Laptop cooling pads

[Xist]

So in this thread we discussed the guy who said that he was the manager at a computer (and smartphone) repair store who told me that I did not have hard drive issues, my laptop cooling pad provided too much air, causing my laptop to freeze, and he did not have any idea what he was saying: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...air-29606.html

I could not find anything useful through the web, but I think that I disabled the utility causing the problem. Honestly, I do not know, I keep using Dad's laptop. I am not even sure where the charger for mine is. However, Arragonis talked to me about taking apart the laptop and cleaning out the dust. Suddenly, when Dad's laptop boots, it tells me to shut down immediately, the fan is not working. As long as I use the laptop cooling pad it is fine, but anything that I plug into a USB port comes loose easily, although I tend to notice now. Maybe it is clogged with dust. Perhaps it needs a new fan. I would rather not take it apart twice for the same problem or order a part that I do not need.

It just seems strange, this cooling pad was the highest rated, with one giant fan in the middle. My other one has two fans. That seems well and good, but on every laptop that I have ever owned, the fan has been on the left side, and the left edge got hotter than anywhere else. Is there any way to actually direct cooling there? It might seem silly to put in five two-inch fans at the very left edge, but that just might do more than one giant fan in the middle.

What do you guys think?

I am hesitant to take apart a laptop that works well, I never had a problem with desktops, but despite trying to keep track of which screws go where, that always seems to get confused, and it seems like there is an amazing amount of tiny, fragile parts.

[Cobb]

I had a similar problem and just honestly listed it on ebay for parts and got just shy of 100 bucks for an old asus laptop I had.

You will be lucky to take it apart and put it back together correctly and have it still work. Plan B maybe trade it for a new computer or credit for a device at bestbuy? I traded an old laptop for a Surface. Got 125 in credit towards the purchase.

[Baltothewolf]

Take an air compressor or a can of air and spray it into the heatsink vent on the laptop. I don't know what laptop your dad has, and pics would help. No need to take it apart, spraying compressed air in ever Crack and crevice will work if dust is the problem. Trust me. I had a laptop that just at idle would get 110C. Blew it out and even sitting on my bed with blankets blocking vent holes, watching a movie it never got over 80C.

[vskid3]

Which laptop are you talking about? Can you post model numbers? Have you taken either apart? If you have, did you forget to plug the fan back in?
Try to find a disassembly guide for your model of laptop if you're thinking of taking apart. There's often a hidden screw or clip that can leave you scratching your head as to why a panel won't come off. It'll also let you know how much you'll have to take it apart to be able to clean out the heatsink, some laptops just require the bottom panel to be removed, others need to be torn completely down.

[Xist]

I do not think that I used compressed air before Afghanistan, but I was ashamed of how much dust came out. I tried that with mine before and I only saw water vapor blow out. The same happened with Dad's. Both are HPs, this one is the HP Pavilion dv7 and this is its service manual, which has instructions for replacing the fan: http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01689926.pdf

If working on a laptop is not bad enough, this requires removing the motherboard! HP does not sell the fan anymore, but I can order a new one from China for eight dollars, it would just take weeks, although the shipping is free.

Since the laptop works perfectly as long as I keep it on the cooler pad, I am just going to do that! I am not taking apart the entire laptop for an eight-dollar part!

[Cobb]

Its an HP? Those are pretty good computers. I think gateways downfall was their laptop failures and recently I worked for 2 companies that used dell and

Ive seen computers go up in a puff of smoke and at least 2 laptops an employee fail a year.

I had an asus laptop that lasted 11 years, not bad. Had a compaq that started to die as ports were failing and 2 Toshibas that died after 4 years each.

[Xist]

Dad's laptop continues to work okay as long as I keep it on the cooling pad, which has a T-cable, allowing me to still use the USB port. I periodically hear the fan stop, so I fix the plug, and it turns on again. With the mouse plugged in, it beeps at me, which works better--it just did that! How did it come loose? I was just typing!

I think that I will take a phone charger and a USB extension cable to plug the fan into the wall. I do not want this computer dying because the connector came loose!