Comments on: How to replace fan in Dell XPS M1530

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 19:58:51 +0000

Thank you very, very much for such a great set of instructions. Just finished cleaning the dust from the fan and the side of the heat sink. Your step-by-step guide was easy to follow and the photos helped a lot. Previously I thought a new thermal control unit was going to be needed, but this repair did the trick. Thank you again!

By: SpaceDog

SpaceDog — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 07:18:33 +0000

Oh, but you missed a screw in Step 2 — on my machine the one at the very end of the heat sink (bottom middle of the picture) was there. But it’s obvious from the pictures that it needed to come out.

After reading the comments, yes — get a proper screwdriver designed for the job. I started with my multipurpose and quickly realized I was going to strip the screw irreparably if I didn’t go and find the correct one. With that in hand it was a breeze.

By: SpaceDog

SpaceDog — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 06:04:42 +0000

Brilliant guide, I just followed it and cleaned all the gunk and cat hair out my fan. Laptop back together and working brilliantly, hopefully it’ll run a little cooler now.

Thanks for putting this guide together.

By: PJ

PJ — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:28:48 +0000

My fan and the heatsink area got clogged up with dust. Gave me plenty of warning and groans before it died. I opened it up when it died, removed the dust, but the fan wouldn’t spin up. Possibly because the fan spindle bearings lubricant had fried with the heat. Lifted the fan spindle out, and put a dab of silicone spray lube in the receptacle, and put the fan back in place. Fan spun up, nice and silent – ie no replacement was needed. Temperature stays nice and cool.

Silicone lube is one of the wonders of modern tech, along with duct tape, araldite and WD-40.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:24:26 +0000

I’m typing on my iPod because my laptop isn’t currently working! Whenever I attempt to turn it on the Dell page comes up and so does the loading bar. Then it takes me to a black screen (still lit up) with a flashing small dash in the top,left corner. It stays like that…just flashing. I tried pressing f1 and f12 to get to the setting page. The page comes up…but there seems to ne nothing that would help. I ran an option that ran rests on my computer. A blue screen came ip making beeping noises and first said to press y or n if colors were appearing. Then the page ran a series of tests that took approximately 1hr. After it was finished the page just froze. I’m desperate for A solution and I can’t spend the money it would take to fix it. Will this tutorial fix the problem I’m having?

By: Allan Phillips

Allan Phillips — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:48:15 +0000

An excellent guide.

I have a different problem. I believe I’ve blown the power input circuit on the laptop – Dell XPS1530. The laptop itself worked ok off the battery until the battery charge was exhausted. Dell tell me the power input circuit is integrated within the motherboard. but I have read elsewhere that a plug-in card is available. I cannot find any guidance on the web for motherboard access / replacement. Can you help.

Many thanks.

Allan

By: Michiel

Michiel — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:18:59 +0000

Thanks for this perfect instruction guide!
I took out a lot of dust and its a lot better now
In my XPS M1530, there was one more screw to take out in step 3 that is not marked in your picture.

KUDOS !!

By: IML Tech

IML Tech — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:56:11 +0000

In reply to Petter. @ Petter,

Most of the screws Dell used for my computer are just plain bad quality and wonâ€t survive one more try Iâ€m afraid â€” I hope I wonâ€t have to open the case again in the future.

It's not screws, it's your screwdriver. Use a good quality screwdriver and you'll never have this problem. I've been using same Wiha screwdriver on daily bases for over 6 years and the tip still like new.

By: Petter

Petter — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:15:09 +0000

Thank you for the guide!

I had to replace my fan because the old one had a defective bearing and was massively noisy. The thermal paste was pretty hard to get off after almost four years. *g*
Most of the screws Dell used for my computer are just plain bad quality and won’t survive one more try I’m afraid — I hope I won’t have to open the case again in the future.

By: IML Tech

IML Tech — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:34:08 +0000

In reply to Dave. @ Dave,

Rather than disassembling everything, I simply attached a drinking straw to a vacuum cleaner nossle with some sellotape, and carefully passed the straw through the fan and hoovered out the dust on low power.

LOL. That was a smart idea. :)