COMPUTER-SAVVY TYPES: I need help with an overheating processor!

[MLFerrell]

OK, so here's the deal. I have a Dell Inspiron B130 that is overheating to the point of shutting down. I've tried canned air in the vents, I've gotten the ik8gui fan control utility, I even hooked up the AC to a switch that I can use to kill power and go on battery power to force-cool the processor.

Does anyone have any other ideas? It's to the point that I can't watch a DVD without having to pause it every ten minutes to force-cool the processor for five minutes, and then rinse and repeat. It's a 1.7 Ghz Pentium-M, that is currently running at 94 degrees C.

Thank you in advance!

[sir_captain]

1. is it under warranty?

cause that is hot enough to melt stuff on the inside of the notebook and way, way hotter than it's supposed to be. there's probably something not right with the heatsink inside there.

but seriously, even if it's not under warranty, i'd suggest taking it to an authorized repair place if you can afford it. the machine is not going to last much longer runnning at that temp. you could practically boil water on that chip.

[MLFerrell]

3. Not under warranty, and I have all of $12 in my bank account...

Any other suggestions?

[Deja Q]

2. 94 C is TOO HOT. Water's boiling point is 100 C... your temp should be

closer to 45C.

I agree with the other poster; if it's in warranty get it fixed ASAP.

If not, there are other ways but the warranty's the thing.

[NMDemDist2]

4. I had to add an additional fan inside my box

lucky there was an extra connection in there to hook up power for it.

go to Fry's or someplace like that and get another internal fan, they're cheap and easy to install

[BreweryYardRat]

5. I'd advise not using it until you can scrape up the money to get it fixed.

This isn't just an annoying glitch, it's a physical danger to your computer. Continued use might mean you wind up with a repair bill for much more than just fixing the processor.

[MLFerrell]

8. I'd advise not using it until you can scrape up the money to get it fixed.

Believe me, that isn't going to be any time soon. If I can't sell my car by the end of the month, I'm going to get evicted. That's how tight money is right now.

Know anyone who is interested in a '98 Neon?

[Book Lover]

6. If you *must* use the machine,

crack the case open and leave it open (assuming you have neither cats not kids). Have a room fan? Aim it into the machine. This band-aid can be used for bursts of time but no longer, I would say, than 30 minutes.

Oh, you said Inspiron... I think that you may just have to leave it be until you can take it into the shop, I'm sorry to say... Maybe search for a processor governor applet to keep your cpu cycles down...

[MLFerrell]

7. "Maybe search for a processor governor applet to keep your cpu cycles down..."

Do you know of one? For once, Google is not providing...

I have no choice but to use this machine. It's been running like this since about January or so.

The moral of the story is: NEVER BUY A DELL!

Even when I start it up from cold (i.e left off over night), it starts up running at about 60C give or take.

When it drops off of AC power, the processor speed is temporarily dropped to about 550 Mhz - 650 Mhz, so I put the AC adapter on a separate circuit so that I can kill it with a switch repeatedly, and force the processor to run slower, albeit temporarily. It's a real pain in the ass, let me tell you...

After an extensive cycle of cooling, I can get it down to about 60C or so, but that's it. Right now it's at 63C... Until I put it back on AC power, that is. It's gotten as high as 106C before... That's about the point that the BIOS shuts the system down.

[MLFerrell]

9. Kick...

So that I might find a viable solution other than shutting the damn thing down.

[flvegan]

10. Wet a towel, fold it in half

then freeze it. Put a newspaper under it and another on top of it. Put the laptop on top of the newspaper. It'll hold you for a couple hours. You might want to do this with several towels until you can get the notebook looked at. Sounds like a ventilation/fan problem.

[MLFerrell]

11. Well, I don't know why I didn't think of THIS sooner...

Windows XP's built in Power Management schemes automatically restrict the CPU speed. I have it on "presentation" mode, and I'm currently running at 62C.

I had another Dell laptop that had the same exact problem, but it was an Inspiron 2650.

Remember: NEVER BUY A DELL!!!!!

EDIT: I'm getting five degree swings on this power management set-up. Is this normal?

[Micah]

12. A little confused

My apologies if I missed this, but have you actually opened up your case and checked to see if:

A) There is an insane wad of dust clogging up your CPU's heatsink and/or fan?

B) If your CPU fan is actually working?

Built up dust stuck to the heatsink can turn it into a heat-generator, but it sounds as though the actual CPU fan might have died on you.

[MLFerrell]

13. No, I have a utlility that manually controls the fan...

And I can hear it running, so no, that's not the problem. There *was* an insane wad o' detritus on the heatsink, but I had to replace the keyboard a few weeks back (~6), and I cleaned 'er out then. I've been using canned air intermittently to control the build-up since then.

Good questions though. I appreciate the help! :)

[Skittles]

14. I bought a small 8 dollar fan from Target

and keep it pointed at the back....problem solved, no matter how long I am logged on

[Downtown Hound]

15. The problem isn't your processor

It's your power supply. I'm currently in school studying IT and this is one of the questions they ask on the certification exam. If your computer is shutting down due to overheating, then you have a faulty power supply. If there was a problem with your processor, your computer wouldn't work at all. If there was a problem with your fans, then you wouldn't get the temporary relief from the fix you describe above.

No, your power supply isn't supplying enough power to the system, and that is why it is overheating and shutting down. Unfortunately the only thing you can do with a faulty power supply is replace it. If your computer is under warranty, then they should take care of that. If it isn't, then you're looking at anywhere from $150-$250 depending on how many volts you need. Anyway, hope that helps you out. Good luck!

Oh and one more thing, DON'T MESS WITH THE POWER SUPPLY YOURSELF! You can unscrew its screws from your computer case and take it out if you want but that's it! I recommend you don't even do that. Leave it to the people that are trained for it. It contains an electrical charge in a capacitor even when the computer is shut off and unplugged that is more than enough to kill you if you open it up and mess with it. Either have Dell do it or take it into a shop. Anyways, take care!

[MLFerrell]

16. It's a laptop...

How does one go about replacing the (virtually) integrated power supply on a laptop, pray tell?

By the way, with XP's power management scheme that I'm currently using, I'm down to 50C.

[Downtown Hound]

19. Hard to say

Laptops are a whole different animal. Because things are integrated, as you point out, most often the only solution is to send it back to the company for repairs. Techs like me can replace a screen for you, RAM, maybe a DVD drive, but for the most part laptops are proprietary, and more often than not when you take it into a store for a major problem they end up sending it to the manufacturer for repair because they either can't do it themselves or don't have the correct parts. So how do you replace it? I couldn't tell you off the bat because I don't know what kind it is. Even if you were to tell me I would still have to see it to be able to figure out if it is something I could even replace. Since it isn't under warranty, my guess is it could be very expensive, to the point where it wouldn't be worth fixing because you might as well buy a new one.

But, if you are at 50C, then you should be okay. 85 degrees Celsius is your cut off point. But you should know that if your power supply is malfunctioning at all, it's only going to get worse as time goes on. You may be able to extend the inevitable for awhile, but if it's going, it's going, and there's really nothing you can do to stop it. Sorry to be so gloomy. Anyway, if money is really tight, try going to a recycling center that accepts electronics and see if maybe you can't get a good deal on a used computer. You'd be surprised at some of the really good machines those places get from time to time, and they are often dirt cheap. Good luck!

[NMDemDist2]

22. could it be one of those batteries that catch fire? n/t

[hyphenate]

17. I used to have a similar problem

Before I could afford to get a new heat sink for the processor, I did try something that actually worked, but it's very retro. Take a small, but powerful fan--a desktop sized one and put it on your desk, aimed at the chassis of the puter. Turn it on high, aiming it at the computer itself. Then turn on the computer, and leave the fan on whenever you have the puter on. It's not foolproof, but it did work until I could afford to get the new CPU fan. Try looking at eBay and at Tiger Direct for CPU fan sinks--they're the least expensive place to look.

Another thing you might also try is to see if your CPU is being overclocked. Many motherboards shut down when it gets hot due to overclocking.

[Whoa_Nelly]

18. My laptop used to do that, so I put it on one of these

and the air circulates around it very nicely. No more hot machine, no more sudden death shutdown.



I turn the coated wire mesh silverware drawer insert upside down, placing the laptop on the backside of it. You can find these at any Target, K-Mart, etc.

[jobycom]

21. That's clever.

I use mine in bed a lot, so I'm always trying to prop it up on books and stuff. That's a very clever solution. :toast:

[jobycom]

20. EMachine laptops had a similar problem that wasn't too hard to fix

WHether it's the same problem or not, I don't know, but with EMachines, the processor fan was so small that a tiny amount of dust clogged it up, causing the processor to overheat. There was/is a class action lawsuit over this.

Anyway, to fix it, there were two solutions. One involved canned air into the vents, as you say you've tried. For mine, I blew out the vents, and I also blew out every opening I could find near the fan (PCMCIA opening, for instance). This worked rather well--dust blew out of every crack. This reduced the shutdown from overheating to occassionally, down from constantly.

After this, I found advice on how to take the laptop apart down to the fan, where I could directly clean the fan and the surrounding circuits, all of which had a lot of dust. This basically eliminated the problem for months, until the dust built back up.

Eventually, the laptop completely died. No power-up ability whatsoever. Not sure if it was the result of overheating, a bad cable, or a bad power supply. It was time for a new laptop, anyway, so I gave up. But cleaning the fan and the circuits of dust cured the overheating problem, and made it usable until death.

Again, not sure if yours is a similar problem, or something else. In a laptop, from my experience (with no training) overheating is usually the result of heat dissapation, not of the power supply (as someone above said), although I wouldn't rule anything out. But usually, something is preventing the heat from escaping your unit. This could include a bad design (as with the EMachine), bad usage (you are setting it on a soft surface that blocks the heat vents or air intake vents), failing components (the CPU fan being the most likely--Most cases I've seen of shutdown are due to the CPU fan failing), or dust. Clean out the dust, make sure you are using this on a hard surface. If that doesn't fix it, replace the CPU fan. If that doesn't fix it, good luck. :)

Do a google on your computer and "overheating" or "shutdown." You might find a cure that way. You might also find instructions, if you don't already know, on how to get to the processor fan.