Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Cleaning Sony Vaio PCG GRT100 Fan Cooler

Ok, I think the most important thing to get it over to here is the Sony Vaio PCG GRT-100 Fan cooler cleaning. It's something that was a great help for others, so I will try to keep this available.

This is a guide of Cleaning the Sony Vaio PCG-GRT100 Fan Cooler:

#1 - Unplug AC/Battery
First unplug AC and Battery to avoid any damage.
#2 - Access the innards
All you need to do to access the innards of this baby, is to unscrew the screw on the left side of the laptop.
#3 - Remove Top Panel (step 1)
You slide the purple panel to your left.
#4 - Remove Top Panel (step 2)
Gently lift the panel. It'll be attached to the laptop's motherboard by a cable so don't pull too hard.
#5 - Remove Keyboard (step 1)
To remove the keyboard, unscrew the screw that the red arrow is pointing to. That keeps the keyboard attached to the body of the laptop.
#6 - Remove Keyboard (step 2)
After that, side the keyboard up and then you can lift the keyboard out of the way.
#7 - Disconnect Keyboard
Disconnect the keyboard by pushing up the white connection.
#8 - Unscrew all screws
Screws marked with red need to be removed so You can access the cooler.
#9 - Remove plate :)
I think this is the keyboard fixing plate, you need to remove it.
#10 - Cooler connections
There are two connections that connects the cooler to the main board.
#11 - Disconnect cooler
Disconnect the cooler by pushing up the white connection.
#12 - Cooler successfully removed
Now You can start to clean the cooler.
#13 - Cleaning Cooler (step 1)
Cleaning the cooler by removing from the house. (Don't forget to clean the house too.)
#14 - Cleaning Cooler (step 2)
Clean up the cooler's place by using a hoover.
#15 - Test it Out
Put/Connect everything back but don't screw tha keyboard back just connect it and then switch on the laptop and see if the coolers are working. (Note that you may need to wait some time to get the coolers started.)
#16 - Finish
Once everything is in place, put the keyboard back, screw it down and put the purple panel back. You're done!

NOTE: Click on the images to enlarge. Please note also if You somehow fry Your laptop, please don't blame me. I'm just providing this information as it is and I'm not taking any legal responsibility for any damage this web page may cause, you know as usually :)

posted by Julius at 10:32 AM

62 Comments:

  • I have been trying to find out what was wrong with my Sony Vaio PCG-GRT100 for over a year now. I called Sony - They said I needed to replace the mother board($800). I took it to a PC shop and they said that there was a temperature sensor that was bad($300). But I found your post on www.hardwaregeeks.com, followed your instructions and found a big dust clog in the cooling fan. THANKS!!!!!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:35 AM, August 09, 2006  

  • I have put up with the fan on my laptop puffing away for many months.
    I had always thought there was something wrong with the cooling system.
    Then I found your site! Cracking, now my laptop is whisper quiet. I can also use my laptop as a laptop again. No noisey fan to annoy people, and no noisey fan to drain current from the battery.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:32 PM, August 22, 2006  

  • I'm really happy that it helped you guys, when I contacted sony with my problems I got the same answer to replace the cooling system and/or motherboard, so I'm really happy that we didn't had to pay :)

    Cheers,
    Julius

    By Blogger Julius, at 12:40 PM, August 30, 2006  

  • Thanks, I was pretty sure there was a "clog" in the cooling system somewhere. But I wasn't sure how to GET to it! It was NAAAASSSSTY! Thanks again!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:02 AM, September 02, 2006  

  • Great how-to! I had started to clean the fans of my VAIO PCG-GRT785E (German model) because I was sure there was something wrong. I was not sure how to remove the second fan. Then I found your site and the photos helped me a lot. Now my notebook works again, does not get hot and the fans are working at normal noise levels. The all heatpipes were full of dust and the air could not get through. This is a *MUST DO* for VAIO users. Just remember to remove the battery before opening the notebook.

    One question: I am just wondering if one can also clean the part with holes that leads to the video chip. I did not dare to remove that parts, it looked a bit complicated :)

    One hint: The keyboard cable comes out *without* the connector - this is normal. I was shocked first when it came out like this because I thought that I had damaged it. The connector part just holds the cable tight when it is pressed down and releases the cable when it is in the up position.

    Regards,
    Anguel

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:09 AM, September 26, 2006  

  • Hi, this is a fantasic guide. Very usefull pictures showing the locations of the screws needed.

    This is a very easy job, and now my Sony Vaio runs silent!!

    Thanks very much for this guide!

    Btw. I have a Sony Vaio GRT786M - Same method applys

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:48 PM, October 07, 2006  

  • Muchas Gracias por ésta guía. Mi laptop se había caido y necesitaba ajustar el teclado.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:41 PM, November 11, 2006  

  • these instructions were a life saver

    thanks!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:21 PM, November 22, 2006  

  • Thanks so much! I have been looking for a manual and your site really helped me get started.

    Does anyone know how to access the power input and motherboard?

    I have lots of experience building and repairing pc's but this is the first laptop I have cracked.

    If you have a manual or know how, I would appreciate it. If you bought a manual on line,, I will pay my share.

    Thanks.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:44 PM, January 03, 2007  

  • Hopefully this isn't too silly of a post, but where is the mythical second screw in step 2?

    I tried just taking out the one mentioned but the part doesn't slide very easily and I don't want to break it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:23 PM, January 24, 2007  

  • Hi Anonymous,

    Sorry about the typing error, I wanted to say "unscrew the screw on the left" because in reality there is only one screw, so just get that out and push it to the left and it should open up.

    Cheers,
    Julius

    By Blogger Julius, at 9:08 AM, January 26, 2007  

  • A friend of mine came to me today with his GRT100 complaining of fan noise and spontaneous reboots. Your article was a very helpful resource. Thanks.

    By Blogger boots, at 11:55 AM, February 13, 2007  

  • Thanks for your help. This guide saved my computer. Sony said to send it in min charge ($750).

    Thanks again.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:23 PM, February 14, 2007  

  • This has to be the best bit of advice I have seen all year. My GRT715 (UK 15in model) is transformed, I couldn't believe how much grime there was in there. Was just about to buy a new laptop, saved me doing that until Vista works well...!

    The only things worth highlighting are that the keyboard was a bit tricky to plug back in (but you will get there), and I had to break off one of the screw holes (far left of the fan unit) as the screw was too tight to undo and I killed the thread. Otherwise all good....

    Many thanks Julius

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:01 AM, March 03, 2007  

  • WOW,WOW,WOW,WOW,WOW!!!! Did I say WOW?!

    After sooo long of my fan being on overdrive most of the time, trying to vacuum the dust through the back of the system and getting nowhere... do a Google and find your site. WOW!

    I've tried opening this GRT716S before by taking out all the screws I could find, but never knew that little trick that the speaker grill slides to the left! By the way for the other poster who said they didn't want to break it... It only slides a very small way, then you can swing it up.

    Like the previous poster Alex, I had a hard time budging that black screw to the left of the fan unit. I was going to break it. So I got a flat head screwdriver and with another tool as a hammer was trying to break the head off. Anyway... after a couple of hits I thought I'd try to turn it again - and it did :-) Must have broken the glue or something.

    I knew a sure fan starter was to play some sort of video / flash on the system but after a good clean... :-D YAY :-D It's like it's new!

    Thank you Julius... This was really great. You should have a PayPal Donate button or something on here! I was seriously looking at getting a new laptop!

    Thanks again :-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:42 AM, March 04, 2007  

  • A great merci from France where your expertise saved my laptop et makes my home so peacefully quiet now! Now that we all know how to open our vaio, do you think it would be possible to find more silent replacement fans? Thanks again!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:39 AM, March 06, 2007  

  • Thanks a lot, i'm a girl, and never ever had anything to do with computer repair! Quiet! And I replaced a keyboard because I learned how to get inside!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:29 PM, April 14, 2007  

  • Great post. I have posted simpler instructions some time ago on the SONY VAIO support forum, but then I have found that it is quite difficult to search and find anything there. So I have collected in a blog all my post concerning PCG-GRT815M that are quite common for the GRT series and might be useful for the rest of the GRT owners.

    By Blogger Uncle Scrooge, at 6:10 AM, May 09, 2007  

  • Thanks this was very very helpful with my brother's GRT715M.
    It's exactly the same.
    We had trouble with one screw and couldnt remove the entire cooling. Wé'll have to try that later on.
    Any advice on stuck screws?
    It's it loosening, but half way it just keeps going round and wont come out...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:12 AM, June 08, 2007  

  • Hi Robert, I think the best way to get that screw out would be if you would somhow strain (hope it's the right word) from below the screw's head and in the same time use your screwer to get it out. I think this should help, and hope it will. Cheers...

    By Blogger Julius, at 3:08 AM, June 11, 2007  

  • thanks a lot! as it turns out there was a thick layer of dust on the heat sink and nearly no air at all could go through. now after cleaning i can use the laptop in quiet places again :) cheers, ben

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:37 PM, June 13, 2007  

  • Thank you very much for the guide, it has saved my laptop. I actually stopped using it for a good few months because I couldn't stand the laptop being so noisy.

    Once I removed the fan, I saw this massive piece of dust which at first I thought it was part of the laptop :O after removing it and putting it all back together it's awesome, so quiet!

    I had problems with the far right screw as well at first but what I did was left the last screw in and slightly lift the fan casing up and wiggle it left and right so it loosens it up, eventually I was able to unscrew it.

    Once again thanks!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:02 PM, July 13, 2007  

  • Dude,

    thanks so much. I mean it!

    My fan noise had become so annoying and loud....I didn't know what to do and like everyone else, I was given exhuberant prices everywhere for diagnosis etc....I opened my CPU as you instructed to find 1cm thick of dust right outside the coooler's place against the grill. Amazing.

    I am really thankful and thanks for posting for all GRT 100 owners.

    Do you know anything about the screening flickering? I see the pictures but no light...all that happened at once, so needless to say I felt I was loosing my CPU big time. I bought an external display for now...But I think I have to change the CCFL bulb....

    Thanks a ton!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:18 AM, August 06, 2007  

  • Hi Anonymous,

    I'm happy that the cleaning worked out for you too, regarding the screen flickering, it happened to me to, and I'm almost sure your backlight fused (burned out) but don't worry, you can buy new backlights and/or invertors if needed and replace it yourself, at lease that's what I did, fortunately I didn't need an invertor, only my backlight went out, so I followed (partly) this instruction:

    http://www.fonerbooks.com/laptop_8.htm

    and replaced my backlight, since then I have no problems at all.

    I bought the backlight lamp on ebay, so I'm almost sure you could get some there too.

    I would recommend to buy first a lamp and see if that fixes the problem and if not then buy an invertor but usually only the lamps burn out.

    Hope this helps,
    Cheers,

    By Blogger Julius, at 5:46 AM, August 06, 2007  

  • Hi,

    This is a great post. I knew that my laptop has a dust problem (same noisy fan problem as everybody :)) but I could not manage to open and access the inside of this laptop. I unscrewed everything under it but yet could not manage to open it. And this post is a life saver. Ironically opening the case is extremely easy if you this method :). Now my laptop is working very quite. Thank you for this amazing info.

    And now I am planning to install a mini-pci wireless card but I think there is no antenna install to this model. Does anybody has any experince about installing this kind of addon to PCG-GRT100? (by the way my model does not have any kind of wireless connectivity by default)

    By Blogger raymex, at 10:22 AM, August 15, 2007  

  • This has saved my GRT ... thank you very much for the guide!

    Would anyone here know a way to do the same for a Sony TX Series? I believe it's the same problem.

    Anyhow, thanks again!

    By Blogger Dominic Wan, at 2:23 PM, August 22, 2007  

  • hey there. i am wondering if this method will work for a vgn-s360.
    i have been having this problem for ages and (living in remote rural china) the stress of a meltdown has been increasing.
    can i try this on my other model?
    Thanks.

    By Blogger ashley, at 11:51 AM, August 27, 2007  

  • Thank you soooooo much. I've been trying to get inside my sony for month to clean it and find a loose connection. For some reason I overlooked that screw every time. Great pictures and direction. My sony is now running great.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:35 PM, August 28, 2007  

  • The image links are broken for me :(

    Any chance in getting them back up?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:59 PM, September 17, 2007  

  • Hi Anonymous,

    Sorry about the broken images (we had a server move) but they should work just fine now.

    Cheers,

    By Blogger Julius, at 5:05 AM, September 18, 2007  

  • ahh, the images are working now, thanks. The screw on the upper right is struck pretty bad for me. I saw other people had that problem too. It's the last one left in there, but I don't think it's gonna come out.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:33 PM, September 18, 2007  

  • this worked on grt25 too, thx :) btw you circled the screws in step 13... are we suppose to unscrew those and clean or do we ignore that?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:30 PM, November 01, 2007  

  • You don't have to unscrew those too (step 13) but it may help to get better access to the house but I don't do it either every time just once a year :) in the rest time I just clean it with a hoover.

    Cheers,

    By Blogger Julius, at 2:42 AM, November 03, 2007  

  • oh thanks for making it clear... i thought you were making a joke about cleaning the house and by "removing from the house" meant to take the cooler outside...lol

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:04 PM, November 07, 2007  

  • Great thread!

    I already PAID someone £40 to clean the fan about 6 months ago, but now I can do it myself!
    However I would love to know where I can get a replacement fan from, as mine really sounds bad bad bad....

    No luck so far with the usual laptop repair parts places and I KNOW Sony won`t be interested.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:09 PM, January 11, 2008  

  • Update the next morning:
    Well it all came apart even easier than I thought and I cleaned a certain amount of fluff and dog hair out of the colling system, but one of the fans is really not sounding too good - even feels rough!
    In the vain hope someone might know where to get a new fan, the part number on the attached label is a UDQF2ZH22 DC 5VOLT O.35A.3623A

    Help, guys!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:02 AM, January 12, 2008  

  • Hi Guys,

    You may found sony parts on these addresses:

    http://www.sony-vaio-parts-repair.com/
    http://www.nexttronics.com/catalog.htm#laptop

    If you don't know/cant find the part you need just contact them, i'm sure they will answer you kindly.

    Hope helps.
    Cheers

    By Blogger Julius, at 3:26 AM, January 12, 2008  

  • Hey, great article. I found it extremely useful in opening up and cleaning my fans. Thanks again- we all appreciate it!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:05 AM, February 09, 2008  

  • Great Job! As everyone, been trying to find a software fix for my lack of housekeeping!

    Thanks!

    One question: Now it's so quite, I'm worried. Only one fan is running at this time...the one near the cpu, but not the other...normal - can't remember what is?

    Thanks,
    R/John

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:35 PM, February 16, 2008  

  • Hi R/John,

    It's normal that only one of the cooler is working at the beginning but you may wait a bit longer and even start a program that uses much cpu resources and your other cooler should then kick in too.

    Cheers,

    By Blogger Julius, at 1:50 AM, February 17, 2008  

  • Thank you this was very helpful. The fan on my Sony GRT915M was very noisy due to a build up of fluff etc. Using the descriptions and photos above allowed me to remove the cooling unit with ease. The amount of gunge inside was surprising but once removed transformed the PC. No longer is it struggling to keep itself cool.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:01 AM, April 06, 2008  

  • Sony VAIO VGN-CR240E/B Laptop Computer
    Sony VAIO N220EW Factory Refurbished Laptop PC

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:14 AM, April 08, 2008  

  • Great site. My fan UDQF2ZH22-AS spins fine but maks accessive noise. Does anyone know of a way to clean & lubricate the shaft of the fan to stop the loud vibrational noise?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:25 PM, April 15, 2008  

  • THX A LOT M8!!!! :]

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:43 PM, April 22, 2008  

  • You are my new BFF. We have had our laptop in the closet for over two years until I ran across your blog. My husband & I are 72 yr old geeks and we followed your wonderful instructions. We now have a new usable computer. Thanks a million. We are thrilled. It has been running quietly & cool for the past 6 hours. Unbelievable!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:34 PM, April 26, 2008  

  • Incredible! I followed all your steps & even cleaned the fans themselves and the result is just amazing! I was about to buy a new computer and get rid of this Vaio pcg-grt815e but now I can use it again. I used it for recording and composing but it had developed such a loud whining noise with a constant high pitch, which was very frustrating and made the pc useless.
    I will recommend this to all Vaio users!
    Thank you very much!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:33 PM, June 03, 2008  

  • thanks - made a real difference to the noise- what the hell am I going to do with al that fluff?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:24 AM, July 06, 2008  

  • many thanks to the poster of this tutorial. When I opened the laptop, there was this big chunk of dust between the fan. Man did it feel good to clean that up. The fan is very quiet now and doesn't make any whistling noise. Kudos!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:44 AM, July 07, 2008  

  • Spot on advice. As with a previous poster, there was a build up of dust between the fan and the outlet. Came out in one chunk. The fan is back to being quiet.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:36 PM, July 10, 2008  

  • thanks man my fan is quiet now like before, any chance you know how to clean the graphics card as well?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:50 PM, July 12, 2008  

  • [...]resource[...]

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:24 AM, July 22, 2008  

  • [...]resource[...]

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:27 AM, July 22, 2008  

  • My PCG-GRV550 had been suffering from a screaming fan, random shutdowns and rotten performance. After cracking open the laptop and blowing out all of the crud from the cooling system, my machine has been reborn. Thanks to everyone for the great advice!

    By Blogger Veg, at 11:06 AM, July 26, 2008  

  • Will this same basic procedure work for a PCG-k25???

    I have been having the same issues for over a year now...

    Please let me know if possible... my email is: cthimsen@gmail.com

    Thanks

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:35 AM, August 05, 2008  

  • Thanks dude, that has really helped - so much quieter now I can use it again :-)

    By Blogger KENPARK, at 11:22 AM, November 03, 2008  

  • Does anyone one know where I can get an old sony pcg grt 100 laptop casing. My laptop dropped and the hinges broke. I cant seem to find where to get its parts.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:40 AM, November 04, 2008  

  • CAn any one tell me how to open the keyborad of PCG- 7QAP

    By Blogger KoolKap, at 2:30 AM, November 20, 2008  

  • I'm in the process of cleaning out my grt100 to see if I can get it working again. If I can't, I'll be making the parts available on ebay. I'll let you know.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:32 PM, November 26, 2008  

  • Wow, my vaio is whisper quiet now compared to the high pitched whirr before. I have a different a VGN vaio, so I have to start from the bottom. There was a high dust clog in my fan so I used a canned air to remove it.

    By Blogger luvbuniz, at 5:34 PM, November 27, 2008  

  • this is by far the most detailed description of any vaio laptop that I've found; it helped a ton, but does anyone know how to remove the purple speaker bracket on a grt150? it won't slide across like these instructions said.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:17 PM, December 30, 2008  

  • um, now my vaio whisper quiet, beside i have one more problem if i leave my vaio run on AC adapter for long time, fan start noising again, and as soon i switched off Ac adapter it goes back to silent mode. (running on backup battery), what kind of problem is this ?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:14 AM, January 07, 2009  

  • Can anyone solve my mistery- I have Vaio VGN-FJ3M/W and cooler is wanting some major cleaning. Does anyone know how to access cooler?

    By Blogger Unknown, at 7:57 AM, January 26, 2009  

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