How to Change the Fan in a Dell Inspiron 6000 Laptop

The Dell Inspiron 6000 is a mid-sized laptop designed for use in a home office or small business environment. If your Inspiron 6000 frequently overheats during normal operation, you may need to replace the internal fan. This will require you to work inside your laptop and remove several components in order to gain access to the faulty part. Depending on your level of experience, this may seem like a daunting task; fortunately, the procedure for changing the fan in a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop is very straightforward.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop
• Replacement fan
• Phillips screwdriver
• Plastic pry tool or scribe

1. Turn off your laptop. Disconnect the power cord and any attached peripheral devices. Flip the laptop over and locate the battery bay. Slide the battery bay release latch back and remove the battery.

2. Locate the screw securing the optical drive in place (it's labeled with a padlock icon). Remove the screw and insert your screwdriver into the indentation. Use your screwdriver to push the optical drive out of the laptop.

3. Locate and remove the two screws securing the hard drive in place. Pull the hard drive out of the laptop.

4. Return your laptop to an upright position and open the display as far as it will go. Locate the hinge cover along the top edge of the keyboard.

5. Find the indentation next to the hinge cover and insert your plastic scribe. Use your scribe to carefully remove the hinge cover.

6. Locate and remove the two screws securing the keyboard to the laptop. Lift the keyboard up and disconnect the attached cable from the system board. Remove the keyboard.

7. Locate the Mini PCI card near the top-right corner of the laptop base. Disconnect any attached wires and push apart the clips securing the card in place. Remove the Mini PCI card.

8. Locate and remove the screws securing the display to the laptop base and loosen the screw securing the grounding wire. Disconnect any cables connecting the display to the system board. Remove the display.

9. Turn the laptop base over and remove all remaining screws on the underside. Return the laptop to an upright position and remove the screw securing the palm rest in place. Disconnect the touch-pad from the system board and remove the palm rest.

10. Locate the fan. Remove the two screws securing the fan in place and disconnect it from the system board. Remove the fan and put the replacement unit in its place. Connect the new fan and use the screws to secure it to the system board.

11. Reconnect the touch-pad and replace the palm rest. Replace and tighten all the screws used to secure the palm rest. Reconnect the display unit to the system board. Secure the grounding wire and reattach the display to the laptop base.

12. Reinsert the Mini PCI card and reconnect any previously-attached cables. Reconnect and reseat the keyboard. Screw the keyboard to the laptop base. Replace the hinge cover and apply firm pressure until it snaps into place.

13. Close the laptop. Reinsert the hard drive and optical drive and use the previously-removed screws to secure them in place. Reinsert the battery. Reconnect the power cord and any previously-disconnected peripheral devices.