Disassemble Guide: How to clean the fan for Acer Aspire 4937G
I’ve been experiencing auto-reboot recently again. Due to overheat I guess.
It’s been half a year since I last clean my laptop fan.
Normal users should clean their fan once a year. But for power users, you may need to clean them more frequently, like twice a year. (like me :S)
DISCLAIMER: If you really wants to disassemble your laptop, DO AT YOUR OWN RISK! I do not, and will not, bear any responsibility of you messing up your own laptop just because you’ve been reading my guide. This is just a basic guideline for experienced users with hardware knowledge. It is advised to send your set to proper technician if you do not feel confident, or do not wish to take the risk. Also, note that opening your laptop case WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY! (Although it doesn’t really matter, Acer’s after-sales service sucks anyway.)
DISCLAIMER 2: This post is more than 2 years old. Unfortunately, my laptop has long gone, and I am not an Acer technician. Follow this guide at your own risk, and note that I may not be able to answer most of you questions now as I can’t really recall much details anymore. Sorry.
Ok here we go…
First of all, these are the tools you need:
– A small plus (+) sign screwdriver, but not too small. About the size of the screws under your laptop. Preferably magnetic.
– A small minus (-) sign screwdriver, about the size of above plus size screwdriver. Useful for prying open some casings.
– A really small minus (-) sign screwdriver. Useful for opening small plugs.
These are the tools I used this time. (With my Nokia N70 beside for size comparison)
Before you start, shut down your laptop, take out the battery and let it cool down for a while if you’ve been running it for some time. It will be dangerous to operate a hot laptop.
Flip to the bottom of the laptop, and take out all the screws as shown.
Next, open the 3 panels to expose the Harddisc, RAM, and WiFi card. Take out the 2 side cover of the LCD as well.
Take out more screws under it as shown.
Take out the harddisc and RAM as you normally would. Slide the DVD-drive out from the inside. Take out the PCI dummy if you have it. Remember how they connect the WiFi card. It’s white on top and black below. It is advised to take a picture before pulling the plug, so that you can remember how to put them back when you’re done.
Take out the WiFi card when you’re done. Now, flip the laptop, and carefully open the LCD screen. Since the bottom are unscrewed, you may need to hold the sides of the top cover to avoid breaking the top casing, specifically left side (right side have 3 screws beneath, you can worry less.)
Next, carefully pry open the speaker panel.
Once you’re done, you may slot out the keyboard, to reveal the underneath. Take out more screws, and on top of that, plugs. Use your very small sized minus sign screwdriver to open up small plugs before pulling it out.
After all the screws and plugs, take out the speaker and quick-launch board. Time to remove the LCD. Take out 3 more screws under the speaker board, and carefully pull out the black and white wire from below. (I forgot to take a picture, so I will just use back the previous ones.)
Take off the LCD and put it aside. Carefully pry open the top casing to reveal the motherboard underneath. This is going to end soon. Some little more screws and plugs.
Carefully slide out the motherboard. Flip it over. You’ve finally reached the fan! Take out more screws.
Flip over the fan, and clean the layer of dust blocking the ventilation.
It is not necessary to clean the dust in the fan itself, although you may do so if you wish. I don’t do it, since it involve much much smaller screws, and it requires a lot more concentration and proper tools screwing back in.
When you’re done, you generally had done this to your laptop.
Alright, you can start to read this guide in reverse. And wish you good luck. =)
Any questions, just leave me a comment, I will try to answer them if I can. But do not expect too much from me, I am not Acer technician.
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hello, thank you for sharing these. I have come till the opening speaker panel, and I am not able to pry open it. The middle part of it is just likely sticked. I am afraid of breaking it. How did you manage to open it?
Jul 18, 2011 @ 3:20 am
Yeah the speaker panel is kinda hard to pry open especially for the first time. If it’s only the middle part, where left and right is already opened, you can try to reach the middle from beneath the “round LCD tube” using a long screw driver. The speaker panel is “clipped” to the casing below, just like how the RAM and hard disc cover clipped to the laptop case. Unfortunately I can’t show you any more detail, as my laptop had been stolen last week. =(
Jul 18, 2011 @ 9:52 am
very nice post, i certainly love this website, keep on it
Aug 15, 2011 @ 7:31 am
hello thx for sharing tis…im nt a tech wiz so i doesnt wan to pry open my laptop…however i experience the same thing u did..auto-reboot due to over heating…i get myself a cooler with fans that can change position…can u highlight to me where is the fan wind intake and release so i strategically place my fans? thx xD hehe it would be great if u can share the info wit me…thx xD
Dec 11, 2011 @ 11:10 pm
In my opinion, if you have a clogged ventilation, a cooler fan cannot help much. It may delay the time to reboot for maybe, 5 or 10 more minutes, but it will still overheat. Besides, placing external fans will only gather more dust, which means your ventilation will get clogged faster.
Dec 12, 2011 @ 11:03 am
hmm…haha i doesnt wan to risk pryin out my laptop haha xD there is the fan rite is it for intake or release of air
Dec 14, 2011 @ 2:31 am
thx man…hmm…haha i doesnt wan to risk pryin out my laptop haha xD there is the fan rite is it for intake or release of air
Dec 14, 2011 @ 2:31 am
I’m not very sure whether the fan is intake or release. Probably both, since it needs to intake cool air, and release hot air, that’s why the design of the fan is like this.
I’m sorry I can’t show you more, my laptop was stolen months ago.
Dec 14, 2011 @ 10:29 am
oh tat was too bad…thx alot man…
Dec 14, 2011 @ 12:04 pm
Hi! I followed your guide to the disassembly, to clear the dust out of the out of the fan. After assembling back, my laptop is able to power on, but nothing appears on the screen. The fan is running, led power is on, but screen is blank. I tried disassembling and assembling again but the results are still the same. Any idea where i might have gone wrong? Thanks a mil :)
Jan 30, 2012 @ 1:51 am
Hi Matt, this could be many problems, most probably are hardware not properly plugged in. Check your hard drive and RAM, are they properly inserted. Dissemble up to the LCD part and check whether the LCD is properly plugged in. I had this experience too, reassemble a few times more carefully until it is working again. Good luck.
Jan 31, 2012 @ 12:30 pm
Hi!I would like to ask if opening a gaming application causing the notebook to shutdown has anything to do with the clogged ventilation since the ventilation area feels slightly hot when i launch the application using this same model notebook
Feb 05, 2012 @ 5:41 pm
Hi StreetJoker. Yes it is possible, playing a game (especially high-end games) will cause the processor and graphic card to heat up much faster. Without a cool environment and ventilation, it will overheat pretty quickly — thus shutdown itself. If you can’t feel any hot air blowing our of the ventilation area, then it IS clogged. But if you can feel strong hot air blowing out, and the game makes it shutdown, it could also be other hardware/software problems.
Feb 08, 2012 @ 10:29 am
thanks, its really helpful
May 28, 2012 @ 7:26 pm
Very interesting info!Perfect just what I was searching for!
Jun 25, 2012 @ 1:53 pm
thanks for sharing in the above post.
Jul 06, 2012 @ 4:55 am
hey, i like your valuable article in which you have described very well with point wise.
Jul 08, 2012 @ 10:33 am
Wow! This can be one particular of the most useful blogs We have ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Wonderful. I am also a specialist in this topic so I can understand your effort.
Aug 10, 2012 @ 11:27 am
Thanks is’t really helpfull even i broken à bit ( wrong screw lol) tank you
Aug 11, 2012 @ 1:24 am
Thanks bro. Just took 3 hours to do everything. but do you know which plug is for the fingerprint function? it seems like it is not working after i plug in n out of the main board.
Aug 16, 2012 @ 8:50 pm
Hi Gary. Are you sure your thumbprint reader stopped working after you dissemble? I don’t recall it has a dedicated plug for it. You might wanna have a technician to take a look at it. Or it could be software problem. Did you uninstall Flash Player lately? The thumbprint reader requires Flash to operate.
Aug 16, 2012 @ 11:10 pm
hello sir, have problem with my aspire4937, at first when i turn on it, with my batery, it never open or go through,it shuts down, but when i use the plug it go through, then when i remove the plug few minutes it shuts so i concluded that it a batery problem and i changed the batery but its the same,may i ask sir what maybe the problem of my computer. thank you so much.
Jun 18, 2013 @ 4:46 pm
Hi nitoy urbano, could be power adapter problem. It could not charge the battery properly. Have you tried putting in a fully charged battery?
Jun 18, 2013 @ 10:32 pm
i fvcked up big time >.< loose thread screws, couldn't put back the tape thingy between the motherboard and the top casing.. well, my luck isn't working. hahah..
Aug 21, 2013 @ 12:04 am
Hi,
I am not able to restart my laptop. When I switch the power button on, it shows vista screen and then immediately switch off. After that if I restart, it goes to ‘Launch Startup Repair’, then it once again goes switch off. It happens frequently. I am having this problem for the past two days. Please help. What need to be checked for this.
Aug 29, 2013 @ 8:28 pm
Hi Azeez,
Check your battery and/or power adapter. It might be because the battery or adapter isn’t charging properly, thus when it goes to Windows loading screen it detects low power and turns off. If you are certain battery and adapter are not faulty, you might need to do a system restore or format.
Aug 30, 2013 @ 10:06 am
Hi,
Thanks a lot for your response. I tried to restart even after removing the battery. Still I am facing that issue. Anyway I had not formatted my PC from the day I purchased. So I ll try ur suggestion. Meanwhile, how to get the vista image backup before I format the C: . You valuable reply is appreciated.
Aug 30, 2013 @ 7:13 pm
Hi Azeez,
To backup your data, my suggestion is you take out the hard disc, and access it from a second computer.
To format, you have several options:
1 – While booting up, spam Alt + F10 until Acer’s eRecovery boots up. Use that and restore to factory default. In my opinion this is the safest.
2 – Download system restore disc from websites like http://server88-208-222-62.live-servers.net/en/Acer-Aspire-4937G/. I have not tried this method, but it is worth the try.
3 – Format and install Windows using a Windows installation disc. Be sure to use back your own laptop’s license key. It should on the back cover.
Sep 02, 2013 @ 10:06 am
Hi,
Can the multimedia Panel on the right side of the keyboard be completely disabled? Connectors to be removed? I’m having issues about power not turning the laptop on without a battery whilst connected to a wall current. Read somewhere that the panel needs to be replaced. So instead of replacing, can i just disconnect/disable it without affecting the functionality of the laptop and also without physically removing the panel itself.
Thanks.
Oct 01, 2013 @ 3:40 am
Hi Ce’z,
Sorry, I can’t answer your question. My guess is no, the multimedia panel seems to come with the keyboard (it’s like an added feature of a keyboard, not a separate piece of hardware). But better to check with proper technician than to read what’s on the internet. :P
Oct 01, 2013 @ 10:15 am
Hi I dont seems to be able to take my motherboard out though all the screws has been taken out according to your steps.
Apr 08, 2014 @ 2:18 pm
Hi there, Thank you very much for putting this up. It took me only 2.5 hrs to do it. For some reason, some of my keyboard buttons are not working. Can you think of anything I could do to fix this. Thank you again
Nov 30, 2015 @ 1:11 am
Hi,
After several years of your blog entry, this guide helped me a LOT.
BTW for just cleaning the fan I usually use compressed air (caring not to over-rotate the fan).
But now (after 4 years of continuous fun rotating – computer was a server of calculations) my fan became noisy – means bearing worn out, so I bought another in eBay and changed with your guide.
To all whom something is not working after reassembly:
– Keybord not working – check keyboard flat cable,
– LCD not working – check LCD cable,
etc.
Be warned! There are about 4 lengths of screws.
(2,5mm, 3mm, 5mm, and a long, like 10 mm).
Do not mix them, it could cause trouble!
I suggest to put all screws to a same pattern as you unscrewed. I requires about 1 sqm, but worths it).
Feb 20, 2017 @ 5:28 am
Wow vmark, this laptop is such an old model, I’m surprised to see someone still using it!
Feb 20, 2017 @ 12:22 pm