“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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June 7th, 2006 at 12:58 am
I hate my Toshiba satellite A70…..we just bought it last April 2005 and seldom used it but last week , it suddenly shut down and smoke comes out from the bottom. I brought it at the service center here in the Philippines and they told me that the power supply from the motherboard is broken/burned. We had so many laptops but we are very dissatisfied with our Toshiba. And worse of all, it does not cover the warranty because it’s 2 months expirted. They ask me to pay 37,000 ( $700) for the repair…damn i hate it…..i hope toshiba company wil hear my complaint on this
john
June 5th, 2006 at 2:10 am
Hi, i have Toshiba A75-S229 P4 laptop .when i play dvd or play any video file from internet
I am getting blue screen saying memory dump.when i try rebooting its work for about 30min and it does that again after cuple time rebooting i can boot. its beeping and ideo. i restore the OS 3 times from toshiba CD its does same thing even i restore fress install. any help will be good
May 31st, 2006 at 10:43 pm
[...] Most likely you experience a laptop overheating problem and it would be fixed by cleaning the cooling module – the heat sink and the fan. The notebook processor produces a lot of heat when the notebook is turned on. The cooling module helps to keep the CPU cool when the laptop is working. The cooling module includes two parts: the heat sink and the cooling fan. The heat sink is attached to the CPU and helps to conduct the heat from the processor to the radiator. The cooling fan blows on the radiator and helps to disperse the heat produced by the CPU. The laptop will overheat if the heat sink radiator is clogged with lint and dust or if the cooling fan stopped spinning. [...]
May 29th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
Hey Moose, CJ, All:
I had/continued to have a very similar problem. Taking apart the computer and cleaning the heatsink had been a conduit for more problems. Perhaps I might have damaged a part? I tried resoldering but the problem remained. My conclusion is that the excessive shorts caused by the overheating had damaged a few of the components other than the DC Jack on the motherboard. Perhaps replacing the DC Jack may work for you Moose; they are cheap on eBay. If all three lights are green, it means your battery should charge and is recognized by the motherboard. My first guess is just a short on the board itself. Did your laptop overheat and restart often before you cleaned out the heatsink?
May 28th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
Moose,
That is very strange. I’ve never seen that cleaning the heat sink can cause such a problem. Are you sure that I didn’t have the problem before you took apart the laptop?
May 28th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I took apart my laptop and cleaned the heat sink reapplied the thermal grease. Worked perfectly. I reassembled everything works except one. The computer won’t start from battery power. I don’t think the battery is dead. I don’t see the orange battery charging light come on either. Is it possible that hte battery is dead or is it just not making conductive contact with the motherboard to charge it?
May 24th, 2006 at 10:57 am
Sorry about that CJ, I don’t want to undermine your expertise. Again, many thanks and I’ll get back to you after soldering the Jack.
May 24th, 2006 at 10:42 am
Christopher,
I previous comments you didn’t mention that you can boot the laptop when you wiggle the power jack and apply some pressure on it. I guess you are right; it might be the power jack problem. Good luck!
May 24th, 2006 at 10:26 am
I would have thought that there’d be a loose part, however, I’ve secured all the ZIF connectors (top cover, sound card) by popping out the plastic parts first. I’ve tried using different Celeron M processors of the same speed and have also tried several RAM chips at various speeds (3200 & 2100) and of different sizes using various combinations. I am most assured that the DC Jack is causing a short as shifting the power cable and adding adequate pressure ensures the machine starts up as normal. What’s interesting is that the battery charges and the lights are all green. I know it’s bizarre, but I’m sure the DC Jack is causing the motherboard to short. I’ll get back to you when I resolder the joint since it is loosely connected to the board (there’s a small crack). Thanks for your advice and your help CJ. This forum has saved me some frustration.
May 23rd, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Christopher,
Wait for a while with resoldering the power jack. I’ve never seen the DC jack shorts the motherboard so badly that it will not start. Even if the power jack is bad, you still should be able to start the laptop from a battery.
Try to install the memory module into the second slot. Try to start the laptop without the LCD screen attached and without the top cover installed. You can carefully remove the power button board from the top cover and connect it directly to the system board, so you can turn it on. As I said in my previous comment, try to minimize the system. It might be just a loose connection. Check if the power button flat cable is seated properly on the system board.
When you remove the cable, you have to open the connector first. When you install the cable, open the connector on the system board first, plug the cable inside and close the connector.