario CQ50 laptop. Also this guide should work for Compaq Presario CQ 60/CQ70 and HP G50/G60/G70 laptops.
If you need replacement parts, you can find them here. Just search by the part name and laptop model.
Start laptop disassembly with removing the battery.
STEP 1.
Remove memory, hard drive and wireless card covers.
STEP 2.
Remove three screws securing the hard drive assembly.
Slide the hard drive assembly to the right, disconnect it from the motherboard and remove from the laptop.
STEP 3.
Remove both memory modules.
Disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card. Remove two screws and remove the wireless card from the laptop.
STEP 4.
Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.
Pull the DVD drive from the laptop.
STEP 5.
Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.
Disconnect the CMOS battery cable from the motherboard.
STEP 6.
Carefully lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below.
STEP 7.
Access the keyboard cable connector underneath the keyboard.
Unlock the connector before removing the keyboard.
In order to unlock the connector you’ll have to move the locking clip (white) about 2-3 millimeters towards the LCD screen.
The locking clip must stat attached to the connector base (dark brown) as it shown on the picture below.
Now you can release the cable and remove the keyboard.
STEP 8.
Unlock the power button cable connector.
On the following picture you can see the connector in the unlocked state.
Now you can remove the power button board cable from the connector.
STEP 9.
Remove the plastic cover.
STEP 10.
Disconnect the video cable connector from the motherboard.
Disconnect the webcam cable.
Pull the wireless card antenna cable through the opening in the top cover.
STEP 11.
Remove screws securing the display hinges.
STEP 12.
Remove the display assembly from the laptop.
In the next post I explain how to remove the LCD screen, inverter board and hinges from the display assembly in HP G50/G60/G70 laptops. It’s similar for Compaq Presario CQ50/CQ60/CQ70 laptops.
STEP 13.
Disconnect the touch pad cable from the motherboard.
Remove screws securing the top cover assembly.
STEP 14.
Start separating the top cover assembly from the laptop base.
You can use a guitar pick in order to split the laptop case.
STEP 15.
The top cover assembly has been removed.
STEP 16.
Remove one screw securing the left speaker.
Remove the left speaker from the base.
STEP 17.
Remove four screws securing the motherboard.
Disconnect four cables from the motherboard.
STEP 18.
Remove the motherboard from the laptop base.
STEP 19.
Disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.
STEP 20.
Loosen four screws securing the cooling fan assembly.
STEP 21.
Remove the cooling fan assembly from the laptop.
STEP 22.
In this model the power jack is not soldered to the motherboard.
You can unplug the power jack cable from the motherboard and replace it with a new DC jack harness if it’s bad.
June 10th, 2011 at 5:29 am
Fixed charging port on my CQ60, put it back together, now it does’nt power up………….shows charging light on the side….thats all! Help……..
June 9th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
@ RedneckTech,
Insert something between the battery and laptop case (like a piece of plastic).
Pry up the battery while pushing the release into the open position.
June 9th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Hello all,
Maybe someone can help. I have a customers cq50 215nr and can’t remove the battery. The button to release will not move at all. Any ideas or tricks to get it to release without breaking it?
May 29th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
@ Ryan,
This piece is a part of the connector and I doubt you can buy it separately.
Here’s what you can try to fix the broken connector.
1. Cut off a piece of thin plastic (I think about 0.25-0.5mm thick) so it fits into the connector.
2. Insert the power cable into the connector the way it was before.
3. Push the thin piece of plastic into the connector above the cable. If the plastic piece it thin enough it will fit into the connector and apply pressure on the cable.
I’ve done it with one of my laptops before and it worked fine.
May 29th, 2011 at 10:18 am
@ Napo and Martin,
In order to REMOVE or REPLACE the cooling fan you’ll have to go though all disassembly steps and remove the motherboard.
In order to CLEAN the cooling fan you can try two different options:
1. Blow off dust through the fan grill on the bottom of the laptop. You can do it with an air compressor. Some people reported that they successfully sucked out the dust with a home vacuum.
2. Follow steps 1-18 and remove the top cover assembly. After that the cooling fan will be exposed and you can clean it with compressed air. Again, you’ll need an air compressor OR canned air should be enough.
May 26th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Martin, I took apart my CQ60 a few days ago and cleaned the fan. I’m afraid, yes, in order to get to the fan you’ll have to release the motherboard. But you shouldn’t have to remove the entire fan assembly as then you’ll need new thermal compound and new thermal pads. I managed to remove just the fan by removing the 3 screws securing it to the heatsink, gave it and where it was located a clean to remove the minimal fluff that had built up. The laptop had been overheating (100C +) a few times and when I turned the laptop over and looked through the vents, the fan was trying to go but seemed as though it was jamming. Even after cleaning, the fan wasn’t as free as I though it should be. Luckily, the fan blade section is easy to pull from it’s spindle, I then applied a minute amount of silicone lubricant and pushed it back, it was a lot easier to rotate then. After assembly, the fan works perfectly and the laptop temps are back down to around 40C normal and max of 65 under heavy load.
May 23rd, 2011 at 11:58 am
Your question is well posed, Martin.
Can anyone answer to the cooling question about cleaning up the fan?
Thank you.
May 21st, 2011 at 7:47 am
if I understand correctly, to clean the fan and cooling ribs, I need to follow same procedure as described to replace the motherboard in Compaq CQ60? This seems like a lot of work and not free of risks… Is there an easier way just to remove dust to improve cooling performance? Thanks for your help! Regards, Martin
May 21st, 2011 at 6:47 am
Hello,
Thanks for the photo how-to on the G60. I used Compaq’s shop manual and had issues, as in lost ZIF locks and mis-positioned screws
To repeat what Michal asked:
“Is anyone tell me where to buy a small plastic black “thing”from step 8 picture 2nd.
I have lost it somehow and know i can use power frame anymore.
I searched web but couldn’t find any spares like this.”
I second this request — I accidently flicked off this ZIF Ribbon Lock when I was removing the power panel, I can’t find the tiny thing despite searching for hours. I used the touchpad lock for the power button cable, so now I have no touchpad.
does anyone know where to buy this little 10-pin lock? Does anyone have a dead mainboard with the lock(s) still on it they would like to sell me?
double thanks in advance!
Ryan
rynosaur74 AT gmail DOT com
May 16th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Shawn,
I don’t know that. There is a built in light but I’m not sure about the fuse.
I think the fuse located somewhere on the motherboard.
Most likely it’s either bad battery OR there is a problem with the motherboard. I would definitely test the laptop with another working battery first.