Laptop won't boot after cleaning heatsink

alexbouckley · Feb 16, 2015

I know very little about the internals of computers. But I decided today to clean the dust out of my old Dell Inspiron 5100 and now it won't boot. When I power it up, the DVD drive, hard drive, LEDs, and fan turn on, but the screen stays blank. When I was cleaning the dust I removed the heatsink, and when I reinstalled it I made sure it was connected back properly. All I unplugged besides the heatsink was the fan and keyboard from the motherboard so I could access the insides easier. I didn't reapply thermal paste, but would that really be the reason it won't start up correctly? Thanks

Ubrales · Feb 16, 2015

Some connector came loose in the cleaning process. Re-installing the heatsink without cleaning off the thermal compound and re-applying fresh compound will make it run hotter, but not fail to start.

alexbouckley · Feb 16, 2015

Ubrales :

Any idea where to look for the loose connector? I've been looking and everything looks fine to me.

Ubrales · Feb 16, 2015

Most of these connectors are ZIF (zero insertion force) connectors. Each one has a slide to move before it can be un-connected. Using a large magnifier will help identify loose connectors and unconnected parts.

alexbouckley · Feb 16, 2015

Ubrales :

Sorry I'm super clueless about this, do you think it would be on the motherboard? Or somewhere connected to the heatsink?

Ubrales · Feb 16, 2015

The connector that you unplugged when you took the keyboard out is a ZIF connector. If you just pulled it apart, it is likely that the ZIF connector was damaged. Same with other connectors. Most are connected to the motherboard.

alexbouckley · Feb 16, 2015

Ubrales :

Alright, I'll go look at the connectors and see if they are damaged.

alexbouckley · Feb 16, 2015

Ubrales :

Looked throughout the laptop and found nothing that looked disconnected or broken. Any other suggestions?

Ubrales · Feb 16, 2015

If nothing is broken, and nothing is disconnected, it should work. Right?

alexbouckley · Feb 16, 2015

Ubrales :

I looked very hard all afternoon and still couldn't find anything that looked different than it did when I started cleaning. Are there any other causes besides connectors?

Ubrales · Feb 17, 2015

Broken or loose connectors would be the number one problem! Make sure that the heatsink fan connector is plugged in. I don't expect any components to go bad as the result of cleaning with compressed air.

alexbouckley · Feb 17, 2015

Ubrales :

Fan is plugged in and working, oh well this computer is 15 years old haha I don't need it anymore. Thanks for the help!

IamTimTech · Feb 17, 2015

You should still go through and try to figure out what you connected improperly so that you can know for the future.

bmacsys · Feb 17, 2015

IamTimTech :

There isn't too much in a 15 year old laptop that would apply to one made today.

alexbouckley · Feb 17, 2015

bmacsys :

That's what I was thinking, it looks very different than the inside of my laptop I got last year. I checked over AGAIN and looked at every tiny connector and it all still looks fine.

IamTimTech · Feb 17, 2015

Hmm, well then it may have just been damaged from any of a variety of things. Though you may not learn too much of anything about the internals in particular, it is still good practice.

alexbouckley · Feb 17, 2015

IamTimTech :

Yup, who knows what could've happened to it. Thanks guys

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