My laptop runs very hot and eventually turns off or freezes – this is one of the most common complaints I have been receiving from my customer for many years. Why it’s happening? Is there an easy fix for that?
Most likely this problem is heat related. Take a look at the following picture.
Any laptop has a cooling module which consists of heatsink and cooling fan. When laptop is working, the processor (CPU) heats up and because of that the heatsink is getting hot too. At some temperature level, the fan kicks in and cools down the heatsink.
The problem starts when the laptop cooling module collects too much dust inside. Usually dust collects between the fan and heatsink. Dust clogs the heatsink and kills normal airflow inside the cooling module. Eventually, the processor gets very hot and the laptop turns off unexpectedly or freezes. This problem can be fixed by cleaning the laptop cooling module.
Cleaning laptop cooling module.
Some laptops give you an easy access to the heatsink and fan. In laptops like that you can access the cooling module through the bottom cover.
In my example I had to remove the cooling module. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to remove the fan and access the heatsink. In some laptops you can remove the fan without separating the heatsink from the CPU.
After I removed the fan, I found a thick layer of dust inside the heatsink. Cleaning the heatsink should fix any heat related problems.
Apply thermal paste on the processor.
If thermal paste on the processor dried out, you should replace it with fresh thermal paste.
Remove old thermal paste from the processor and heatsink using alcohol swab.
WARNING: In some laptops the heatsink also covers the graphics chip. The part of the heatsink which covers the graphics chip might have thermal pad on it instead of regular thermal paste. Do not replace thermal pad with thermal paste! Do not apply thermal paste on the thermal pad! Just leave thermal pad alone and apply thermal paste only on the processor.
I usually use Shin-Etsu thermal paste which is relatively cheap and performs well.
After applying new thermal paste, install the heatsink and fan back into the laptop. Do not forget to connect the fan cable to the motherboard!
What if cooling module cannot be accessed easily?
In some laptops the cooling module is buried deep inside the case and cannot be easily accessed and removed. In order to remove the cooling module it’s necessary to disassemble the whole laptop but it’s only for experienced users.
In laptops like that you can use the following technique:
Buy a can of computer compressed air.
1. Blow air into the fan grill on the bottom of the laptop.
2. Blow air into the grill on the side of the laptop.
Switch direction a few times until all dust is gone. Most likely this quick cleaning will fix your laptop overheating problem.
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January 24th, 2012 at 3:47 am
AC adapter is ok. I cleaned heat sink then it works for 2 hours and it again dies of its own. I tried to use cooling fan, but all USB port are not functioning. I test the port using USB mouse (optical mouse), the mouse lights only but the mouse pointer does not move. Are the USB ports damaged? It can be repair? I need your help pls. Thank a lot…
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:26 am
my laptop is siemens fujitsu/amilo pro/my basic problem is my browser freezing…and i have to turn it off..when i try to turn it on…the screen still black i must try and try to works…
January 21st, 2012 at 12:00 am
@ mare oton,
Can you test the AC adapter with a voltmeter? It’s possible the AC adapter is dead and the battery doesn’t have enough charge to start the laptop.
January 20th, 2012 at 12:14 am
I have a laptop toshiba L500-1UU. When i turn on, power lights on then after few seconds it dies. I had tried removing battery then connecting using power cord, nothing happens. Please help me!!!!! Thanks
January 17th, 2012 at 6:09 am
I think the worst laptops are Toshiba for collecting the dust and burning up. Soon as it starts to feel hot and starts going weird do something about it dont wait till you melt the mother board and its to late.
December 30th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
@ docjab1,
You can find new thermal pad on eBay. Let’s say you are working on a HP Pavilion dv9000 notebook and need a new replacement thermal pad for it.
Go to eBay and search for “dv9000 GPU thermal pad”.
Probably there are but I’m not sure 100%. I think if you get a thermal pad from another laptop but it has same size, most likely it will work just fine.
December 30th, 2011 at 3:29 am
Hello
If the thermal pad on the GPU is, or gets damaged in any dismantling or in any of your repairs, where can these be sourced from and are they all the same?? Thicknesses? Thermal properties? How would you know, which is which/ what is what? Is there a certain colour coding with different thermal pads denoting different thicknesses and different working temperatures? Any guidelines or advice would be greatly appreciated.
THANK YOU !! (I live in the UK)
docjab1
December 26th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
@ Aras,
Cannot tell without testing the laptop. Could be just failed cooling fan. Try replacing the fan first.
December 18th, 2011 at 10:23 am
I Have Fujitsu siemens xi 2428
cooling is not run.
is cooling dead? or problem by 5+ volt mainboard????????????
December 8th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
@ Mart,
I just mentioned this problem in this post:
http://www.laptoprepair101.com.....-problems/
Check out Problem 3.
Try reseating memory modules. If it doesn’t help, probably this is motherboard related failure.