Laptop crashing/overheating?

Peerzy · 19 Apr 2009 at 23:00

Hello!

Right I've had my Acer Aspire 9302AWSMi for about 18 months now. I've only had the following problem for about the last 4 months.

When it crashes the screen turns off and about a second later the machine turns off. This happens with and without the power cable in.

It only happens when I'm doing certain things on the laptop it seems. Watching online videos (youtube, naughty vids etc) it'll crash after about half an hour. Playing games (Football Manager 09 is the only game I play) and it'll last about 10-15minutes. This has just happened twice again now. This was not an issue until about 4 months ago because I use to be able to play FM2009 for hours without any problems.

Other things, such as downloading files, using Photoshop, Firefox normally, even watching hours of TV via 4OD or downloaded files through VideoLan all are fine and will not cause the laptop to crash.

The temps have always appeared high (via Speedfan) even before it started crashing.

The laptop is usually just kept on my desk and the desk does feel very warm when I lift the laptop out. The vent where air flows outwards also gives out very hot air. It still crashes though even if it's on my lap, bed or even held in the air.

Below is a screenshot of what Speedfan displayed after I had turned the laptop back on after it had crashed.

About a second before the laptop crashes it will freeze (mouse will stop moving and keyboard will not work).

I'm at a loss, I can accept it's possibly overheating but why not crash when I do other CPU intensive tasks such as hours of VideoLan or Photoshop?

For the first 2 months of crashing instead of the screen turning off (and it does turn off, not just go black but totally switch off) it would come up with the following:

And would not swtich off, just stay with the screen like that.

Before it crashes the temps on Speedfan can go above 100 for the second Core reading and close to 50 for the HD0 reading.

Help!

RJC · 19 Apr 2009 at 23:03

Laptops have a higher thermal rating but that is a little to hot :eek:

, do you notice the cpu fan starting or blow the heatsink becuse of dust.

Edit: Saw the comment about hot air being blown out.

Peerzy · 19 Apr 2009 at 23:07

RJC said:
Laptops have a higher thermal rating but that is a little to hot , do you notice the cpu fan starting or blow the heatsink becuse of dust.

Edit: Saw the comment about hot air being blown out.

The air can get pretty hot, almost as much that keeping my hand pushed up against the vent for a few minutes can start to burn.

I cannot hear any fans speeding up or slowing down as it gets hotter or crashes.

Geckovich · 19 Apr 2009 at 23:10

I had this issue with my laptop (also an acer). I took it apart and cleaned it then re-applied the heatsink with decent thermal gloop. Helped a little.

Peerzy · 19 Apr 2009 at 23:12

Geckovich said:
I had this issue with my laptop (also an acer). I took it apart and cleaned it then re-applied the heatsink with decent thermal gloop. Helped a little.

I'm not confident enough to be pulling the laptop apart, especially as it's vital I have it working for Uni work (which it has no problems doing).

Audigex · 20 Apr 2009 at 02:49

That turion is a hot running chip, but it's definately overheating.

18 months is a particularly bad spot for laptops, they'll be nicely gunked up with dust by then. Couple this with the fact that it's now sat dust-hoovering on a desk in a 12x8 room you're in for 12 hours a day, and you've got a recipe for a dust-aster.

I've noticed this with mine, because it's a small room and I'm in it all the time, it gets very dusty. My laptop's also 18 months old and has really been warming up.

You don't need to worry about it up to 80C or so, but at 86-92 you definately need to sort it. Given the option I'd take it apart and re-seat it, but you can probably get it back within the thermal cut-off with less drastic action. You still have to OPEN the laptop, but you don't touch or remove any component and there's very little chance of you breaking anything or knocking a connection loose.

Enter: the heatsink clean, which solves 80% of laptop overheating.

This is fairly safe (to both you and the laptop), just be gentle and don't force anything. All you're aiming to do is remove some dust from the heat sink and fan inside the laptop.

You will need
1) A phillips-head screwdriver
2) A large supply of cotton buds
3) A saucer of water
4) Your laptop
5) A can of compressed air (optional)
6) A vacuum cleaner

It's really dead easy. Just shut down, unplug everything and close the laptop; then flip her over and take a look at the bottom. Place it with the hinge towards you, lying on the lid. On the lower right hand side (if I can see it properly on the pictures I can find, it may be lower left) you should be able to see a plastic grille with the fan under it.

First take the battery out - we don't want to be shocking ourselves or putting water (even in small amounts) near a live machine.

Then unscrew the bottom panel which contains this grille. It may be quite small or it may cover most of the laptop. Remove it to expose the fan+heatsink and take a look inside. You'll probably see a lot of dust.

Simply take the cotton buds one at a time, dab them in the water and pinch between finger and thumb. They'll only pick up a small amount of water, and you squeeze most of it off, so this is perfectly safe.

Gently rub the inside and outside of each blade of the fan. Use one cotton end for the inside and one for the outside, so you end up using as many buds as blades on the fan.

Then repeat the same for the general area around the fan, dig into the corners a little, and make sure the grille is clear too.

The main part follows. You'll need to start angling the cotton buds under part of the case towards the heatsink (the vent that exhausts the air), as this is where all the dust gets pushed to by the fan. First just dab at the vent (you'll use a lot of cotton buds on this step) and remove when it looks covered. After this becomes less effective, start to rub the cotton buds along the heatsink (it'll feel a bit like running a stick down a fence) sideways. Then give it a little twist at the end to collect the dust. You'll probably find you can see through the heatsink better at this point.

Just repeat until it seems to be having little effect. Then get the vacuum and place it on the exhaust part of the vent (the side of the laptop) and turn it on. If you have a can of compressed air, blast this into the fan too (not too close, about 2 inches away). This will force the dust through the heatsink with more force than the fan normally does.

Ideally we'd blow the dust back the way it came, but you don't want to risk blowing the dust INTO the case, so this is nearly as good.

Finally give the rest of the inside of the case a blast with the compressed air, close the laptop back up and put the battery back in. Give it a couple of hours just to be certain any moisture has dried up (there's not much to damage with this technique, but better safe than sorry) and put the battery back in. You'll likely see a difference of 10C or more, which should bring your laptop back into the realms of "hot, but stable".