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Making laptop heatprove
- Thread starter kaka4200
- Start date
This + a good cleaning are all you can really do. If your laptop is old, a tear down, rebuild, replace TIM, and clean out everything may be in order if you have a good free afternoon and arent using an alienware.
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2003
+1. I agree with both comments. Depending on the environment that you use your laptop, there is probably a lot of dust in the fins and fan of the cooling system. Old thermal paste (TIM) can be a problem too as heat will not get transferred from the CPU.
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2008
I think you meant "heatproof" instead of "heatprove". No need to prove they are hot. They almost always are.
One thing you can do to that will help without having to tearing down the laptop is to get something very thin like a bread wrapper "twisty tie" that will insert between the fins of the heat sink. Usually, the fins are visible at the exhaust port. Remove any external compartment covers like for battery and memory. Make sure the computer is off and the battery is removed as twisty ties do have a metal core. Insert the twisty tie through the fins of the heat sink so as to stop the fan from turning. Then shoot compressed air through the fins via the exhaust port.
Of course, this is not as good as tearing down the laptop to redo the thermal paste and all that but it may very well cure the basic problem of a heat sink that is clogged with dust. Depending on how the laptop is constructed, it may be quite a choir to tear it down to the point where you can actually remove the heat sink to change the thermal paste. There are dozens of screws and several types of cable connectors to deal with. I would not necessarily recommend a total tear down of a lap top as a project for the inexperienced. If you take that one on, get on the net and find a youtube video of how to disassemble that model laptop. Take notes. Get yourself a pill box organizer to keep the different screws separate. Take pictures if necessary of the disassembling process. Completely tearing down a laptop is not for the faint of heart.
My other concern about doing a tear down and removal of the heat sink is that many times they use a thermal pad with adhesive instead of thermal paste. You would have to see if that particular pad is available aftermarket as you will likely tear it in the removal process if this is what is used instead of thermal paste.
One thing you can do to that will help without having to tearing down the laptop is to get something very thin like a bread wrapper "twisty tie" that will insert between the fins of the heat sink. Usually, the fins are visible at the exhaust port. Remove any external compartment covers like for battery and memory. Make sure the computer is off and the battery is removed as twisty ties do have a metal core. Insert the twisty tie through the fins of the heat sink so as to stop the fan from turning. Then shoot compressed air through the fins via the exhaust port.
Of course, this is not as good as tearing down the laptop to redo the thermal paste and all that but it may very well cure the basic problem of a heat sink that is clogged with dust. Depending on how the laptop is constructed, it may be quite a choir to tear it down to the point where you can actually remove the heat sink to change the thermal paste. There are dozens of screws and several types of cable connectors to deal with. I would not necessarily recommend a total tear down of a lap top as a project for the inexperienced. If you take that one on, get on the net and find a youtube video of how to disassemble that model laptop. Take notes. Get yourself a pill box organizer to keep the different screws separate. Take pictures if necessary of the disassembling process. Completely tearing down a laptop is not for the faint of heart.
My other concern about doing a tear down and removal of the heat sink is that many times they use a thermal pad with adhesive instead of thermal paste. You would have to see if that particular pad is available aftermarket as you will likely tear it in the removal process if this is what is used instead of thermal paste.
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2012
- Location
- Secret lair
Pipe cleaners is what you're looking for 
And i agree with trents.. taking a laptop apart is not for the faint hearted... find instructions for your model.
And use the right tools otherwise you'll end up with lots of screws to replace.
And i agree with trents.. taking a laptop apart is not for the faint hearted... find instructions for your model.
And use the right tools otherwise you'll end up with lots of screws to replace.
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2008
Whatever you use to stop the fan, whether pipe cleaners or twisty ties it is important to do so when using compressed air so as to not damage the fan bearings. The compressed air will make them spin far faster than they were designed to. Believe me, I ruined a number of fans years ago when I first started doing my own building and maintenance by not be aware of this precaution.
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