Titanium G4 Powerbook 1GHZ Fan replacement

[Fluk3]

My trusty 15" 1GHZ Ti book Powerbook's fans have gone south over the last year or so. When they do come on, they are either terribly loud or annoyingly "whiney" and "buzzy" as if they are clogged with dust and hair or something, and in either case, they just don't cool the laptop very well any longer. When I play Halo or watch EyeTV (or play any demanding 3D game or high quality video - especially mpeg) it overheats badly.

I have resorted to a usb fan, a cool pad and a small external fan all trying to keep it cool. Usually that's okay, but in some cases I have to lift the keyboard so the fans can hit the processor dead on. When it overheats I get crazy video artifacts to the point where I have to restart - presumably the heat is messing up the logic board or the video card.

So, to the point...

I have found, online, a primary fan and secondary fan (about $45 each) as well as the tool I need to take the tibook apart and a take-apart guide (about $10 each) all on the same website.

My question is... should I attempt to replace them myself?

I can take apart a tower mac and replace hard drives, RAM, PCI cards, optical drives, etc. Am I taking an unnecessary risk by taking this on? Is it more complicated than I think?

For just over $100 the thought of solving this myself in one night is really appealing. Otherwise, I'm looking at hundreds more and a week or two of no Mac - which is unacceptable.

Any thoughts or advice or cautions?

Thanks

 

[powermac]

I took my TI book apart once to replace the HD. Like yourself, I was nervous at first, because I never took a laptop apart before. In the end, it was not bad. There are some videos on the net showing step-by-step instructions. If I were you, I would go for it.

 

[billbaloney]

Just make sure the instructions you find are specific to your model of TiBook. Different machines are put together different ways, and it's a big help to have an accurate set of instructions before you start.

Another important point is this: don't be afraid to stop! If you run into a situation where you don't understand how a certain part comes off, or something seems stuck, call it a day. Either take a break and come back to it, or bring everything to your local computer repair shop. But don't persevere if a particular action seems wrong, because it probably is. (Speaking from experience.)