Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Want to just shoot the breeze? Forum 42 is the place!

Moderator:Moderators

User avatar
HBN
Posts:791
Joined:Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:52 pm
Location:I'm a Ninja...You'll never know...
Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by HBN » Thu Apr 09, 2009 12:32 pm

As I understand it theres this thing going around with laptops. It's called "Overheating". I have had very little experience with this phenomenon, but recently it has become a problem even for me (It involves somebody spilling pop on my laptop, and said pop becoming sticky on the inside and becoming clogged with dust and lint and crap thus screwing up my airflow.). I know that these things can sometimes be repaired with a simple cleaning, but poor-folk like me don't want to kill whats left of their warranty by taking it apart to do said cleaning (Assuming theres anything left. I'm not sure with mine or not, but the fact is that I'm to busy doing other stuff trying to make money to take apart my laptop).

So...

What as a few methods for us jury-rigging modders to keep these beasts cool? For me, spare parts were in my favor:

I have my laptop propped up on four N64 games (Army Men: Sarge's Heros, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, Bomberman Hero), I have the PCI slot fan I got for my N64 project "plugged" (Using the term loosely) into one of my many spare 12v adapters, and used a dollar-store ZatchBell! "spellbook" (I didn't get it for the game. I got it cuz I liked the markings on it. Now I'm glad I did!) to direct the airflow upwards into my laptops fan-input.

Crude. Annoying a little because not I take up three wall plugs (Computer, mouse, and fan). Little loud. BUT IT WORKS!

If you have this issue, how do you fix it?
Please keep an eye on my HBN64 progress.
HBN-Style Anti-Noise Headphones.

Moderatio Est Figmentum.
Long live the Queen of Bondo!

User avatar
SonyPortableizer
Portablizer
Posts:1325
Joined:Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:49 pm
Contact:

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by SonyPortableizer » Thu Apr 09, 2009 12:40 pm

Get goo-gone it works well, and if it breaks your product they replace it.
Image

User avatar
HBN
Posts:791
Joined:Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:52 pm
Location:I'm a Ninja...You'll never know...

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by HBN » Thu Apr 09, 2009 12:42 pm

SonyPortableizer wrote:Get goo-gone it works well, and if it breaks your product they replace it.
I meant this more of a "discuss different methods" kinda thing, but when I have the time I'll keep that in mind.
Please keep an eye on my HBN64 progress.
HBN-Style Anti-Noise Headphones.

Moderatio Est Figmentum.
Long live the Queen of Bondo!

User avatar
MegatronUK
Posts:177
Joined:Sat Apr 04, 2009 12:08 pm

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by MegatronUK » Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:33 pm

Surely if soda has spilled on your laptop what's left of your warranty is going to be void anyway?

User avatar
bicostp
Moderator
Posts:10491
Joined:Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:47 pm
Steam ID:bicostp
Location:Spamalot
Contact:

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by bicostp » Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:17 pm

My laptop gets pretty hot when playing games, so I'll probably build a fan thing for it out of plywood and a couple fans. (We have craptons of old fans lying around.) It should probably get blown out, too.

For some reason it doesn't like running its internal fan; it only really spins up on first boot. I checked and there's no way to change this in the BIOS. This also makes it run slower, because the processor underclocks itself to produce less heat. (And because it's an AMD Turion, it makes a LOT of heat. :lol:)

User avatar
HBN
Posts:791
Joined:Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:52 pm
Location:I'm a Ninja...You'll never know...

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by HBN » Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:19 pm

MegatronUK wrote:Surely if soda has spilled on your laptop what's left of your warranty is going to be void anyway?

As long as the screws aren't tampered with, and all tags are intact, I should have a warranty. Assuming of course I still have time for it. It had a good no-fault warranty on it.
bicostp wrote:My laptop gets pretty hot when playing games, so I'll probably build a fan thing for it out of plywood and a couple fans. (We have craptons of old fans lying around.) It should probably get blown out, too.

For some reason it doesn't like running its internal fan; it only really spins up on first boot. I checked and there's no way to change this in the BIOS. This also makes it run slower, because the processor underclocks itself to produce less heat. (And because it's an AMD Turion, it makes a LOT of heat. :lol:)
Used one of those once (Wasn't my laptop). Yes they do.
Please keep an eye on my HBN64 progress.
HBN-Style Anti-Noise Headphones.

Moderatio Est Figmentum.
Long live the Queen of Bondo!

User avatar
TheOnlyOneHeFears
Portablizer
Posts:396
Joined:Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:53 am
Location:Here be Dragons!

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by TheOnlyOneHeFears » Fri Apr 10, 2009 9:03 am

Does unscrewing the back panel to clean the fans really void your warranty? Does your laptop have one of those 'Void if removed' stickers on the backplate? Cleaning the fans out would really help with with the overheating/noise issues, more so than your current makeshift methods
Image

User avatar
HBN
Posts:791
Joined:Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:52 pm
Location:I'm a Ninja...You'll never know...

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by HBN » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:10 pm

TheOnlyOneHeFears wrote:Does unscrewing the back panel to clean the fans really void your warranty? Does your laptop have one of those 'Void if removed' stickers on the backplate? Cleaning the fans out would really help with with the overheating/noise issues, more so than your current makeshift methods
It really does void. Not so much a sticker, but black screws that "turn" silver when unscrewed. My makeshift methods are working find, though. Really. I mean its cooler than it ever was normally. Physically cold, instead of Not at all warm.

Besides, my cleaning involves taking apart the whole case due to the pop-spillage.
Please keep an eye on my HBN64 progress.
HBN-Style Anti-Noise Headphones.

Moderatio Est Figmentum.
Long live the Queen of Bondo!

User avatar
palmertech
Senior Member
Posts:3225
Joined:Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:40 am
Location:California, land of the homeless and hippies
Contact:

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by palmertech » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:30 pm

bicostp wrote:My laptop gets pretty hot when playing games, so I'll probably build a fan thing for it out of plywood and a couple fans. (We have craptons of old fans lying around.) It should probably get blown out, too.

For some reason it doesn't like running its internal fan; it only really spins up on first boot. I checked and there's no way to change this in the BIOS. This also makes it run slower, because the processor underclocks itself to produce less heat. (And because it's an AMD Turion, it makes a LOT of heat. :lol:)
I had this problem.

Is it from the HP/Compaq DV6000/DV9000 series? They have a critical BIOS update, it makes the fan work right (My GFX card fried because of massive heat, I need a new mobo now)
Image

Excellent

User avatar
bicostp
Moderator
Posts:10491
Joined:Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:47 pm
Steam ID:bicostp
Location:Spamalot
Contact:

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by bicostp » Fri Apr 10, 2009 1:10 pm

Nope.

HP Pavilion DV5000.

User avatar
palmertech
Senior Member
Posts:3225
Joined:Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:40 am
Location:California, land of the homeless and hippies
Contact:

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by palmertech » Fri Apr 10, 2009 4:07 pm

I would still check to see if your model has an update, I have experiance only with this problem on the DV6000 and DV9000, but my guess cannot be too far off if out of the thousands of laptops out there, you have a DVX000 series laptop. :lol: It has AMD, too.
Image

Excellent

User avatar
manuba
Posts:116
Joined:Sun Mar 29, 2009 11:34 pm
PSN Username:w33dw4c3r
Steam ID:Truckstop13
Location:The great stinky desert

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by manuba » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:42 am

My hp dv9000 is overclocked and heats up enough to literally burn my hand on the bottom, so I use psp umd cases to raise it off the desk and run a house fan I got at wal-mart for $5.00. No more heating prob! :lol:

User avatar
marshallh
Moderator
Posts:2986
Joined:Sat Sep 10, 2005 2:17 pm
360 GamerTag:marshallh
Location:here and there
Contact:

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by marshallh » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:47 am

My laptop is a beast.

It gets so hot that it cracks the solder joints on the power board and graphics card connectors. There was a class action lawsuit in Canada for this reason. I have to open it up and manually resolder the connectors every few months.

I once ran it on top of a white plastic table. Now there's a yellow spot there :D

Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100, built in 2003 but runs Half Life 2 at 1600x1200, 30fps. :lol:
Image

User avatar
SpongeBuell
Senior Member
Posts:5190
Joined:Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:52 am
Location:Colorado
Contact:

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by SpongeBuell » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:01 pm

HBN wrote:
MegatronUK wrote:Surely if soda has spilled on your laptop what's left of your warranty is going to be void anyway?

As long as the screws aren't tampered with, and all tags are intact, I should have a warranty.
Don't be so quick to say that. When I worked at the helpdesk at my old school, we had warranty repairs denied plenty of times because of spills. The residue never really goes away until you clean it, and it's definitely noticeable (not to mention, the pop is acidic, especially if it's diet, you never know what it'll do to the metal inside). Plus, my old phone has a sticker on it that's meant for detecting moisture. It's white originally, but turns red when exposed to water.
Life of Brian wrote:
RYW wrote:RYW:

Rare
Yellow
Weasel
I'll be honest with you - I would have never guessed that.

User avatar
HBN
Posts:791
Joined:Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:52 pm
Location:I'm a Ninja...You'll never know...

Re: Laptop (computer) cooling methods

Post by HBN » Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:26 pm

SpongeBuell wrote:
HBN wrote:
MegatronUK wrote:Surely if soda has spilled on your laptop what's left of your warranty is going to be void anyway?

As long as the screws aren't tampered with, and all tags are intact, I should have a warranty.
Don't be so quick to say that. When I worked at the helpdesk at my old school, we had warranty repairs denied plenty of times because of spills. The residue never really goes away until you clean it, and it's definitely noticeable (not to mention, the pop is acidic, especially if it's diet, you never know what it'll do to the metal inside). Plus, my old phone has a sticker on it that's meant for detecting moisture. It's white originally, but turns red when exposed to water.

Oh... It's not diet, though. I don't drink formaldehyde and rat poison.

Well damn.
Please keep an eye on my HBN64 progress.
HBN-Style Anti-Noise Headphones.

Moderatio Est Figmentum.
Long live the Queen of Bondo!

Post Reply