Laptop Overheating?

[STRBramley]

Just recently when I'm watching videos on my laptop after 20ish minutes it will just turn itself off. This is while it is plugged in and the battery power is full.

I installed speed fan and that says my GPU is between 96c and 105c. Is that too high? Everything else is around 65c. It does feel hot to touch but it's been like that for a while. Sometimes it's too hot to touch!

Any ideas? Time for a new laptop? It's a Dell XPS M1530 from 2008.

 

[Andy.]

Google how to open it up then clean out the fans inside. Failing that, you might need to take the cooler heatsink off the CPU and reapply some new thermal paste.

 

[STRBramley]

Cheers I'll give that a go.

 

[Nik]

My old Dell 1558 used to do this, I had to completely take it apart every few months and hook the dust out of the heatsink and fan assembly.

It was all down to poor design really, the single large fan intake being right on the bottom worked like a hoover to any surface the laptop was placed on.

In the end I superglued a small square of mesh cloth to the inside of the case to act as a filter lol. Proper pikey, but it pretty much solved the problem.

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Laptops should be no more than 80c

Can of compressed air will do the trick. But year 'carpets' build up on the heatsink like this. (Someones laptop at work)

Or if you feel confident enough, disassemble the laptop and clean it thoroughly.


In fact, where abouts in Nottingham are you? I could clean it for you if you wanted!

 

[Tunst]

I need to do this with my PC..

 

[Daz.]

Check your fan is actually working, mine died and needed replacing.

Also I bought a stand for it from ikea that helps no end!

 

[Gray]

Laptops should be no more than 80c

Can of compressed air will do the trick. But year 'carpets' build up on the heatsink like this. (Someones laptop at work)

Or if you feel confident enough, disassemble the laptop and clean it thoroughly.


In fact, where abouts in Nottingham are you? I could clean it for you if you wanted!

Some of the machines ion our office are terrible, none of them have dust filters!

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Some of the machines ion our office are terrible, none of them have dust filters!

Oh god! I went to clean a InFocus projector the other day. No filters in it at all, and really big air vents, dust all over the components and lenses.

Suffice to say the air compressor sorted it!

 

[Gray]

Oh god! I went to clean a InFocus projector the other day. No filters in it at all, and really big air vents, dust all over the components and lenses.

Suffice to say the air compressor sorted it!

eurgh.

I'll get a photo of the older workstations we have here #grim

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

eurgh.

I'll get a photo of the older workstations we have here #grim

This will be interesting!

Did one of my Dad's pc's a few months ago, 5 years worth of cigarette smoke and dust :dead:

 

[Sam]

My old Dell 1558 used to do this, I had to completely take it apart every few months and hook the dust out of the heatsink and fan assembly.

It was all down to poor design really, the single large fan intake being right on the bottom worked like a hoover to any surface the laptop was placed on.

In the end I superglued a small square of mesh cloth to the inside of the case to act as a filter lol. Proper pikey, but it pretty much solved the problem.

My old was like this.

I just used a watch screwdriver kit and a YouTube video guide.

Took me like 30 mins to do. Easy.

 

[cat171]

Keep it ventilated too, if you just put it on your bed or your lap to watch stuff it'll shut off a lot. You need to prop it up a bit so the air can circulate.

 

[STRBramley]

Laptops should be no more than 80c

Can of compressed air will do the trick. But year 'carpets' build up on the heatsink like this. (Someones laptop at work)

Or if you feel confident enough, disassemble the laptop and clean it thoroughly.


In fact, where abouts in Nottingham are you? I could clean it for you if you wanted!

I'll buy a stand from IKEA and take it apart to give it a good clean. I've got all the tools from my PC build so I'll give it a go, thanks anyway!

 

[dave_rudabar]

It's worth cleaning the fan(s) with a damp cotton bud as well, removing the built up dust helps them work efficiently too.

 

[Darren S]

We had one PC at work where the factory floor lads complained that it was overheating and constantly shutting down. I can't think why?

D.

 

[Gray]

We had one PC at work where the factory floor lads complained that it was overheating and constantly shutting down. I can't think why?

D.

Christ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

We had one PC at work where the factory floor lads complained that it was overheating and constantly shutting down. I can't think why?


<piccy>


D.

f**k me! What actually is it inside the case?

 

[The Fatty]

We had one PC at work where the factory floor lads complained that it was overheating and constantly shutting down. I can't think why?

D.

FLOL!! We have winner!! lol

 

[Darren S]

f**k me! What actually is it inside the case?

Erm, probably about 3-4 years worth of plastic extrusion shavings, general factory dust, a few shavings of aluminium and knowing the factory lads - probably various human bits like skin, toe nails, left over bacon butties, etc....

D.

 

[Sam]

We had one PC at work where the factory floor lads complained that it was overheating and constantly shutting down. I can't think why?

D.

That's unbelievable!!!

 

[wezzel98765]

Overheating is an extremely common cause on complete motherboard failure... and on laptops this can be VERY expensive to deal with!

Even from the factory, the heatsink and the thermal paste that is applied - isn't up to the job!

I clean out customers laptops very regularly

DO NOT USED COMPRESSED AIR!!!! it can screw the fans bearings or just force the dust back in to the fan whiich will then block it AGAIN!

Strip it down, lubricate the bearings on the fan and clean the heatsink grilles. Then clean off old thermal paste and put new paste on there. I usually get temps down to around 30C on models under 5 years old!

 

[Darren S]

Overheating is an extremely common cause on complete motherboard failure... and on laptops this can be VERY expensive to deal with!

Even from the factory, the heatsink and the thermal paste that is applied - isn't up to the job!

I clean out customers laptops very regularly

DO NOT USED COMPRESSED AIR!!!! it can screw the fans bearings or just force the dust back in to the fan whiich will then block it AGAIN!

Strip it down, lubricate the bearings on the fan and clean the heatsink grilles. Then clean off old thermal paste and put new paste on there. I usually get temps down to around 30C on models under 5 years old!

Depends on how you use it. I've been using air lines for nearly 15 years and never had a problem with it. Like most things, be gentle and you'll be ok

Certainly the best option for cleaning out PSUs anyway. No way would you be getting me stripping one of those and getting too close to a charged capacitor.

D.

 

[Adamm.]

My laptop, cheap £300 one. The fan stopped working which makes it crash and sometimes wont even power on (maybe more damage)

I might just bin it, haven't used it in over a year. Is it worth getting it repaired?

 

[botfch]

Hoover and compressed air never had any issues, its only a couple of quid for a new fan anyhow.

 

[Lal B3N]

Air lines are the ones! We use them at work to clean machines out.

The garage ones get caked in all sorts and need blew out every few months really.

 

[Adamm.]

Hoover and compressed air never had any issues, its only a couple of quid for a new fan anyhow.

As someone who has only ever pulled tape players to bits as a child is it easy to swap a fan over?

 

[Amos91]

As someone who has only ever pulled tape players to bits as a child is it easy to swap a fan over?

There are normally guides for taking apart specific laptops online. Have a search.

Does it sometimes not turn on when its cold or not been used? It should only stop working once it overheats. From cold the heatsink alone would give you some time with it.

 

[botfch]

There are normally guides for taking apart specific laptops online. Have a search.

Does it sometimes not turn on when its cold or not been used? It should only stop working once it overheats. From cold the heatsink alone would give you some time with it.

Some laptops won't power on if they detect a fan fault usually you get a series of fault code beeps.

 

[Amos91]

Some laptops won't power on if they detect a fan fault usually you get a series of fault code beeps.

Certainly can. An office computer here was doing with with a case fan.

 

[Daz.]

My laptop, cheap £300 one. The fan stopped working which makes it crash and sometimes wont even power on (maybe more damage)

I might just bin it, haven't used it in over a year. Is it worth getting it repaired?

Get a new fan and a screwdriver - It's easy to replace.

 

[iain187]

Keep it ventilated too, if you just put it on your bed or your lap to watch stuff it'll shut off a lot. You need to prop it up a bit so the air can circulate.

Yeah if you are using it on a bed or sofa you can block the vents which won't help.


I've got an old maccies tray in the house which makes a good little surface for mine


Tbf most people would get away with buying a tablet now - depends on what you use it for though

 

[The Fatty]

Depends on how you use it. I've been using air lines for nearly 15 years and never had a problem with it. Like most things, be gentle and you'll be ok

Certainly the best option for cleaning out PSUs anyway. No way would you be getting me stripping one of those and getting too close to a charged capacitor.

D.

I second this, never had a problem using my air compressor. You would require a s**t load of PSI to damage a bearing, just be gentle on the trigger!

 

[STRBramley]

Seems to be something more serious than dust. Opened it up and it was surprisingly clean and all the fans are working fine.
It's started to lock up after a minute of booting up. Just sticks on the desktop and I can't do anything not even ctrl shift esc.
Nothing to do with software, spyware etc as I keep it immaculate in that department.

Not sure what else to check. It has a 5 year old SSD so maybe that is failing? Doesn't explain the overheating issue though.

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Booted in safe mode?

 

[STRBramley]

Booted in safe mode?

I've not tried that yet I'll give it a go tonight.

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

I've not tried that yet I'll give it a go tonight.

Okay, let us know how you get on.

 

[STRBramley]

Okay, let us know how you get on.

Booted into safe mode. Tried to open a chrome session and it hung like this. Couldn't do anything or press any keys. The hourglass circle thingy was still spinning and I could move the mouse.

Now it's hanging on classpnp.sys

 

[ThomasBrentnall]

Booted into safe mode. Tried to open a chrome session and it hung like this. Couldn't do anything or press any keys. The hourglass circle thingy was still spinning and I could move the mouse.

Now it's hanging on classpnp.sys

Could be a failing hard drive. Have you installed any new software recently?

And do you have a copy of Windows 7 at hand? If you do insert this disk, click repair my computer then open a command prompt window.

Then type chkdsk /f and then sfc /scannow

 

[STRBramley]

I'll give that a go when I get back from the gym. No new software installed. All the laptop is used for is to RDP to my computer so it hardly has any software on it at all.