HEL80 Overheating question

So I was using my HEL80 a few minutes ago, and it just shut down. This happened only once before. I was just using AIM, but I had WoW running in the background and it may have been a little warm. Had it about a year, may be some dust in the fans.

So, was it probably due to overheating?

If so, any tips on cleaning out the fans, which may have dust in them and therefore be a slight problem as I haven't cleaned them? (Or on cleaning out under the keyboard?)

Thanks!

 

Yep sounds like overheating, I'm not 100% sure if you need to open up the back to reach the fans and use compresed air or if you can just use q-tips on the vents.

Be sure you're using a notebook cooler, like the Zalman MC-100.

 

umm yea it does sound like GPU overheating... due to not using it on a cooler or having vents clogged with dust.

do u monitor your temps (GPU, CPU, etc...) like I have been advocating for over a year now ?!? IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS MONITOR THEM... (not to just guess thats its not overheating)

you should, because that sound like the temp is reaching peak and forcing your GPU to downclock for a few seconds to cool down.

do you use a notebook cooler (Zalman NC-1000 is most recommended)?

check your vents and fans every month to clean them out like this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60914

you must take care of your notebook... so physically check the vents and clean them out occasionally.

____________________

Another thing that can cause the sudden shutdown is the battery might be damaged and cant hold a charge... which can cause shutdowns... as well as prevent a notebook from starting up.

Ask yourself: "Do I leave my notebook plugged into AC all the time? Is the battery always in the notebook when I am doing this?"

If the answer are YES, then you should remove the battery and see if the problem goes away.

 

Yeah, my HEL80 was getting crazy hot last week. I pulled the fan and the vents were blocked from the inside with dust. It's a lot cooler and quieter now.

Removing the fan is easy, you just need a Phillips head screwdriver. Pull the two screws on the bottom of the unit that hold on the fan cover. Then pull the three screws holding the fan in. clean the inside of the heatsinks and you'll be good to go. I'd unplug the notebook and remove the battery for the whole of the procedure.

 

Don't waste money on a cooler.


Before cleaning fans:

Overheating and temps under load 70+


After cleaning fans:

No overheating, temps 40-50, under load 55

 

Yeah disassembly the CPU fan of your HEl80 with this guide(its a pdf)
HEl80 disassembly guide

then reassemble it with this video or the reverse the order of what you did to disassemble it.
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can someone tell me where the gpu is on the hel80? it doesnt say in the dissembly guide

 

TO get to the GPU(VGA Board) you have to do a complete disassembly(start from the beginning of the PDF[it talks about the motherboard/vga board on page 30 but you have to get to it first]. It consist of removing the LCD/'logical upper'/ram/CPU/hdd/odd.

IMO it not worth it unless it a last resort.

 

you don't need to really dissasemble the LCD etc, just take it off. Also, the guide is a wee bit off, there needs to be a screw here and there taken out during the work. In my case using liquidmetal instead of whatever the paste it was that came in standard gave me ~20 less degrees on the GPU....

So definetly worth it ;-)

 

what exactly is the liquidmetal, is it like artic silver?

 

yep. (brief response, but it gets the job done)

 

http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/

 

hmmm would artic silver be more useful than that? 20C drop sounds really nice
i dont think i can find it in stores

http://www.xoxide.com/cool-laboratory-liquidmetal-pad.html

 

these are metal pads. I got myself a paste. it's in a small syringe. better thermal quality than the pads but harder to get off later (you're good for a scrubbing, mostly I'd recommend water/wet sanding paper or ladies' nail sanders. I used the latter, worked orait, gave a warm heartly gloss to my radiator as well )

 

so its this one?
http://www.xoxide.com/coollaboratory-liquidmetal-thermal-interface-material.html

if i just buy artic silver, I should get the same results right? I just want to buy it in stores :/

 

cool labs is a wee bit better than arctic. about 2-3 percent for that matter tho I'd look up the results of some tests on the net for the real numbers.