Laptop getting hot and making noises.

[Prince.M5]

From November last year, my laptop has been making this weird grinding noise somewhere near the fan exhaust. It sounds like it's hitting on something... And just last month, my laptop has started to get hotter and hotter to almost being uncomfortable to type.

I have recently installed this CoreTemp thingy and it recorded 86 degree celcius max! I didn't know what I do apart from Firefox. No games no nothing. Currently running somewhere from 55-70 with an extra cooling pad under the laptop.

It's a Fujitsu A3130 with AMD Turion 64 X2. Bought it in early 2008... It's already out of warranty unfortunately

If anybody knows what's the problem, please chime in

 

[Robin]

Sounds like there might be some dust and fluff clogging up the fan near the exhaust, on my Lenovo it started making grinding noises and getting high temps just like that and I opened it up to fined lots of dirt and dust in the fan. Luckily my laptop has an easy to open cover to get to the fan for cleaning.

If you can't open yours up easily try some compressed air in the vents 👍 If its out of warranty anyway its probably worth opening it up entirely.

Robin.

 

[nick09]

Yep. Most likely dust has found it's way home in your laptop after three years.

 

[Prince.M5]

Yeah I believe it's just a dust problem. I was shocked that all of a sudden my laptop can get that hot. Is it true that the laptop will shut down when it reaches 100 degree celcius?

I may need to find an expert to take apart my laptop before anything bad happens - and is it expensive?

It's already 3 years old with extensive usage, has been used everywhere. No wonder if there could be tons of dusts in there. Thanks for the reply mate

 

[nick09]

If there is no big and easy cover to take off(if it does, do it yourself and save money) then a pro would most likely charge around $30-$50 for just cleaning dust. You can also have them replace the thermal paste(paste that move heat from the cpu and gpu to the the heatsink) since it is most likely that it has been turned into a powder.

 

[Prince.M5]

Thanks for the info nick09, actually I wouldn't want to take a risk of cleaning them up by myself as I could have make it worse. I'll make some money and let them have a go with it. Currently just browsing through the internet with a constant 55-65 degree celcius. No longer hitting the 70 mark...

Again, thanks a lot guys! 👍

 

[wfooshee]

Noise like that is indicatve of failed fan bearings more than dust intrusion. With the failed bearings, the fan runs noisily and slower than it's supposed to, moving less air. The heat builds up inside the device, and if it reaches a certain point (not necessarily 100 degrees, but there is a threshhold) the CPU will shut down. Whether it shuts down by trigger from a thermal sensor, or whether from failure due to overheating, is a matter of design quality.

The fan needs to be replaced, not just cleaned. The noise is from the bad bearings allowing the fan blade body to move around as it spins, perhaps even grinding at its housing.

 

[G.T]

Yep, if it's noisy sounds like the fan bearing is lose or becoming bad and is getting hotter and hotter because the fan is becoming slower/less efficent. Plus probably the combination of dust build up.

I'd get it replaced if you can, if it starts to become really hot again for no apparent reasons.

 

[Prince.M5]

Owh my, now it sounds like an expensive fix

I'll have it checked when I can find some money... I love this laptop, never let me down until now. Thanks guys.

 

[Prince.M5]

Owkey guys, yesterday I watched Top Gear from this website that streams it every week. About half an hour through the show, my laptop temperature bumped up to 105 degree celcius! I left it to idle for about 5-10 minutes and it dropped to around 60 degree celcius. I watched it back for 10 minutes and it bumped back to over 100.

Could it be another problem coming up? Mind you I didn't watch it in full screen...

EDIT: I'm also afraid the temperature given was false, but the laptop does feel hot that time but no FPS dropped.

 

[wfooshee]

Playing video is CPU-intensive. It does build temperature. Whether the temp you're seeing is too high, I can't tell you. Depends on the design of the laptop, what the engineers thought about it.

 

[nick09]

You probably should have a expert look at it and troubleshoot the problem. It's better to take care of it now than later.

 

[Crash]

100+ degrees C is very hot for a computer. Processors often are rated to go up to 100 degrees and will shut down at that point. If that was not a false positive, I would be concerned.

Have you opened the computer up or looked at it to see if dust has accumulated in, blocking vents? Also, are all the fans running? You should be able to hear an audible fan blowing whirling sound from each fan air vent. I agree with wfooshee though, grinding noises are typically indicative of failing fans.

 

[eSZee]

Fan bearing it seems like.

 

[pinkert11]

HI, Just some back grounder, I am an IT Manager for an international company and I am responsible for 300+ computers world wide. I can strip and rebuild a notebook in my sleep. I will concur that the best advice is dust. I have seen many notebooks make the rattle sound and start to get hot. 99% of the time it is simple dust on the fan. Why does it rattle, most of the time it rattles not from the bearings but because the dust acts like weights and tosses the fan out of balance and it is scraping / hitting the sides of the heat sync bay.

Follow Robin's advice, get a can of compressed air and clean it out. No need to open the case. Turn off computer. Locate the intake vents, normally on the bottom of the case. Shake the hell out of the can, if not liquid will come out. Fire lots of air in there. Then on the exhaust port, located on the side, fire lot of air in to there. Do this a couple of times making sure to keep that can shook up.

Restart the laptop, let the fan go for a few min. Then shut down and repeat the intake exhaust blow out one last time.

Just as a note, the temperature software temp. readers are not accurate at all. If you really want to test the temp use a laser thermometer.

Also, keep the notebook off your lap, it can not cool properly on a soft surface. Put it on a book on your lap or a flat hard surface of some type. This is the number one thing I see that leads to overheated notebooks - soft surfaces.

Good luck.

 

[wfooshee]

Also, keep the notebook off your lap, it can not cool properly on a soft surface. Put it on a book on your lap or a flat hard surface of some type. This is the number one thing I see that leads to overheated notebooks - soft surfaces.

Good luck.

That's something I didn't think of, even though my stepdaughter sues hers in her bed. The vents on the bottom would be completely closed off by the sheets and blankets.

Not sure it applies to this thread, since he does state fan noise is associated with the machine, but the rest of you out there need to be thoughtful of keeping those air vents clear. That's where the fan gets the air it blows through the inside of the laptop.

 

[nick09]

Yeah I always make use of my laptop cooler as a stand to keep the vents clear.

 

[Prince.M5]

HI, Just some back grounder, I am an IT Manager for an international company and I am responsible for 300+ computers world wide. I can strip and rebuild a notebook in my sleep. I will concur that the best advice is dust. I have seen many notebooks make the rattle sound and start to get hot. 99% of the time it is simple dust on the fan. Why does it rattle, most of the time it rattles not from the bearings but because the dust acts like weights and tosses the fan out of balance and it is scraping / hitting the sides of the heat sync bay.

Follow Robin's advice, get a can of compressed air and clean it out. No need to open the case. Turn off computer. Locate the intake vents, normally on the bottom of the case. Shake the hell out of the can, if not liquid will come out. Fire lots of air in there. Then on the exhaust port, located on the side, fire lot of air in to there. Do this a couple of times making sure to keep that can shook up.

Restart the laptop, let the fan go for a few min. Then shut down and repeat the intake exhaust blow out one last time.

Just as a note, the temperature software temp. readers are not accurate at all. If you really want to test the temp use a laser thermometer.

Also, keep the notebook off your lap, it can not cool properly on a soft surface. Put it on a book on your lap or a flat hard surface of some type. This is the number one thing I see that leads to overheated notebooks - soft surfaces.

Good luck.

Thanks a lot for the instruction mate! I'll try to find the can compressed air. For the last 2 years my laptop has been on the table and I rarely put it on my lap. But I am suspecting a dust because if even I leave my laptop right there for 3 days, there'll be dust around it so I'm suspecting it. If it doesn't do any good though, it could be the fan itself dying. It's difficult for me to take it to a computer expert because I'm short of cash and I'm a student - still tied with my parents.

I also recently asked my friend if the temperature software actually works and he also said it may not be necessarily accurate.

Currently has never been entering the 90 degree celcius mark since the 27th of February, I also watched Top Gear again from the same stream and the highest is 80 degree.

Again, thanks a lot guys 👍