“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 22nd, 2006 at 8:59 pm
MichaelS,
You can defiantly clean up the heatsink, because it’s easy to access it from the bottom of the laptop. But it’s not as easy with hinges. You cannot tighten them. The hinge screws are located under the top cover and not under the speaker covers. I think that most likely your hinges are broken and have to be replaced. If you happy with your laptop now, do not replace hinges, that’s a LOT OF WORK.
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Thank You!! for your passion in teaching, I look forward to de-assembling my new to me (used) Satellite A15-S129 to clean, etc… got for deal due to LCD hinges are “loose” and LCD will not stay staionary (loose but wont open all the way flat so maybe ok?), but I am definitly happy with it!!
QUESTION: Can I tighten the hinges under the speaker covers or at base of LCD housing internaly? Help very appreciated…
Thank you again for your teachings!
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:52 am
Avery Stewart,
Did you mean the LCD screen? If you are having a problem with laptop video, check out these posts:
How to troubleshoot and fix laptop video problems
Laptop has bad video on the LCD screen. What is wrong?
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:29 am
The LED on my Toshiba Laptop A15 is not activating when I boot the computer up. It works fine when I connect it to a monitor. What might the problem be?
September 18th, 2006 at 10:48 pm
Steven,
Yep it sounds like a bad system board. Most likely the onboard memory module is bad and it will fail if you test it with Memtest 86+ utility.
September 18th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
Christina,
I don’t really understand how it can help you to fix the connection problem. Usually the power jack fails because the solder points on the motherboard crack and the power jack looses connection with the system board.
I haven’t crated a guide for taking apart Satellite 1905 yet. You can check out my disassembly guides for other Toshibas at http://www.irisvista.com. Some disassembly steps will be different for your model, but in general the entire process would be very similar to any other model. In most cases it’s necessary to remove the system board, or at least remove the laptop top cover, in order to check the power jack.
September 18th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
cj
Thanks for the ideas. I removed the extra memory, no help. I plugged in an external monitor and see the bad Toshiba image. Sounds like I need to replace the mother board?
Thanks very much for the help. This site is great.
Steven
September 18th, 2006 at 6:46 am
Thanks for the reply. I am almost positive it isn’t the adapter as the adapter is only about 6 months old. Normally I would have someone open the laptop however I am overseas at the moment and getting someone where I am isn’t the easiest. I would in a minute if I were back in the states (which I hope to be in the not too distant future)
If I could ask 2 brief questions. I read somewhere where 1 guy was having a connection problem and used alumium foil on the end of his adapter and that helped. Is it safe to put alumimum foil on the end to help be a conducter? 2) If I just wanted to open the laptop to check if the dc plug is broke (not try to fix myself) would I open the computer on the front or back (toshiba 1905-s303) I opened the back panel to the left of the fan and saw where the plug comes in the back but that didn’t really show me anything, so either I have to take the whole back off or really open the front. I just want to see if it is broke or not, then I can get this thing to someone to repair. Thanks again for your time
September 17th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Hey Carlos,
Can you provide a better description on the laptop behavior? It will not turn at all? Do you see any LED lights, any HDD or DVD drive activity, any video at all?
September 17th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
I have a problem with my Toshiba A55-S326 I was play a game GTA III and suddenly the laptop freeze and no key word Ctr Alt Del for end task, so I turn off with the on/off switch but after that the computer did´t start.