Co I really have to take off the display, the lid?

[micky]

In order to open my laptop and replace the fan, do I really have to take
off the display, the lid?

It's a Dell Latitude E4300.

The Dell service manual says to do this, but I find it hard to believe.
It looks like the Palm Rest is easy to slip from under the display. Only
5mm. are under it and the empty space above the palm rest is 2 or 3 mm.

I know I can wait and figure it out when the time comes, but I ike to
plan ahead. And know how much time to allot.

Some random guy on the web for some other Dell laptop also says he had
to remove his display. OTOH, a video of someone cleaning the fan on
the E4310 shows him taking off every cover on the bottom of it. I think
some people just like to take everything apart. ;-)

[Bill]

micky wrote:
> In order to open my laptop and replace the fan, do I really have to take
> off the display, the lid?
>
> It's a Dell Latitude E4300.
>
> The Dell service manual says to do this, but I find it hard to believe.
> It looks like the Palm Rest is easy to slip from under the display. Only
> 5mm. are under it and the empty space above the palm rest is 2 or 3 mm.
>
> I know I can wait and figure it out when the time comes, but I ike to
> plan ahead. And know how much time to allot.

You've had a lot of trouble with laptop fans going bad? I'd just make
sure you have 2 devices (of some sort) and it won't matter how much time
it takes. Also, perform backups. Then, you're invincible! : )

[Paul]

I'm not following what's going on here.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Dell+Latitude+E4300+CPU+Cooling+Fan+Replacement/116140

They refer to a panel (or plate) underneath the keyboard.
And a couple of screws in the back of that panel, fasten
to the display somehow. Hinges ? I don't know. The description
leaves a lot to be desired.

Yes, it does look like the whole thing practically
comes apart from the top down. Starting with the
keyboard tub, and working your way down.

They don't mention using a spudger to remove the bezel
along the top of the keyboard area. I guess for the
people who have done a thousand of these, it's no longer
a thing to grit your teeth over. Some of them are
hard to get out, without damage. That's the sign of a
good repair person, is pulling that strip without
leaving a mark. You could easily be tempted to use
an edged tool, like say a wood chisel, and leave a lot
of damage in your wake.

I guess you can't do it from the bottom,
because you wouldn't be able to reach the fan
connector on the top side of the PCB. The screws that
hold the fan in, are also on the top side.

*******

From the comments at the bottom...

One Comment
Add a comment

I would rate this more moderate than easy. <=== :-) Honesty...

Bob Green - 07/30/2019

Paul

[micky]

In comp.sys.laptops, on Sun, 11 Oct 2020 07:23:58 -0400, Bill

<WhoK...@newsguy.net> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> In order to open my laptop and replace the fan, do I really have to take
>> off the display, the lid?
>>
>> It's a Dell Latitude E4300.
>>
>> The Dell service manual says to do this, but I find it hard to believe.
>> It looks like the Palm Rest is easy to slip from under the display. Only
>> 5mm. are under it and the empty space above the palm rest is 2 or 3 mm.
>>
>> I know I can wait and figure it out when the time comes, but I ike to
>> plan ahead. And know how much time to allot.
>
>You've had a lot of trouble with laptop fans going bad?

It's just this one, but I've dragged it out for months.

But like my mother used to say when she asked a store to do something,
It makes jobs for people. If they didn't have things to do, they
woudln't get hired.

And if I didn't ask questions, people here coudln't answer them.

>I'd just make
>sure you have 2 devices (of some sort) and it won't matter how much time
>it takes. Also, perform backups. Then, you're invincible! : )

Yes, unless I can't get the laptop back together again. The hardest
part seems to be the display It has connectors and wires that have to
be snaked through the right hole. I still think it's unnecesary, and
I'll try to do the job without taking the displlay off, though that
means taking a big bunch of screws out out of order, compared to the
order they recommend. .

Even the bottom part has 7 different connectors that have to be
disconnected and then connected. That might be easy but maybe not. .

I think tht's only happened once in the last 30 years, and it was not
electronic. It was an upside down jig saw one on the left and a
grindstone on the right. I toook it apart, fiixed it, but could never
get it back together again.

[Big Al]

Got a smart phone? Take photos, plenty of them. It can sometimes help to reassemble.
I replace my thermostat, and as simple as it sounds, it was so reassuring to have a photo of the wire colors and placement. The new
thermostat was just that different. Glad I took the pics.
Al

--
Linux Mint 19.3 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570, Quad Core i7-8550U

[micky]

In comp.sys.laptops, on Sun, 11 Oct 2020 08:19:34 -0400, Paul

<nos...@needed.invalid> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> In order to open my laptop and replace the fan, do I really have to take
>> off the display, the lid?
>>
>> It's a Dell Latitude E4300.
>>
>> The Dell service manual says to do this, but I find it hard to believe.
>> It looks like the Palm Rest is easy to slip from under the display. Only
>> 5mm. are under it and the empty space above the palm rest is 2 or 3 mm.
>>
>> I know I can wait and figure it out when the time comes, but I ike to
>> plan ahead. And know how much time to allot.
>>
>> Some random guy on the web for some other Dell laptop also says he had
>> to remove his display. OTOH, a video of someone cleaning the fan on
>> the E4310 shows him taking off every cover on the bottom of it. I think
>> some people just like to take everything apart. ;-)
>
>I'm not following what's going on here.
>
>https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Dell+Latitude+E4300+CPU+Cooling+Fan+Replacement/116140

In my opinion, you shoudln't spend any more time on t his than you have.
My question was meant to address only opeople who alr eady knew the
asnwer. Plus, I can read almost as well as you, and my reading was
tthat they say you have to remove the display. In fact I said that
But sometimes people know easier ways** to do things.

But if you're curious and have time, this is the service manual.

http://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_latitude_laptop/latitude-e4300_service%20manual_en-us.pdf

**I once had surgery in December, and it snowed and tthe snow was more
than half-way up my car's wheels, and I wasn't supposed to go out for
several weeks until my shoulder healed. One of my wheels didn't have
its wheel cover on (I don't know what happens now that so many cars
have no wheel covers or hubcaps) and in the spring I took my brother to
Newark airport. When I got back to the car, that tire was flat, and I
coudln't get the lug nuts off.

Finally, by standing on, jumping up and down on, the lugwrench, I got it
off but broke 3 of the 5 studs. Or maybe 4. I lived in Brooklyn
What a responsible adult would do is find a garage in Newark to tow my
car in (on Sunday) and fix it on Monday, and I would talke public
transportation to Manhattan, and the subway to Brooklyn, then come back
the same way when the car was fixed.

OR, I could drive home.

When I went straight or turned left, the car was okay, but when I turned
right the wheel went clunk, clunk, clunk.

If I still had 2 good studs when I left hte airport, at some point I
broke one. Then I got to the Holland Tunnel. If you break down there
they charge you a lot to take you out. They have a tow truck that sits
there 24/7 waiting for people to break down, so they have to pay for the
tow truck with the fees they charge, plus they're annoyed, so they
charge more.

But I decided I'd drive through the Holland Tunnel. That went okay,
and I turned east on Walker St. NYC downtown is very quiet on Sunday
evening. Just before I got to Broadway, the last stud broke and the
wheel fell off the car. Phone call, I'll finish later.

>They refer to a panel (or plate) underneath the keyboard.
>And a couple of screws in the back of that panel, fasten
>to the display somehow. Hinges ? I don't know. The description
>leaves a lot to be desired.
>
>Yes, it does look like the whole thing practically
>comes apart from the top down. Starting with the
>keyboard tub, and working your way down.
>
>They don't mention using a spudger to remove the bezel
>along the top of the keyboard area. I guess for the
>people who have done a thousand of these, it's no longer
>a thing to grit your teeth over. Some of them are
>hard to get out, without damage. That's the sign of a
>good repair person, is pulling that strip without
>leaving a mark. You could easily be tempted to use
>an edged tool, like say a wood chisel, and leave a lot
>of damage in your wake.

More likely a steak knife.

But a couple years ago I bought a set of laptop tools, and they may
help.

>I guess you can't do it from the bottom,
>because you wouldn't be able to reach the fan
>connector on the top side of the PCB. The screws that
>hold the fan in, are also on the top side.

Right. And the palm rest extends below the keyboard and has to be
removed to reach the fan. From the t op.

[VanguardLH]

micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote:

> Dell Latitude E4300.

http://www.laptopinventory.com/LaptopInventory.php/Dell/Latitude/E4300/Fan

Ignore the video is for the wrong device. Read the instructions which
just have you removing the keyboard to access the fan. Although the fan
is accessed from the top, looks like you need to remove the back
probably to get at some screws that hold down the keyboard. There is no
mention the display must be detached.

[Patrick]

A ten minute utube to dissasemble;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrjrMLw0WiU

[Ken Blake]

Excellent suggestion, but he doesn't have to use a smart phnoe to take
photos. Some of use (me, for example) prefer to use camera for that.



--
Ken

[Big Al]

Odd how we (meaning society) thinks everyone has a cell. Actually the first time I thought of it that way. I've got 5 cameras here now,
DSLR, 2 point and shot and a 35mm. I guess I've had the phone too long now.

[Rene Lamontagne]

There are enough screws in there to start a small hardware store. :-)

Rene

[Rene Lamontagne]

Lots of luck.

Rene

[Ken Blake]

It's close to being true. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have one.

> Actually the first time I thought of it that way. I've got 5 cameras here now,
> DSLR, 2 point and shot and a 35mm. I guess I've had the phone too long now.

I have a smart phone. My wife has a cell phone, but it's an ancient
flip-top, not a smart phone (even though I've offered to get her one,
she doesn't want it; I don't know why, but my guess is that she's afraid
it will be too difficult for her to learn how to use it).

Even though I have a smart phone with a camera, I very rarely use its
camera function. These days I rarely take any pictures except when I'm
on vacation, and when I do, I use the digital camera which I also take
with me. I've only used my smart phone's camera a handful of times, and
those times were when I was on vacation, had left the camera in my hotel
room, and saw something I wanted a picture of. It's infrequent enough
that I never remember how to use it, and I have to relearn it every time.

Leaving aside the question of which takes better pictures, I greatly
prefer to use my camera's viewfinder rather than holding a smart phone a
foot away from my eyes and trying to frame the shot. I never even use my
camera's screen to frame the shot; in fact I always keep it turned off.

I similarly don't like point and shoot cameras. All my old film cameras
are gone now. I had several 35mm cameras, a Rolleicord twin-lens reflex,
2 4x5 view cameras, a 4x5 Speed Graphic, and a 4x5 Graflex (a
single-lens reflex, if you're not familiar with it), and a few others.
Many years ago, I was a photographer.

I also greatly prefer my digital camera because it has 18X optical zoom.
Smart phones are never even close to that.



--
Ken

[micky]

In comp.sys.laptops, on Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:53:16 -0500, VanguardLH

<V...@nguard.LH> wrote:

>micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>
>> Dell Latitude E4300.
>
>http://www.laptopinventory.com/LaptopInventory.php/Dell/Latitude/E4300/Fan
>
>Ignore the video is for the wrong device.

That was confusing, since I clicked on the link before I read what you
wrote.

> Read the instructions which
>just have you removing the keyboard to access the fan. Although the fan

This is just the sort of thing I imagined. (I googled but didn't find
this one. probably didn't look far enough. )

>is accessed from the top, looks like you need to remove the back
>probably to get at some screws that hold down the keyboard.

I think you only have to remove some panels to get at those screws.
I'll check agailn.

>There is no
>mention the display must be detached.

Yes, seems more likely.

Now this all looks simple enough to do before my new computer comes in
the mail. But it's due Thursday (7 days to come from Los Angeles) and
I'll try to control myself.

This is the second one I've bought. The first one, they sent the wrong
model, and it didn't work right either.

[micky]

In comp.sys.laptops, on Sun, 11 Oct 2020 10:29:30 -0500, Rene Lamontagne

If I don't have to do the display. And that would be great. I
haven't finished watching your vidio yet. I will soon.

>>
>
>There are enough screws in there to start a small hardware store. :-)

Yeah. My mother taught me to arrange the screws on a flat surface in
the same way they came out. My mother taught me that.

Then in highschool autoshop, we took apart an engine and the guy with
actual experience threw all the bolts in a big coffee can. For
re-assembly he had to figure out which bolt to use where.

>Rene

[VanguardLH]

micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote:

> This is the second one I've bought. The first one, they sent the wrong
> model, and it didn't work right either.

Back to when you were reporting noise with the fan, and the suggestions
to blow out the dust (which unfortunately blows it back into the laptop
instead of outward, and sucking doesn't work), you should be able to
blow the fan outward past its hub and out the case vent. You could
follow with blowing in but with the case open, like using a drinking
straw and tape around the duster can's straw (if the duster's straw
isn't long enough to reach the fan's blades). With the case open, you
should also be able to look into the exhaust vent to see light come in
from the fan by shining a small flashlight into the fan. You can then
see if there are any obstructions, like a wad of lint got clogged up
into the vent/exhaust path when you previously tried to blow in.

[Bill]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[Char Jackson]

Of all the crazy things people have developed, there's this 18x zoom
adapter for a smart phone. It has additional lenses for 20x macro, 120
degree and 198 degree wide views. If someone was going to the trouble of
using something like this, they should probably just use a proper camera.

https://www.amazon.com/Phone-Camera-Lens-AIKEGLOBAL-198%C2%B0Fisheye/dp/B07QTPHFLQ

[micky]

In comp.sys.laptops, on Sun, 11 Oct 2020 10:24:52 -0400, micky

<NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote:

>
>**I once had surgery in December, and it snowed and tthe snow was more
>than half-way up my car's wheels, and I wasn't supposed to go out for
>several weeks until my shoulder healed. One of my wheels didn't have
>its wheel cover on (I don't know what happens now that so many cars
>have no wheel covers or hubcaps) and in the spring I took my brother to
>Newark airport. When I got back to the car, that tire was flat, and I
>coudln't get the lug nuts off.

This was a rear tire, iirc. RWD car. I think. The studs came out of
a thick disk at the end of the axle, not out of the brake drum.

>
>Finally, by standing on, jumping up and down on, the lugwrench, I got it
>off but broke 3 of the 5 studs. Or maybe 4. I lived in Brooklyn
>What a responsible adult would do is find a garage in Newark to tow my
>car in (on Sunday) and fix it on Monday, and I would talke public
>transportation to Manhattan, and the subway to Brooklyn, then come back
>the same way when the car was fixed.

There was no web so I'd have to try to glean who to call and how to get
home and back.

It would have taken over an hour, to find a repair shop on the phone and
wait for his tow truck to arrive, then over an hour to get home from the
airport. Maybe more than 4 altogether. It was 7PM on Sunday.

The next day, I guess it would take 2 to 4 hours to get to the shop,
probably have to take a cab from the airport or train station.

>
>OR, I could drive home.
>
>When I went straight or turned left, the car was okay, but when I turned
>right the wheel went clunk, clunk, clunk.
>
>If I still had 2 good studs when I left hte airport, at some point I
>broke one. Then I got to the Holland Tunnel. If you break down there
>they charge you a lot to take you out. They have a tow truck that sits
>there 24/7 waiting for people to break down, so they have to pay for the
>tow truck with the fees they charge, plus they're annoyed, so they
>charge more.
>
>But I decided I'd drive through the Holland Tunnel. That went okay,
>and I turned east on Walker St. NYC downtown is very quiet on Sunday
>evening. Just before I got to Broadway,

Only a quarter mile from the tunnel exit.

> the last stud broke and the
>wheel fell off the car. Phone call, I'll finish later.

So the wheel fell off the car but the tire didn't go far. I walked up
to Broadway, which is one-way south, and looked around. I found a
little parking lot only 50 yards north of Walker St. It was empty
because it was Sunday evening

I must be an idiot but I jacked up the car and put the wheel back on,
with NO lug nuts. Lowered the jack and drove and I got no more than 6
inches and the wheel fell off again.
Jacked it up again, put the wheel on, lowered the jack, drove and I
got about 6 feet!!
Jacked it up again, put the wheel on, lowered the jack, drove and I
made it 30 feet to Broadway, turned left, 150 feet to the parking lot,
turned left, drove over the curb and into the lot.

I couldnt' believe it. I still can't. And I guess I'm not an idiot.

No cars on that part of Broadway on Sunday evening so I was able to go
north on the south-bound street

Took the subway home, read the shop manual about using a hydraulic press
to take out the broken studs, and to insert new studs. Next morning
road my bicycle to Atlantic Wheel and Rim, only a mile away.. I
commented on my problem and the parts guy said, "No one does it that
way. Use a punch and a hammer to take them out. Then put the stud
through the hole and tighten the lug nuts until the studs are in."
(then take off the nuts and put the wheel on.)

Went home, gathered up a few tools, took the train to my car, and did
what he said. Took maybe 30 minutes. Cost me 40 years ago about
$10, a dollar for each stud and each nut. Plus 1 1/2 x the cost of
parking all day in the lot. I parked sideways and went over 3 spots,
and he asked for 3x, but easily settled for 1.5. He could have parked 1
car next to me and it was only about 10AM. He could probably fill all 3
spots. --- There is an office building there now.

You all know this already from your own experience, but this was the
most outstanding example in my experience of often able to do things
quicker and better than the book instructions.

[micky]

In comp.sys.laptops, on Mon, 12 Oct 2020 00:07:12 -0500, Char Jackson

Yeah, I saw some simple thing iirc before but nothign as complicated as
this!!!

I was going to post that there is an app that makes the camera more
telephoto. I'll get the name if anyone wants. It has ads.

[SC Tom]

"micky" <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:fnc7ofhfsemjc1iub...@4ax.com...

Yeah, I was going to mention that. On the few laptops that I've had to
disassemble, I would put a sheet on my worktable, take the screws out, and
place them on the sheet in the same location they were in the laptop (the
sheet made them easy to see and kept them from rolling around).

I had a Compaq one time that had like 20 screws of different length in the
bottom. I used a silver marker to put a small dot by the hole in the case
for the 2nd shortest screw, 2 dots for the next longest and 3 dots for the
longest. The shortest I left unmarked. That thing was a bear :-( There were
were a number of "layers" to get to the fan (it had died, not just clogged).

The easiest one I had was a Gateway M-6850FX that had heatsink problems with
the GPU. 7 screws to pop off a panel, then 4-5 to remove the heatsink/fan
assembly. The hard drive sockets were right there, too. Piece of cake :-)
--

SC Tom

[Chris]

So much this. A smarthphone is small enough and can be used one-handed to
picture pretty much anything you're working on. I do this all the time.

[Rene Lamontagne]

What make of car? Were they right or left hand threads? Curious is
all, I'm remembering the first time I ran into left hand lugnuts.

Rene

[micky]

In comp.sys.laptops, on Mon, 12 Oct 2020 12:54:27 -0500, Rene Lamontagne

It was a '73 Buick Centurion, (or maybe a '67 Pontiac Catalina, but I
don't think so.) Either way, they were right-hand threads. I did
have left hand on the left side of my '50 Olds, so I knew the
possibility, but they had an L stamped into the end of each stud.

I did unscrew one or two of them so I know I was going in the right
direction.

The Centurion had terrible gas mileage. I think it was 12 on the highway
and 8 in the city. I think they had just imposed air pollution laws
and they didn't know how to do both yet. When I got it, it had cow
magnets taped to t he fuel line above the engine. I didn't know why,
but I'd looked all over the NY area and this was the only car for sale
that I want ed. They had just started a computer-car-shopping system,
but not like now. Instead you called a phone for each county, or two or
three, and told them what you wanted and they looked it up in their
computer. No inter-location networking yet for an enterprise this
small, around 1980. I called all of NYC, Long Island, Westchester,
Rockland counties, norther half of New Jersey, and this was the only big
convertible I could find.

It also had a different style top, a scissors top. GM had the
impression that the govt. was going to impose safety regulations for
cars that flipped over, even convertibles, and the usual design would
not hold up. This one would, but it was difficult to adjust, and when
mine eventually got out pf adjustment, first it broke the rear window,
and a few weeks later, it tore the top. The plan to require stronger
tops never took place, but makers design cars years in advance
>
Despite all this I had the car for 5 or 7 years and I liked it.

[Rene Lamontagne]

Thanks for the reply Micky. :-)

Rene