“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 27th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Hi, I have a Toshiba X205-SLi2. A few months ago I was watching a movie on it and it overheated. It’s overheated before, but this time I let it sit for a few minutes and tried to boot it up and I got nothing. It doesn’t boot up, and doesn’t even show it’s plugged in (the light on the front doesn’t light up to show it’s plugged in). I tried taking the battery out and leaving it unplugged for the night, but it didn’t help. I sent it to GeekSquad and they told me they thought it was the Video Cards and wanted $1400 to fix it and said even after that it might need a new motherboard as well. I didn’t believe it was the video cards, so I took it back and tore it apart myself to see if I could see anything. So far I don’t see anything, but I’m no computer whiz. I was thinking the motherboard? Anything you can tell me on how to tell if it is, or how to fix it? Thanks for any help you can provide, I’m going crazy and can’t really afford a new laptop.
April 24th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Hi, I have a toshiba satellite a200 laptop. I tried to vac my laptop but it still switches off by itself.
Is there a guide for a200 dissembling for the heatsink? I can’t seem to find it.
And does this usually only happen to toshiba laptops, if so I plan to purchase another brand laptop.
April 12th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Lizzie,
I’m not familiar with Advent laptops, never seen one but I have a suggestion. You said you removed all screws. Did you remove the keyboard? It’s possible there are a few screws under the keyboard.
Do you think it’s related to overheating? I don’t think so.
If it takes a lot of time to boot up the laptop, it could be bad hard drive or software related problem.
April 11th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Hi, I am slowly losing my mind with my laptop! I have tried taking the back off so I can clean out any dust and locate this mysterious heat sink, but although I have taken out all the screws everywhere, I just can’t get the back off – only managed to get one corner loose. The laptop fan is going, but the damn machine takes nigh on 5 mins to boot up & open an application, which is ridiculous. Any ideas – does it still sound like an overheating problem, and any ideas or hidden solutions to taking the back off? Its an Advent 7106. Thanks.
April 10th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Ed,
The cooling fan in a Dell Vostro 1500 is hidden inside the laptop, there is no easy access to the fan. If you want to open the laptop and clean the fan, you’ll find step-by-step disassembly instructions in this service manual.
You’ll see the fan when you remove the palm rest.
April 10th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Travis,
Thanks for your tip. Yep, it will work on a Satellite A75 laptop but only as a temporary solutions. If the heat sink is clogged with dust you will have to clean it eventually.
But you mentioned a good temporary solution.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:58 am
A75 owners,
I own an a75-s213 laptop. I have a work around for those who are experiencing the overheating. My laptop came with toshiba power management, as should yours.
Double click on the tray icon, under the Power Saves Mode tab go to the icon in the AC Power section. Select the default power icon (not sure what it is named, I renamed mine) and click the details button. In the new window, click the Power Saves Tab, then reduce the PROCESSOR SPEED to Medium or Low depending on your situation. I am in Brazil where temps reach 90+ in my house during the summer, and this along with a laptop cooling base help curb the problem. It doesn’t effect performance much and keeps me from loosing my work. I do notice that when I am using CPU or GPU heavy applications or games that heat jumps back up.
Hope this helps anyone. I recommend cleaning your heatsinks in addition to this step.
April 10th, 2009 at 4:10 am
How could I do this with a Dell Vostro 1500?
Any help much appreciated,
Thanks,
Ed.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:39 am
bobek,
Can you damage the laptop while taking it apart? Yes, it’s possible.
It’s not very hard to take it apart but you have to be very careful. You’ll find some help at http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
Take a look at the disassembly guide. Are you confident that you can do it yourself?
April 9th, 2009 at 8:29 am
bobek,
1. It’s possible that your fan is blocked by dust. Buy a can of compressed air and spray it inside the fan. It might help.
2. Could be defective fan and it has to be replaced.
3. It’s not very common, but there could be a problem with the motherboard. Maybe the fan controlling circuit stopped working. Again, it’s a rare failure.
Most likely the fan is either blocked and has to be cleaned or replaced.