Question Dell Precision 690

[Orphus2000]

Ok I bought a Dell precision for my sister on Ebay a few years ago and now it's over heating and shutting down as it loads windows. I know what the problem is and it's dirty and it's in need of a serious cleaning...
The Problem I am having is removing the front panel and the left side panel...I have three or four manuals off the net and they all tell me to pull this lever in order to pop out the front silver colored plate...I do not have that lever..I have four screws that hold that plate in place..I can get to the first two screws by opening up the normal right side panel ( which is where ya can add hdds ect...) but i have no direction on how to open up that left side panel to get at the other set of screws that are holding the front plate...Since it's 12 years old Dell doesn't have any more support for it and I was thinking maybe one of you out there had the same problem , and know how i can access or open up the left side panel

 

[Lutfij]

I don't think you're supposed to remove the other side panel as it seems to be rivetted in place. You should be able to remove the motherboard tray to gain access to the innards. On another note, you might not need to gain access to all of the case, just enough to use a can of compressed air and a fine bristled brush to dislodge dirt and dust bunnies.

 

[Orphus2000]

ok i will try and disassemble it all from the motherboard thru the dual fans and see if those screw become visible...but believe me i used a toothbrush in between the silver front plate and the front air vent and it made no differences.. Its like cement in there...Two cans of air made no difference either gonna have to break out the shoppe vac and put the hose on the blower...Those ain't normal dust bunnies more like cigarette tar dirt mutants...lol

 

[william p]

That looks like the Dell workstation case they used for years.
There will be a blue plastic latch next to the optical drives, and if you slide that down the black plastic drive bezel will swing out to the left and come off.
Look for a blue plastic tab behind the power button and pull it towards you. This will relase the metal front cover which will slide up to come off. 2 screws in front of the fan assy. will allow them to be lifted out together.
I would pull the heatsinks and put new thermal coumpound there also. The PSU fan and intake screen may be full of dust bunnies also.
https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/...rkstation/precision-690_users-guide_en-us.pdf