“My Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without any warning. Sometimes it works fine for hours, sometimes it shuts down in 10-15 minutes.” This complaint we hear from our customers over and over again. About 15-20% of all Toshiba laptops we get for repair, suffer from an overheating problem. Yep, OVERHEATING!
This is one of the most common problems with Toshiba laptops we deal with.
Indications of laptop overheating problem:
- The keyboard and the bottom of your laptop are very hot when the laptop is working.
- The CPU fans are working all the time at maximum rotation speed and operate much louder than before.
- The laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning. When it just started, the laptop was shutting down after 1-2 hours and how it shuts down after 5-10 minutes of operation.
- The laptop works fine when it runs idle, but shuts down as soon as you start using any memory demanding applications (DVD player, image editing software, video editing software, etc.).
Solution:
If the CPU heatsink is not clogged with dust and lint completely, you can use canned air and just blow it inside the laptop through the openings on the bottom and on the sides. It’s nice as a precaution measure, but it might not work if your laptop already has a problem and the heatsink is completely clogged.
- Open the laptop case, so you can access the CPU fan and the heatsink. In some cases you can access the heatsink through the latch on the bottom of the laptop. Sometimes (for example Toshiba Satellite A70/A75) you have to open the laptop case all the way down.
- Carefully disconnect the fan cables on the system board and remove the fan. If the fan makes unusual sound when it spins (grinding sound), I would recommend to replace the fan.
- Clean the fan and the heatsink with compressed air.
- I would also recommend removing old thermal grease from the CPU and applying new grease for better heat conductivity.
UPDATE: I just received a nice tip from MC N’Colorado. I think it could be useful for all of you with guys:
I decided to use a shop vac to suck the dust out and it worked. I tested it by letting the machine run all night and it worked. It’s been a couple of weeks now and I’m glad I did it. I was ready to take the machine apart, now I’m glad I didn’t. I’d suggest you use a heavy duty shop vac to clean out the fan and heat sinks first.
I agree. Try to fix the problem without taking the laptop apart first but I would recommend using a powerful air compressor instead of a vacuum cleaner.
If your laptop is still under warranty, you can take it to any Toshiba Authorize Service Provider and fix the problem at no charge to you.
Toshiba laptop disassembly guides with pictures and instructions.
Toshiba Satellite A15 Clogged Heatsink
Toshiba Satellite A35 Clogged Heatsink
Toshiba Satellite P15 Clogged Heatsink. Absolute champion!
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April 28th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Hi,
I have a used toshiba satellite A15, the guy I bought it from told me it worked fine, but when I got it home it would start go through the bios and then shut down. At first I thought it was the hard drive or OS so I installed a new hard drive, got my windows xp cd and tried to set it up. However, it won’t stay on long enough to set up. It will shut down normally at the setup is inspecting your hardware screen, or sometimes if I get lucky I will get to the blue screen to agree to the license, but then it will shut down again. I have tried cleaning the heatsink and fan, etc., but to be honest they were not even dirty or clogged with lent or dirt. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Ray I’m wondering if it could be a bios issue……….
April 28th, 2006 at 9:34 am
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April 27th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Brandon,
Toshiba Satellite A70 and A75 laptop are not the quietest computers in the world. After you replace the fan and clean up the heatsink it should be quieter and the grinding noise will go away if it is not caused by a failing hard drive of course.
If you use Toshiba Power Management Utility then you can also change the cooling method from the maximum performance mode to the silent mode. It should also help to make your laptop quieter.
To change the cooling method go to: Start-Control Panel-Toshiba Power Management-Advanced-Cooling Method
April 27th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
“I have seen a lot of A70/A75 fans making a grinding sound when it spins on highest speed. Usually we replace the fan in this case.”
Cj,
After replacing fans, would my laptop be more quiet than before and would the grinding noises would go away?? Thanks because I was just wondering if it’ll be worth it buying a new fan this weekend.
April 26th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
If it is possible, please let me know the best place to connect anti-static wrist strap to the notebook computer.
April 26th, 2006 at 10:05 pm
Brandon,
If you have never done it before, it might take about 45 minutes. When you disassemble the laptop make some notes, do not forget screw location. It is pretty easy to take it apart, just do not hurry. Be careful with connectors on the system board, unlock them before you pull cables.
To remove the motherboard I need 10-15 minutes.
April 26th, 2006 at 10:01 pm
Hi Joe,
I have never seen this problem before, not a clue. I would try to upgrade BIOS and reseat the keyboard and the touchpad connectors on the system board. Not sure if it will help, but I would definitely try it.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
Madeline,
Follow the link. How to clean Toshiba Satellite P15 heatsink and fix laptop overheating problem.
April 26th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
Cj,
I was wondering whats the average time disassembling a toshiba satellite a75-s226? This is my first time im going to take it apart, so hopefully it doesnt take long.
April 26th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
Hi, Great Site.
Have you dealt with the touchpad shutting down? First the touchpad goes, then right after that or maybe at the same time I also then lose the USB ports and the keyboard. Usually the keyboard comes back but not the touchpad.
5205-S703 is the model. It has been cleaned of dust lint but didn’t help this problem.
Thanks for any help!
JOe