“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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January 15th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
buy a mac. you will not run into these problems
January 14th, 2009 at 5:04 am
I took apart my computer and the heat sink was not dirty. It still shuttts off unless i put a fan on the heat sink. The internal fan does run from time to time but not constatley. Any ideas. Thanks
January 13th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
IMHO, the vacuum could do a better job than the compressed air. The reason is the thermal grease will not be sprayed out all over other pieces.
One more thing to consider is to upgrade your BIOS. This has always worked for me.
Just my 2 cents
Luis
January 12th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I tried scanning for viruses and nothing was found, so I was thinking it would be the fan. Now I get how the fan wouldn’t be working well so now it works again after using the vacuum method and opening up the bottom flap and cleaning off the fan. Thanks this is an awesome site!
January 11th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
READ THIS!
ive had this problem 4 awhile and i didnt know what to do until i visited this website. I went and bought a can of dust remover and it did the job 4 me. no vacum cleaners needed. just attach the extension tube flip ur laptop so that the screen is flat on the table and the base standing up facing you like a screen. make sure u follow the instructions on the can it should be sprayed only while in vertical position. go thru all the vent wholes u see in different angles sever times. do the same to the side panels. keep the laptop on so the vents workin n blowing the dust out. do it at again as necessary at least twice a month. good luck and thank yall
January 6th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
My sincere appreciation to you for your great contribution to us all, really works.
January 4th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
The “shop-vac” worked for us too!!! Our computer was “disabled” for weeks but when I applied the “vac” to the fan vents and kept it as the lint etc. was withdrawn, the computer is “cured”! Thanks to Yahoo and all who contributed….”repair” expenses here in Ontario can be debilitating….
December 29th, 2008 at 6:53 am
One last thing.,
When the computer powers up the fan turns on for a few seconds…and then it turns back off. It has been on for over an hour now and the fan does turn on and of, but it seems to me that the laptop is hotter than it ought to be. It is night at the moment (1:20AM) and the temp in the house is around 23C. I have seen the fan turn on and off from time to time, but most of the time it is off.
I am beginning to wonder if the thermostat settings for when the fan turns on (on demand fan) for Toshiba laptops – are just plain wrong. It seems to me that if the fan was unable to remove enough heat, but the system was able to sense the heat, the fan would be on all the time.
December 29th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Our machine is a :
Toshiba Satellite M60-103
MODEL : PSM60-0l0R00VFR
We have had more and more problems lately with odd things lie the mouse suddenly not working,. the entire machine seizing, software and OS crashing, and at times it refuses to boot back up *at all*. Also the USB will at times refuse to recognize anything at all.
Interestingly enough (in hind sight) all this started as we eased into the Australian summer. Here in SA the days are often 30C or hotter. and the laptop worked fine all winter long (aside from a few screen lines appearing over time…we need to replace the display which is a hazard of these wide screens).
We have virus checked it beyond all reason and there is noth.,
Anyway, if I turn the whole thing off until the sun has gone down for a while (or at times just unplug every device on it) it will suddenly be OK again.
Am I to understand that odd behavior of this kind can be the result of heat (not just the machine shutting down)?
December 28th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
ok now it shuts down only when i try to listen to music ;(