“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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September 6th, 2006 at 7:30 am
Update to my situation:
I decided to retry applying the ceramique paste. I bought acetone, and thouroughly cleaned the heat sink and the CPU. The first time around, I was using 70% isopropyl alcohol to clean, even though Arctic Silver’s website said to clean with high purity isopropyl alcohol or acetone. So this time, I cleaned both parts really well, and followed the ceramique instructions very carefully.
The computer is still overheating. It’s idling in the 60degree C range. I believe it should be in the 30-40 range, correct?
I called Arctic Silver, and their (very helpful) tech instructed me that some laptops require a thermal pad for the heat sink to make good contact to the CPU. I called Toshiba, and their (not so helpful) tech stated that according to his specs, Toshiba uses pink silicon grease, not a thermal pad.
I’m out of ideas, aside from getting pads as a test…any thoughts?
September 5th, 2006 at 8:14 am
Hi
I am attempting to fix the hinge on my girlfriend’s Satellite A45-S150…I opened up the computer, and quickly realized that the hinge is broken (I thought I’d be able to simply tighten it). So I ordered a new hinge and put the computer back together in the meanwhile. I did not apply thermal grease (didn’t realize I’d have to). Of course, the computer overheated. So I went out and bought Ceramique thermal paste, and followed their online directions.
The first time the computer overheated, the fans were on full blast for a while. It overheated within I believe 30 minutes or so. After I applied the grease, the computer stayed on for several hours, and the fans were not running on top speed…they were running “normal”. All of a sudden, the fans went on full blast and the computer shut down. From the fans turning on to the computer shutting down was really quick, within 30-60 seconds…any ideas what to look for?
Do I need a thermal pad, vs thermal grease perhaps?
September 4th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
Joseph,
Yep, this gray stuff on the top of the CPU is thermal grease and before you assemble the laptop back, you must apply new layer of the grease (because the old one is already removed). If you run the laptop without thermal grease, it will overheat and shut down. You can buy thermal grease in any local computer store or buy it online.
When you assemble the laptop, make sure that both fan connectors are plugged into the system board. Sometimes people forget to connect the fan, it’s a common mistake.
September 4th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
Hi!
I have a A75-S231 model and I had the same problem described here (laptop is on for 10-20 mins and turns off without warning). I already cleaned the heatsink and the fan and assembled back the laptop. I turned it ON and while it displays the “XP loading” screen, it turns OFF.
I tried everything (including disassembling and assembling again) but it did not work. I tried to do a SAFE MODE in XP and it did not not work as well.
One thing that I remembered doing differently is removing something (looks like GRAYISH DUST) on top of the processor that I thought was dust. I did not bother putting any coz I thought it was just dust. Is this the “thermal grease” that was mentioned in the article? What do I need to put in there?
Any comments?
August 31st, 2006 at 11:33 pm
[...] Most likely the laptop shut downs are related to a clogged heatsink and you would be able to fix the problem if you clean up the heatsink. You can blow off the heatsink using an air compressor or you can take the laptop apart (for people with laptop repair experiance ) and remove the dust. [...]
August 31st, 2006 at 10:15 am
The comment has been moved here.
August 27th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
Thanks guys. I will follow your advise and focus on cleaning the heatsink and get back to you on the results.
Thanks again.
August 27th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
[...] When you turn on the laptop, both fans should spin. You can see them through the grill on the bottom of the laptop. If both fans spin and they are not noisy, wait with the replacement, try cleaning the heatsink first. If the heatsink in the laptop is completely clogged, a vacuum cleaner will not be able to remove the dust and dirt and make it 100% clean. A powerful air compressor would be a better option. [...]
August 25th, 2006 at 7:50 am
cjones,
That is the model of my Toshiba (A75-S229), if you know any good P2P program and you have a good connection speed I can transfer you a ISO file.
August 23rd, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Call Toshiba customer service line at (800) 457-7777 and ask them if they can sell you one. It shouldn’t be very expensive.