Comments on: After I disassembled and cleaned the heatsink my laptop, it shuts down even faster then before cleaning

By: XmarMalik

XmarMalik — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:20:20 +0000

did u apply the thermal paste ?

By: LOGIC COMPUTER SERVICES FALKIRK

LOGIC COMPUTER SERVICES FALKIRK — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:14:17 +0000

3 most common reasons for a laptop to shut down such as described above.. a virus, overheating caused by cpu fan failure, or a dust build up stopping it the fan spinning

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:47:43 +0000

These posts are the closest I’ve found in months to my
HP Pavilion (dv8220) problem. Originally my power cord
seemed to be the problem, it kept kicking off and going to the battery (gradually at first, then permanent). I replaced it, same problem. I run the computer with no battery to keep it usable. Battery charges when the computer is off and I use the battery occasionally BUT only WITHOUT the plug in.

So here’s the real problem, the computer shuts off (no
warning, no notice on restart, no errors) when I play
games in full screen with it plugged in (does not shut
down when it’s battery powered). Been up and down the
driver route, reinstall OS etc, upping pf, looking for
directx errors. I see in my Device Manager that “Other
devices” has the ominous yellow exclamation mark beside SM Bus Controller. Hmmm??

Any suggestions would be great! Thanx!

By: Serg

Serg — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:46:48 +0000

I have an HP ze2000 series laptop that just recently started to shutoff for no reason. The fan could be heard and seen working just fine. There was no apparent dust buildup. Took the laptop apart to get to the heatsink too see if there was any dust built up. There was some but not enough to be a problem. Than I remembered between myself and friends talking to HP tech support, the one thing they almost always have you try is powering up the laptop without the battery plugged in. Prior to doing this next step, the laptop was shutting off in less than a minute. And other times working for 20-30 minutes before shutting off. I have been running it now for about 30 minutes with no problems. A bit premature to say I have solve the problem. I am going to let it run on and off for a few days to see if the problem has gone away.

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:42:37 +0000

SK,

opened up the laptop, cleaned the heatsink and the cpu and applied arctic silver thermal grease to the CPU and reassembled everything, thinking that everything would be fine now! To my horror now the laptop would not boot up!

1. Try reseating the memory module.
2. Check the CPU. Make sure the socket is LOCKED.
I posted your question here: My laptop will not boot after I opened it up and cleaned the heatsink
Please let us know if you figure out the problem.

By: SK

SK — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:20:11 +0000

Hiya,

I had a problem with my Dell smart pc 250N of overheating and shutting off after half an hour or so. I searched over the net and as per instructions on a web site opened up the laptop, cleaned the heatsink and the cpu and applied arctic silver thermal grease to the CPU and reassembled everything, thinking that everything would be fine now! To my horror now the laptop would not boot up!

as far as i am aware i have not damaged anything knowingly, the cpu seems to fit in the slots well and have tightened the heat sink well.

what do you think has gone wrong and what is the solution? If it is a goner then how can i retrieve the tons of files from my hard drive that i foolishly did not back up before trying this stunt.

will appreciate your comments.

thanks

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:40:04 +0000

Hi all I need some help. I have an Alienware Aurora m9700 laptop at first it would shut down after about 5-10 minutes of playing a demanding application like a game so after searching for a solution i removed the heatsinks and fans and cleaned them out. There was alot of dust but I got it all out.
Now when I start it up it the fans will come on but with irregular speeds and then it will turn itself off after about a minute even if I don’t touch it at all. When I removed the fans and heatsink I think I broke the thermal paste, at least thats what I think the gray sold on the bottom of the copper coloured bars are, and I haven’t got any. My question is if I replace that thermal paste will it solve my problem as everything was fine before then.
Thanks alot,
Chris.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:52:56 +0000

Hi all

I am an ex-Toshiba laptop repair man, with regard the the P10 – P15 – P20 – P35 laptops, these all suffered with dry joints on a couple of chips on the motherboard caused by the sheer weight and lifting the laptop by one side only, this has caused the board to flex and eventually the chipset, graphics and chipset chips develop an intermittant contacts / dry joints.

This problem sometimes shows up as a heat issue as after half an hour the laptop would shut down all by it’s self, I have seen meny actually turned them selves on when the board / chips cool and make contact again as well!

The heat causes the differant materials used inside the motherbard, chips and solder to expand at differant rates and if you have the already intermittant connection the problem is made visible, just a simple reconnect can cause the PSU circuit to think you have pressed the power button.

Unfortunataly these are not resolderable unless you have the 2 milion pound unit that mounts these BGA (Ball Grid Array, soldered to board with small solder balls under neith) chips to the main board upon manufacture. either put up with it, find the sweet spot and apply perminant pressure somehow or sell it for parts.

I have BER’ed (beyond Echonomical Repair) literally 1000′s of laptops because of this as you can buy a new one for the cost of rework / repair of a faulty board.

One possible way it may be fixable is to apply liquid flux to the BGA chips (to aid solder reflow) and with a hot air gun (paint stripper gun) heet the underside of the board (under the chip) untill the solder reflows / resolders it’s self to chip and board, without cooking the mainboard, just do not move / hit it when hot as other chips ect will fall off / move, you have nothing to loose, kill or cure!

This type of fault is not just on Toshiba, every make has at some point had to deal with this issue and alter design to stop mainboard flex.

CPU, RAM, HDD, LCD, CD / DVD drive will all be fine the fault is the mainboard.

I have only seen 2 duff intel CPU’s ever in 10 years!
AMD’s are a differant story.

Hope this offers an insight on whats happening.

Steve.

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:22:01 +0000

Aldo,
Only if you can find a cheap replacement and can install it yourself. If you take this laptop to a repair shop, you’ll have to pay about $150 for diagnostic/repair plus $250-300 for a new (probably refurbished) motherboard. I don’t know how much you paid for your laptop but these days you can buy a new one very cheap, plus you get one year warranty.

By: Aldo

Aldo — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:29:34 +0000

if it is the motherboard, in your experience…is it work trying to fix it?