How To Stop Laptop From Overheating And Shutting Down

[steveb]

Having problems with my laptop overheating and shutting down. Bought an external fan that the laptop sits on and worked for awhile. When I do something like converting videos or something, I hear the laptop fan nosily over working,overheat and shut down. Anyone have experience with this and can the internal fan be replaced or is there something better than the 100 baht laptop fan box?

[PoorSucker]

Clean it inside first.

[Jdietz]

^^^ what he said.

Most likely the fans and the airducts inside the copper heatsink on your processor and graphic card are blocked. Open it up, give it a good cleaning, use some fresh heatsink compound to glue it back on your processor.

[SlumdogMillionaire]

Yep,

Poor sucker's right, clean it.

The main reason for laptops breaking is over heating.

I bought 2 cans of compressed air from Pantip Plaza, took the laptop apart and give it a good blow out around the fan and inside, loads of sh#t came out!

I had never done this before since I bought it a few years ago!

Trust me mate, it runs like a dream now, quiet, cooler and faster, I give it the once over every 6 months now.

[bigbossron]

If your laptop is about 1 1/2 and 2 years old and have a nvidia graphics on board, the graphic card is the problem. Design failure causing components get loose from the pcb.

Ron

Edited April 12, 2011 by bigbossron

[nikster]

make / model would be helpful to know

I find compressed air cans hard to find but there is one source of compressed air that can be found pretty much anywhere in Thailand - anyone tried using the compressor in a motocyc fixing shop? I think it would probably work just fine...

[Pib]

Since most laptop fans intakes are on the bottom of the laptop and blow hot air out a side vent, be sure your laptop is setting on a flat, hard surface which provides a small amount of clearance to allow air into the intake of the fan. "Don't" set the laptop on a cloth, towel, paper, etc., type surface as that will block the air intake vent. Be sure that clearance exists between the laptop bottom and a hard/smooth surface. And you may not have to take the laptop apart to clean a partially blocked fan intake and output. Blowing compressed/canned air into the intake and brushing out the output vent may do the job. Be sure to have the laptop turned off when cleaning the vents. And those laptop fan pedestals you set your laptop on are way overrated. All they really do is cool the plastic on the bottom of your laptop and that has very, very little cooling effect on the inside electronic circuits which are not directly touching the plastic computer shell. They may push just a very little bit more air into the cpu fan air intake vent, but it would be very little. They are just snake oil. Good luck.

Edited April 12, 2011 by Pib

[steveb]

Thanks everybody for your help. Would you suggest taking it to a shop to have it cleaned or try doing it by myself? It is a Asus A8J series and yes Bigbossron it is more than 2 years old and has a nividia graphics on board.

[Somtamnication]

I have a similar problem. With an hp 6735s, 3 year old..

I took the battery and keyboard off, cleaned all copper parts with alcohol.

Used compressed air on all of the laptop.

Last night, I tested it and it still shut down. So I raised the laptop off the laptop fan, blew on number 3 a fan on the laptop and left it all night doing defrag and other stuff. Still on this morning. So it is an over heat issued for me. It normally shuts down after 30 minutes or less.

I installed speccy, a free program that tells you what your computer is and it shows the temperature on cpu, ram and motherboard. Clearly see the temperature raising with no fan.

The fan on the laptop works fine.

What I would suggest to the OP is this.

Go to any homepro or kitchen shop, buy a small dish tray. Lay the laptop on top. These have grills under them so you get good ventilation. I bought one of those small table top fans. Turn it on and let it run. No problems so far.

Anyways, the newer laptops are better. But being in Phuket, where it is hot every day, this little workhorse is about to see its end, I believe.

[innerspace]

Thanks everybody for your help. Would you suggest taking it to a shop to have it cleaned or try doing it by myself? It is a Asus A8J series and yes Bigbossron it is more than 2 years old and has a nividia graphics on board.

How confident are you with taking things apart?

Easy enough to do yourself, take the screws out, dismantle piece by piece and try to remember where it all went.

Laptops can vary a lot by model as to how many screws are needed to get to the components though, some take a bit of work.

If you lack the tools or confidence take it to a shop.

[4evermaat]

The advice with "opening up your laptop" is solid. I will add to that. I have never burned up laptop before, but I know a friend who used to every year or so. If you are using the laptop for several hours daily, the best thing is to open it up in at least one major area and then sit it on a flat surface. Usually where you install the RAM is the section you want to open. That and where the CPU or heatsink is. If you have a laptop fan cooler, it helps. When using a small desk fan may be stronger and provide better cooling. I use the belkin laptop cooling fan, and the fan is directly below where I opened up laptop. I leave that laptop running 24/7. In fact, I usually leave my laptops running, as I don't like it sleeping and messing up whatever I'm in the middle of doing. This is unfortunate for my macbook, which apple did not do a good job of leaving an ability to "open up" laptop.

In fact, any small electronic device that you want to extend its life, open it up to the air. Those USB aircards are notorious for getting hot. This open it up technique works best for things that remain in a fixed place for long periods of time. If you move these devices around frequently, you must be careful not to damage internal parts, as they may be more exposed as the covers are removed.

I had an argument with a friend a few years ago where he insisted that the laptop's original design was to be an extension of the desktop, not a replacement. That may have been true 15-20 years ago, but nowadays laptops can do just about anything a desktop computer can, and is usually more cost effective if you factor in the portability. Keeping it cool is one of the secrets to the longevity.

[BB1950]

make / model would be helpful to know

I find compressed air cans hard to find but there is one source of compressed air that can be found pretty much anywhere in Thailand - anyone tried using the compressor in a motocyc fixing shop? I think it would probably work just fine...

Those compressors usually have water in the lines. Not good for computers. Better solution is one of those leaf air blowers that air conditioner techs use. The can be obtained and BigC, Lotus,..etc. I once saw a computer tech clean the computers at 7-11 with one. I thought it was a great idea.

Edited April 14, 2011 by BB1950