Laptop Overheating what do you use to cool

[zigzag3143]

Just saw some discussion of win 7 and overheating and wondered what do most of you all use a plain external cooling pad or something else? Laptops. Im sure someone is going to suggest Liquid nitrogen but seriously

Ken

 

[Antman]

I use a USB powered fan pad at home. For a while, I had it attached with double-sided sticky pads, but removed it when I determined it wasn't really that effective.

Keep the fan vent clean and keep the fan clean. On some laptops, the dust will form what Marines call "ghost turds" that will accumulate inside the case, blocking the ventilation path on the board side of the airflow. Inserting canned air will not address this problem.

I have disassembled many a laptop and found this, solving the overheating problem in the short-term. I have also opened laptops and found dead roach colonies. Both services bill at $75.

 

[Anjunabeats]

yea same here, a USB fan directed at the underside of the laptop seems to help!

 

[KrullKitty]

I went to a local electronics store in my city and found a 1/4" thick piece
of Aluminum. I think it's an old piece of machining stock from somewhere.

The heat from under the laptop is very quickly dissipated by this slab
of Aluminum. Not to mention you can use it to defrost steaks very quickly
as well if you allow them to just sit on the slab in the kitchen. Cold as well
as heat are quickly dissipated by Aluminum.

IE: Case in point:
http://www.xpad4laptop.com

 

[OEM]

Funny you bring this up, a couple of days ago I heard my fan running more than usual. The notebook is about 3 years old and never disassembled it to clean. So figured now was the time. It wasn't too bad, in fact there was hardly any debris at all. But since it was apart, I cleaned the fan and all the cooling fins of the heat sink, and basically everything inside. Put it back together and sure enough the fan runs as normal now. Didn't think it was going to make a difference since it didn't look bad in there, but it did.

Think the biggest thing with a notebook is to somehow keep it elevated. Either with a cooling pad, stand, or some custom method to keep the air flowing underneath and all around it. I always keep the notebook up off the table/desk using 1-1/2 inch wide 1 inch tall styrofoam blocks at the four corners to allow good flow underneath. Its works good and keeps the bottom open to airflow. Other than keeping good airflow all around it, not sure there's much more you can do other than having additional fans blowing on it and at the intake. Whenever I'm doing something cpu and/or hard drive intensive like a full drive erase, I'll point a small 120volt AC mini fan (about 4inch diameter) at the notebook on the side of the intake. With the cpu, its hardly ever used, but there are times when its working for a half hour or more at or above 70% that I'll put the fan on it. Is it neccesary... probably not, but if its easy enough to set it up and play it safe then why not.

Think if your careful about not blocking the air intake/exhaust ports and allowing good all around airflow, there should be no worries. If your notebook is exposed to dusty areas or is getting up in age, then maybe its time to dissasemble and give the fan, heat-sink, and intake/exhaust a good cleaning.

 

[Antman]

Funny you bring this up, a couple of days ago I heard my fan running more than usual...

A problem common to all fans - accumulation of dust on the blade assembly. This causes at least two early problems, weight gain and balance loss. The motor is strong enough to spin an assembly that weighs X. The bearings are tolerant enough to support a spindle that wobbles X. When weight and wobble exceed the tolerances, the fan/air flow chamber no longer moves the air volume it was designed to move. Shortens the life span of the motor also.

How many of us use canned air to blow out the case in the same room or area where the unit is operated? I know, not exactly a laptop query.

 

[zigzag3143]

Magic bullet

I was Hoping someone had some ultra slick compond that has super heat conductivity or something other than a fan or a cleaning. Been there.. thanks for the ideas tough. I also found that my laptop runs cooler w the battery out.

ken

 

[Antman]

You could take the battery out.

 

[zigzag3143]

battery, cd player, mem chip covers. makes it lighter too. tried the HD but you know it BSOD as soon as I did... help

K

 

[mikinho]

In addition to the external cooling I have one additional suggestion. From your computer specs it appears you have a Dell. What model do you? Dell laptops have been riddled with overheating problems due to a mixture poor BIOS programming (fans speeds vs monitored heat) and temperature sensors failing.

I'd suggest installing SpeedFAN, I8kfanGUI or a similar app so you can manually specify when your fans should turn on\off and at what temperatures. Most of these apps will also have a "Enable DELL support" option that will fix problems with their CPU speed toggle.

Note: I have not used I8kfanGUI with Windows 7 so I do not know if it is compatible. I can say that I8kfanGUI was written specifically to overcome the poor thermal management of Dell laptops and was a lifesaver to quite a few corporations.

 

[Zidane24]

In addition to the external cooling I have one additional suggestion. From your computer specs it appears you have a Dell. What model do you? Dell laptops have been riddled with overheating problems due to a mixture poor BIOS programming (fans speeds vs monitored heat) and temperature sensors failing.

I'd suggest installing SpeedFAN, I8kfanGUI or a similar app so you can manually specify when your fans should turn on\off and at what temperatures. Most of these apps will also have a "Enable DELL support" option that will fix problems with their CPU.

Note: I have not used I8kfanGUI with Windows 7 so I do not know if it is compatible. I can say that I8kfanGUI was written specifically to overcome the poor thermal management of Dell laptops and was a lifesaver to quite a few corporations.

You speak the truth...Brand new Dell latop decided to stop spinning its fans two weeks after warranty went bye bye...downloaded that app and never did the laptop run super hot again...now if I could get that type of app for my compal laptop also