Are there professionals who will apply new thermal paste to a laptop?

[Legendary_Bibo]

My laptop is only a year old and I think something is wrong with the thermal paste. I idle at 50 degrees Celsius, and it should be lower. The thing is I don't want to attempt to do it myself, so does anyone know places that will do it that won't most mess up my laptop or charge too much. It's an HP dv7 laptop.

[undecim]

When is the last time you cleaned the dust out of your laptop?

[Legendary_Bibo]

um...never. I don't think my laptop has holes to clean dust out.

[dragos240]

um...never. I don't think my laptop has holes to clean dust out.

Most laptops have a removable keyboard, under that is the inside of the laptop, there should be enough openings inside to get in.

[Sam Fallow]

um...never. I don't think my laptop has holes to clean dust out.

Dust in but no dust out? There's your problem.

[Joe of loath]

Also, modern laptops idle hot. My Dell idles at 45-50C, and it's very efficient (14w at idle).

[Eldera]

removable keyboard, under that is the inside of the laptop

Instead of removing the keyboard I unscrew a couple of panels on the bottom of my laptop. Then I blow it out with "canned air" from Staples or Best Buy, especially around the fan.

Check your warrenty before you do anything, though, some companies void the warrenty if you open the computer yourself.

[jpeddicord]

My old Dell E1505 would idle in the 50s; I don't think it's much to worry about. Processors can take a beating well. I've seen one go up to 90°C and hasn't had problems, though that's not the best temp to be at.

Laptops will generally be hotter than desktops, sacrificing cooling for more battery life. My desktop, on the flipside, is idling at 34° and usually hits 60 under load.

[eyeofreason]

That really isn't THAT hot, but if you've noticed a difference i would first look for airflow problems such as dust clogs or a blocked intake. "Laptop" is a bit of a misleading term since if you actually set the machine on the lap you are likely to block the air intake on the bottom. Be careful if you decide to tackle the thermal paste. To much can be as bad as too little. It's conductive!!

[Legendary_Bibo]

I unplugged my fan pad that I usually keep plugged into my laptop, and the temperatures dropped by 3 degrees. So...my fan pad which is designed to cool a laptop makes it hotter??

[Lucradia]

I unplugged my fan pad that I usually keep plugged into my laptop, and the temperatures dropped by 3 degrees. So...my fan pad which is designed to cool a laptop makes it hotter??

Where does the air blow out? Side or back?

Where doe the fan take in air? Bottom or side?

If it's as such:

Side and side, then that's your big problem.

if it's back and side, try to position your fan another way.

Also, most fan pads are designed to take in one way, and blow out another, you may have had it facing the wrong way. Since the processor then has to make the fan work harder, and dedicate more processing power to the fan.

My laptop is weird, it takes in air from the BOTTOM, and shoots it out the back. So I had to put it on stilts, else it would be hot as hell.

[Legendary_Bibo]

Where does the air blow out? Side or back?

Where doe the fan take in air? Bottom or side?

If it's as such:

Side and side, then that's your big problem.

if it's back and side, try to position your fan another way.

Also, most fan pads are designed to take in one way, and blow out another, you may have had it facing the wrong way. Since the processor then has to make the fan work harder, and dedicate more processing power to the fan.

My laptop is weird, it takes in air from the BOTTOM, and shoots it out the back. So I had to put it on stilts, else it would be hot as hell.

It sucks from the bottom and blows up towards my laptop. I got it when I got my laptop and I've always had it plugged in, I usually never unplugged it, but now my laptop has cooled off. Now with just firefox open it's idling at 45-47 degrees...I think I should look into get a cooling pad that actually works.

[undecim]

It sucks from the bottom and blows up towards my laptop. I got it when I got my laptop and I've always had it plugged in, I usually never unplugged it, but now my laptop has cooled off. Now with just firefox open it's idling at 45-47 degrees...I think I should look into get a cooling pad that actually works.

cooling pad should blow air down, away from the laptop. That always works best in my experience.

[Zip247]

I dont even take anything apart on my laptop to blow it out. I just take it outside and use an air compressor and blow the air by all of the vents on it.

The first time I did this I was amazed at how much dust came out of it. Now I do this monthly.

[jpeddicord]

Also, most fan pads are designed to take in one way, and blow out another, you may have had it facing the wrong way. Since the processor then has to make the fan work harder, and dedicate more processing power to the fan.

To say that a fan uses more processing power is a little odd to me. First off, it's usually the motherboard (& BIOS) that controls the fan speed. Even then, it just has to send a signal to make the fan spin faster, slower, or not at all. It doesn't have to work harder to make the fan spin, the fan will just use more energy. The fan's just a motor; nothing has to "think" to keep it spinning.

[Hman242]

I would recommend cleaning your heat sink.

[Legendary_Bibo]

Yeah I'm thinking a fan pad that actually works should suffice, but I guess it's not running at a bad temperature, I just hear how some peoples' laptops run at 35C idle.

[Spr0k3t]

The DV7 is not the most effecient laptops put out by HP. One of my clients has one of those and it idles at 55C (no chill pad). General cleaning will help once a month. A good chillpad will also keep the laptop running more effeciently.

[Hman242]

My dv7 doesn't have an heat problems.

[Paqman]

Instead of removing the keyboard I unscrew a couple of panels on the bottom of my laptop. Then I blow it out with "canned air" from Staples or Best Buy, especially around the fan.


Make sure you stop the fan from spinning if you do this, or you could nuke your mobo.

[Eldera]

Make sure you stop the fan from spinning if you do this, or you could nuke your mobo.

Thanks for the tip. I am still learning a lot of things.


I dont even take anything apart on my laptop to blow it out. I just take it outside and use an air compressor and blow the air by all of the vents on it.

The first time I did this I was amazed at how much dust came out of it. Now I do this monthly.

Sounds good to me, easier that what I have been doing.

[Xianath]

Check this out: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/disassemble-hp-pavilion-dv7-notebook/. Don't touch the heatsink. Get the fan out and clean it with with compressed air. Check if it spins OK and get a replacement if it doesn't. If it appears OK, put everything back together and check temps. If it still runs hot, you either learn to live with it, or get some Arctic Silver Compound 5 paste and some isopropyl alcohol, then follow these instructions: http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=134

Oh, and if that's your only computer, make sure you print the disassembly instructions *before* you start :D

[The Real Dave]

+1 for cleaning. My sister laptop, a Toshiba A200 (1.5Ghz Centrino) ran at ~70 idle. The back of it would burn my lap.

I opened it up, and it was filthy. The was literally a solid 7x2cm chunk of dust in the heatsink, which the blower was trying to force air through. After a good cleaning, it ran cold, with the fan not even starting at boot.

Thermal grease is generally a low importance thing, in that, it rarely goes wrong. The only time you should worry about it is if you actually removed the heatsink and broke the seal. Generally, in my experience changing from stock thermal grease to something like Artic Silver 5 will only gain a few degrees at very best.

[Xianath]

Agree with The Real Dave on paste. I only mentioned it since you asked, and then *only* if cleaning *and* replacing a failing fan (if you got one) doesn't help. I've done it on Dell laptops but they all had crappy cooling anyway, and it only bought me a few degrees at idle. Unless they messed up at assembly or the heat flow design is just plain bad, you shouldn't have to get there.

[d3v1150m471c]

just give it a good clean and buy one of those cooling pads that go on the bottom. I just set a book under the end of mine to give it some airspace and that works just fine.

[Legendary_Bibo]

Sometimes I get a bad boot and Xorg will start using 15-20 percent of my CPU while even idle for no apparent reason. Well now my fan pad is also working right (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't). So now I'm idling at 40-42C, but I guess cleaning out the fans a bit wouldn't hurt.

[d3v1150m471c]

just give it a good clean and buy one of those cooling pads that go on the bottom. I just set a book under the end of mine to give it some airspace and that works just fine.

i just reread my post and realized it would have been a good line for forest gump.