Laptop Cooling

[Jake]

9 hours ago, Reboot said:

The dust is a big deal too. My GF runs an internet cafe, no aircon, and she is always having to dust out the internals on the computers. Heat and dust..the two big enemies of computers. She's a killer troubleshooter though. Very good at fixing PCs. 

It's very easy to open and inspect a PC tower.  It could be really gross to find caked on dust on everything.  A careful vacuum job will do the trick, keeping in mind about electrostatic discharge damage (ESD).  If you're confident about taking things apart, also do a vacuum job inside the power supply unit and re-apply thermal paste on top of the CPU.   

In most cases, when a PC or monitor does not turn on or is very unstable, visual inspection may reveal the tops of these cheap capacitors have exploded or about to explode.

 

Edited May 10, 2017 by Jake

[AlwaysRt]

17 hours ago, Jake said:

It's very easy to open and inspect a PC tower.  It could be really gross to find caked on dust on everything.  A careful vacuum job will do the trick, keeping in mind about electrostatic discharge damage (ESD).  If you're confident about taking things apart, also do a vacuum job inside the power supply unit and re-apply thermal paste on top of the CPU.   

In most cases, when a PC or monitor does not turn on or is very unstable, visual inspection may reveal the tops of these cheap capacitors have exploded or about to explode.

 

I had that happen in the US in my 42" Samsung TV. Several hundred $ replacement? nope. $150 electronic repair store bill? nope. $12 in parts, a screwdriver, a soldering iron, and 15 minutes? Yup! That was 5+ years ago and my Uncle watches that TV every day still.

[jpbago]

On 5/8/2017 at 8:10 PM, robert k said:

This would certainly admit more air.

And more dust, by taking the battery out.

Edited May 10, 2017 by jpbago

[robert k]

1 hour ago, jpbago said:

And more dust, by taking the battery out.

It's not a sealed unit in any sense, darned if you do and darned if you don't?

[allancomeau]

On 5/10/2017 at 5:20 PM, AlwaysRt said:

re-apply thermal paste on top of the CPU

 

Dust can be stubborn, even with a vacuum cleaner. I use a soft 2" paintbrush to loosen the dust.

What's true for laptops is also true for desktops - good air circulation is important - don't stick it in enclosed space and thereby restrict the airflow.

But I wouldn't recommend re-applying the thermal paste (unless it was really old) for a few reasons; 1) they come with a rather high tech thermal pad already    2) few people know how to apply thermal compound properly  3) the clamping system can be a real pain

 

[Capa]

On 5/7/2017 at 8:57 PM, robert k said:

I know many of us use laptops in place of desktops and the more powerful they are, the hotter they can run and I know of more than one person who have fried a laptop in the Philippines. I intend this thread to be tips for keeping the laptop beast alive in hotter climes.

Cleaning the dust bunnies out should go without saying.

 

 

Speaking of dust bunnys, I had an emachine that was so dirty inside that I completely disassembled it and washed every part, including the mother board in dishwashing liquid!

Now I know people will be in disbelief, because it is well known that water is an enemy of electronics, but as long as you rinse in distilled water (not leaving calcium or magnesium deposits), and thoroughly dry all parts, this works a treat. And the payoff was 7C cooler CPU temperature!

[Joshua_Frisby]

Thanks for the guidance its really knowledgeable thread. My laptop is getting heat when I play game or doing some editing work