How Hard is it to Clean the Heatsink?

[CloudComputing]

How hard is it to clean the heatsink of this laptop? My laptop's fans are running fully, but I really can't feel air coming out of them. I remember a few months ago that you could feel a lot of air coming out, so I'm assuming that there's a heatsink or fan being clogged. I already cleaned it using compressed air, but still no changes. Additionally, when cleaning the heatsink, do I need new thermal paste and stuff like that or is it easy? 

Thanks!

[Photoray002]

@CloudComputing 

I haven't actually taken that model apart, but like most all the others, the fan should have a cover that is screwed together and can be taken off by itself. I would see if you can do that, rather than remove the whole assembly. Then you can remove any dirt blockage inside the fan shroud itself and the back of the heat fins in front of them.

That would be a whole lot easier than dealing with lifting the whole thing.

Otherwise, you will have to clean the old thermal paste off and repaste. The thermal pads, if not torn up, should be fine to leave on there.

Manual... http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06367528.pdf

Video of the whole heatsink removal... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p3P81rHexs

I cannot find anything showing how to separate the shroud itself.

[CloudComputing]

Yeah, it looks fairly annoying in the manual bc you gotta replace the other things like the thermal paste and the strips, which I really don't want to do right now, especially bc I don't have my hardware tools. For separating the shroud, it's the same thing as the previous model where you just unscrew a few screws and pry it off. 

I'm sending it back bc it has a warranty anyways. By the way, have you replaced thermal paste and strips? If so, which brand do you use? Arctic? 

[Photoray002]

For the paste, I have always used Grizzly Kryonaut. Its a tad more pricey than Arctic 5, but most any other paste will still work. Arctic is a tad bit easier to spread.

HP offers a part number L57444-001 for the thermal pad kit, but no one sells it. If the pads are bad, you can use standard pads and cut them yourself.

[CloudComputing]

Thanks! My final question is, do you think my assessment of my problem is right? I think my heatsink is clogged bc I feel a lot of air going out the right fan, but the back two fans have not that much. Additionally, my laptop, unless it's on comfort, perpetually runs at like 70 degrees, and even then full fans don't cool it that much. I'm just checking so that I can make my problem clear when I write down for the warranty lol 

[Photoray002]

Its really hard for me to say without it in my hand to look at. The CPU fan spins a lot faster than the other side. I'm assuming the system only recently started running hotter. The fins might be clogged, but it could also be an update. Sometimes Windows will force a bios update without the user knowing it and that bios update can cause heat issues (rare but happens). If its bios caused, you probably wont be able to revert it back. In such case, warranty would have to replace the motherboard if they cannot overwrite it. (note: in some cases, HP may choose to simply give the user another used machine of similar model). Just so you know! I have no way of knowing what they will end up doing in the end.

If you send it in for warranty and they don't find dirty fins, they are going to wipe the drive and reinstall Windows. I suggest you backup first. Then you could try reinstalling Windows yourself just to see if the issue persists.

If you do that, you have two options...

1. HP Cloud Recovery and a 32GB pen drive. This auto re-formats the entire drive and replaces all factory partitions and drivers. HP Cloud Recovery Tool (how to use) 
2. Microsoft Media Creation Tool and an 8GB pen drive. You would want to choose a Custom install and manually delete all partitions during the installation process. Otherwise your drive gets wasted space you cannot use.  Only the generic drivers are installed and you would have to do a little more work putting things back in, but might be a better alternative for testing purposes. Create media Windows 10 

[CloudComputing]

Okay, thank you! I already backed everything up. Besides heatsink issues, do you know what other issues can cause bad heating fairly early in a laptop's life? Like, it runs hotter than usual, games stutter bc of that, for some strange reason the laptop also goes to 100 degrees celsius even when not really idle, but just doing regular things without a substantial increase in load (like from 1 or 2% CPU usage to 20%). The GPU also *never* gets hot, so I'm at a loss to know what's happening 😕 

[Photoray002 · Accepted solution]

Not really anything else. IF its not the physical heat sink issue, an update or other software installation would have to be the cause. That would be a pain staking process to troubleshoot. Ergo why its easier for most to simply wipe the drive and reinstall. A bad cpu or motherboard would be extremely rare!

I dont recommend doing the Windows reset function either. Bite the bullet and clean install via USB. I have seen resets not fully clear out a problem like a clean install does.

Then dont go installing everything you have all at once. Test the machine right after reinstall. Then systematically install one thing at a time and test again. Dont install any 3rd party anti-malware stuff until afterward. Just one game at a time and test for heat.

Hope that makes sense.

Tip: When you get it the way you want and its working properly, I would create a drive backup image to an external hard drive. If something ever goes south again, you can simply use the image to return the drive back the way it was when created without reinstalling all your games and such.

I use Aomei, but Macrium or Acronis also works.