Still getting high temps after repasting processor

[ICIT2LOL]

Well Greg IMHO the colder air should in theory at least provide much cooler air to be drawn over the cooling system. I have my room temp at around 24C at the moment and my deskies are all running +/- 2C of that.

I am not sure what you mean by "exhaust pipe" the actual pipe is or should be completely sealed at both ends unless you are referring to the fins that the pipes are running through from the heat sources ie processor and NB to the fan assisted cooler fins.
The pipes themselves I am sure you know already are filled with fine copper "wool / cotton" like strands and have a liquid contained in them that heats up at the yep heat source namely your processors and evaporates to travel the length of the pipe and then condense back to a liquid at the cooler end which returns along the pipe to the heat source and then back again to the cooler end -in an endless loop while the machine is running - ad infinitum.

A couple of refs Computer cooling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia &
Heat pipe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <- top part.

The cleaning stuff I mentioned before is put out by Arctic and consists of a cleaner and a purifier that prepares the surface by completely decontaminating the surfaces of both the chip and heat sink. Arctic Silver Incorporated - ArctiClean < I use this religiously.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Greg,

Look in bios setup for a "Fan Always On" setting.
It may turn off the fan if temps are low enough to extend battery life.
20+ degrees difference in room temp will make a difference.
Raising it that 1" could make a difference, but that should be easy to test - just lower it.

Good point David I set mine at auto - hoping the sensors will behave themselves of course

 

[gregrocker]

Well this was to be a learning experience and I sure am learning. I had no idea the copper tube was a sealed liquid cooling system. From the illustration in post #9 I thought it circulated air and I had missed a bunch of fins to clean which required removing the fan. But with the temps holding at 50c while streaming even with the A/C off I am not going to worry about it for now.

Fan always on is one of the few setting available in the latest BIOS and is Enabled.

Thanks. Please keep any other suggestions coming.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

No Greg nor did I till about a month ago when I was researching cooling and came across it in a Google - I'm still amazed at the evaporation working on a horizontal surface to be honest.

When I was plumbing with my Dad years ago we used to install hot water central heating and in those days water systems were mainly (UK) gravity fed systems so any hot water system had to have a rise however small in the hot "side" of the heating device and a drop from the devices - radiators and hot water tanks back to the heating device in order for it to circulate.

It would circulate if absolutely level but was inherently less efficient but did work.

So I reasoned out that as most laptops being on the level would as such have a sluggish "circulation" through that pipe system taking into consideration the liquid has to evaporate and then condense to make the round trip tot the cooler fan plus make its way past the mesh inside those pipes.

My main laptop - a Toshiba L550 running an i5 M430 runs at an average 45C and always has. You'll agree that also because of the claustrophobic nature of laptops they will always run hotter than a desky. So I reckon yours is about average but it is still more than one would like eh?

Having blathered on about that a friend wants me to set up a HP G6 has the i5-2450M @ 2.5Ghz will make for some interesting readings if the hype is right about the Ivy Bridges eh?

 

[DavidE]

If you haven't already, take a look at the Maintenance and Service Guide.
It has break down pictures of the laptop showing parts and part #'s.
Manuals for Compaq Presario CQ60-215DX Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

If you do get inside for cleaning again, wipe the fan blades (or any parts) with Q-tips.
That can remove more dust air blasting misses.
Dust clings to the Q-tip, and i like them for getting to hard to reach areas such as the fan inside a PSU.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

If you haven't already, take a look at the Maintenance and Service Guide.
It has break down pictures of the laptop showing parts and part #'s.
Manuals for Compaq Presario CQ60-215DX Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

If you do get inside for cleaning again, wipe the fan blades (or any parts) with Q-tips.
That can remove more dust air blasting misses.
Dust clings to the Q-tip, and i like them for getting to hard to reach areas such as the fan inside a PSU.

With you David I usually add a little methylated spirits or a touch of that medical swab alcohol it makes it really clean as it also removes the grease that also builds up on fan blades particularly.

Myself - I use those very cheap artists hogs hair brushes too not to be confused though with those polyester ones!

I also use a small vacuum tube that I made up for this purpose that has an earthing plate inside the tip and around the outside that is attached to the case in deskies or to a power board that I rigged to all earth connections ( the "live lines I removed) . But there is a ground swell of objection to using vacuum - however I have never had any problems with my rig.

 

[DavidE]

With you David I usually add a little methylated spirits or a touch of that medical swab alcohol it makes it really clean as it also removes the grease that also builds up on fan blades particularly.

I'll have to try that with my next cleaning.
I only clean a few times a year, but when i do, i'd rather do it as good as possible to delay the next cleaning (LAZY).

I also use a small vacuum tube that I made up for this purpose that has an earthing plate inside the tip and around the outside that is attached to the case in deskies or to a power board that I rigged to all earth connections ( the "live lines I removed) . But there is a ground swell of objection to using vacuum - however I have never had any problems with my rig.

Check out post # 12 in this thread.
It's the best looking PC vacuum accessory i've seen. If i see it in a store, i'd buy it...
Cleaning the dust out of your computer - AnandTech Forums

I also go against the "Common objection" of using a vacuum when i clean

 

[gregrocker]

I'm going to redo it and this time clean out the hidden fins in the fan heatsink and the fan blades using a Qtip and alcohol, then repaste it with a bit more paste if it doesn't look adequate when I tear it apart again.

Any way to test the fan while I can see it?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yeah David I know what the objections are but in all reality and my argument is that dust and air being "dragged" across any surface in either direction will create static. IE air going North - South or South - North - if you follow my drift.

Now as I said I have the vacuum set upp with a ton of earthing for the tubing as well as myself but I guess there is always going to be a debate against it. my other objection to blasting it out is that can damage very delicate parts and just blow it further into the machine and into parts where it wasn't before. Not to mention all over oneself - if you are asthmatic or have an allergy well one doesn't need to e a rocket scientist to work that one out.

Greg I have actually pulled apart many fans admittedly not a laptop one - and have removed the seal and lubricated the bearings with one of those rust loosening materials ( that also get rid of moisture on electrics in cards etc) followed by a very tiny amount of sewing machine oil. The fan is run to work it in and then dry mopped out to make sure that there isn't any to run out and replaced the seal.
It's at this time that I also clean the blades and use that material that keeps dash boards and vinyl surfaces in cars nicely clean and shiny. My own theory is that this creates a much smoother surface to the blade (and venturi) and therefore an improved air flow over those surfaces by decreasing the resistance to the air on and across those surfaces.
This I do with applicators I have made up myself see pic. Oh and the vinyl cleaner you could apply with the cotton buds too.

 

[DavidE]

Any way to test the fan while I can see it?

From everything that's been said so far, i don't think you have a fan issue.
For whatever reason, the high temps that started that discussion no longer exist.

If you do want to visually see the fan working you would need to see if you can dis-assemble the laptop enough to see the fan, and still turn it on.
Looks like you would have to remove the display, keyboard, and touch pad board to do this.

Will the laptop power up without these parts? I don't know for sure - i think it should but i'm guessing.
I've never had the opportunity you have to disassemble/test a laptop.

If it will power up, in theory you should be able to connect an external monitor, usb keyboard and mouse and run it that way...
If you do run it this way the temps may change - for better or for worse.
When i run my desktop with the side panel removed, my temps are noticeably higher.
Or you can just run it "opened up" for a few seconds to verify the fan is working.

When a fan bearing starts to go bad it makes a noticeable "grinding" noise (at least on cold start).
If the fan dies and does not spin, it's totally silent, and a temp goes up quickly if it's a CPU or GPU fan.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I agree with David it at the temps you mention are not really that high as mine are fairly similar.

As for seeing the fan running a Toshiba I have had these apart on occasions and you can see the fan spin, and even with the machine still assembled if you look underneath there is an inlet for air directly opposite the fan you can see it spinning there.

As Davis says any bearing that is going home is usually very noisy as the wear allows the blades to hit the fan containment, the air inlet grill, or the site base where it is attached down to.

It also usually smells like overheated car wheel bearings or if the fan blades are hitting the containment the distinctive smell of very hot plastic.

 

[DavidE]

@ICit2lol,
Thanks for the added info with real-life laptop experience!

@Greg
Another possibility to explain temp differences -
Were the high temps with (HD) High Definition video and lower temps are with (SD) Standard Definition?
Check your CPU usage while viewing video.

When i added an HD PVR it did not work - the MB internal graphics couldn't handle it...
I added a dedicated GPU and everything worked.

With a dedicated GPU (desktop) i can see a BIG difference in enabling/disabling "Hardware Acceleration" in media programs...
CPU use goes down, and GPU use goes up, but the GPU can better handle HD at lower temps with a lower total power consumption.

You might not have a "Hardware Acceleration" option with a laptop/IGP...
I'm not even sure it would help with an IGP...

 

[ICIT2LOL]

@ICit2lol,
Thanks for the added info with real-life laptop experience!

@Greg
Another possibility to explain temp differences -
Were the high temps with (HD) High Definition video and lower temps are with (SD) Standard Definition?
Check your CPU usage while viewing video.

When i added an HD PVR it did not work - the MB internal graphics couldn't handle it...
I added a dedicated GPU and everything worked.

With a dedicated GPU (desktop) i can see a BIG difference in enabling/disabling "Hardware Acceleration" in media programs...
CPU use goes down, and GPU use goes up, but the GPU can better handle HD at lower temps with a lower total power consumption.

You might not have a "Hardware Acceleration" option with a laptop/IGP...
I'm not even sure it would help with an IGP...

Hum thank you David for that extra info too I had not given the GPU issue a thought

 

[DavidE]

If you want to stress test it, run Prime95 and keep an eye on temps.

This should push it beyond anything you would do in real-world use, so you should see the max CPU temps and be able to feel if the fan is blowing more (hotter) air.

Prime95 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia