Disassembling ASUS K72 Series

Intro: Disassembling ASUS K72 Series

Dell publishes disassembling manuals. Unfortunately ASUS doesn't. I decided to show you how to solve overheating problem, or add additional HDD to your ASUS k72 series.

WARNING: You use this guide at your own risk. Disassembling notebook may result in loss of warranty. If you are not familiar with such things, don't do it. Author is not responsible for any harms, and losses that may occur during operations described here.

STEP 1:

Firstly I advise you to sort screws.

1. Remove battery and unscrew four screws, which you can see after that.
2. Unscrew two screws - colored blue on photo below and move out CD recorder. Unscrew four screws, which you can see after that.
3. Unscrew four screws from cover (red on photo), and take off the cover
4. Unscrew all screws colored green

STEP 2:

After opening cover:
1. Unscrew four screws (red) that hold your HDD.
2. Carefully pull the drive.
3. Unscrew five screws colored blue on picture below.

STEP 3:

Use something to lever up keyboard (I used guitar pick).

STEP 4:

Next you have to do is to pull off the lock and move the ribbon.

STEP 5:

Remove all 6 screws.

STEP 6:

Again you have to move lock and remove the ribbon (smaller one).

STEP 7:

Use a guitar pick or sth. like this to pull out the upper case. Do it CAREFULLY. The worst part is placed near screen.

STEP 8:

To remove fan unscrew two screws on it, and peel off the ribbon. Remove fan.
Use a vacuum cleaner to clean radiator.

STEP 9:

To change HDD position just put it on second socket, but check if you need some casing for it.

STEP 10:

If You'd like to change the thermally conductive paste on GPU or CPU, You have to remove screws with triangle symbol (on image colored green) and gently lift the mainboard (starting with left side) plug-out LCD and Wi-Fi ribbons. You are ready to remove mainboard from the casing.

Comments

[mike.jamesglasser]

is it possible to upgrade the main CPU chip to a i7 chip with out soldering or some such nonsense? also how much ram is the max this system can handle?

[virgonautus]

No, you can't upgrade CPU in notebooks, secondly RAM depends on operating system you use. 32bit OS - max 4GB, 64bit OS - REALLY much more.

In this notebook case you have two slots for RAM.

[jakkerma]

I did it: I installed an I7 620 M and it works like a charm..

[pagin]

For those who asked: I just made a (failed) attempt to reset the CMOS by removing the battery, after an official flash from ASUS broke the BIOS. To find the CMOS battery, you need to follow the instructions to remove the motherboard, it is under the motherboard on the top right corner. Beware, besides the Wifi Ribbon (which is a bit difficult to remove), there are also a black and a white cable underneath the motherboard (front-center) that you need to pay attention to.

I hardly understand why the CMOS battery has been fixed at such an unreachable place....

[Kuljen]

Hey, thanks for guide. But Im having trouble removing hdd(but i dont think i even need to- i just want to clean fan), and removing keyboard. Those 4 holes you marked only remove the plastic that is around buttons....sooo i have no idea how to actually remove all of it together.
Please help me remove keyboard..

[memoric77]

Hi,

can you tell or show me, where I can find the CMOS battery??? Just opened it, didnt find it :(

[memoric77]

Hi,

can you tell or show me, where I can find the CMOS battery??? Just opened it, didnt find it :(

[CameronM38]

Hi, just signed up and wanted to say thanks heaps! I needed to pull out the CMOS battery and would have been lost without this.

Cheers!

[dreamitbuildit]

This was helpful when I changed the grease on the graphics and CPU as well as changing hte keyboard. Now I would like to know can the wifi card be replaced on this model?

[tylerboutilier]

Hey do you know if the CPU and or graphics card are able to be replaced, I own this laptop just wondering before i got too involved, thanks

Tyler

[virgonautus]

The truth is, everything is possible, but... it's almost impossible. For
now laptop elements like graphics card, are usually on-board
integrated, so You won't be able to replace it.

[travcarp]

Wow this is literally the only disassemble video I've manage to find of this laptop... such a shame. But thankfully you've posted something!

I'm having problems with this laptop, the screen flickers white, to a constant white, whenever I open or move the screen. I can very rarely see my desktop anymore - only when it's on that "perfect" degree/angle.

From what I've searched, it's a common problem in all laptops, and that it has to do with the ribbon cable/inverter?? Could you please write a tutorial on how to get to these parts and how to remove/replace them?

Thanks so much, awaiting your reply mate. :-)

[virgonautus]

I had the same issue, but repaired it without any new elements.

The only thing you have to do after steps described here is to remove screws inside your laptop with triangle symbo. Then you should be able to lift the motherboard (from left side). Then just plug-out LCD ribbon from motherboard and turn it 360 degrees and plug-in. Your ribbon should work again ;)

[travcarp]

Thanks for the quick reply! Would I be able to see the triangles from your last picture? And it looks like I need to find a screwdriver small enough to even grip these screws. :P Thanks for the help man! I woulda tried something stupid and crack the hinges or face place of the screen knowing my luck haha.

[virgonautus]

here you are:
http://i41.tinypic.com/xo0b3a.png

[Phil B]

Is your ASUS computer a notebook? My wife's ASUS notebook exhibited spontaneous shutdown problems. I traced the source to a short in the power supply. My Instructable on how I solved the difficulty did not show up in the "Related" Instructables listed with your Instructable. In case anyone is interested, it can be found here.