HP DV9700 Repair

Once again this is another laptop that has cooling fan or clogged heat-sink problems.  I wish they would make this problem easier to fix!  If it has been run with a clogged fan then the chips in the graphics card might be permanently damaged.  If this is the case then you can send the motherboard to someone on EBay who will fix it for $75 to $100.

To fix this laptop you will have to remove over 50 screws to get to the clogged heat-sink. Start with removing 6 screws under the battery and then remove the silver cover that is above the keyboard.  Next remove 3 screws and remove the keyboard.  Next remove 6 screws (2 are underneath) , then unplug and remove the screen. The three wires to the wireless network card have to be unplugged form the card down below and then routed back out of the laptop.  Next remove 2 screws and remove the speaker assembly.  Next remove many many screws located both above and below the laptop and then remove the the top bezel. You will need to remove the wireless adapter and both hard drives as there are 4 screws that are located under the hard drives.  Then remove the CD ROM drive and its adapter.  Remove the PCMCIA card and its adapter.  Remove three motherboard screws and the 3 heat-sink/fan screws then you can remove the motherboard.  Flip over the motherboard and remove 4 screws to remove the fan and then you can clean the heat-sink.

Warning, the power connector from the power jack to the motherboard can be easily inserted incorrectly.  Make note of its orientation before disconnecting it!