Over Heating Laptop Repaired. Model: Compaq
As I was sitting in my shop preparing to write some articles, I noticed the extra heat that the fan was kicking out of my laptop. I had this laptop for about 15 years and I never opened it before because I did not have to. It was given to me by my sister in law because the screen was broken and she was not interested in getting it fixed.
A friend of mine who is a computer technician noticed the same thing when he was checking my laptop.
So I decided to open it and see what surprises I have inside this laptop.
As I took the screws off the back of the laptop, I took the key board off, I noticed the first ugly site; a lot of dust on the fan and its surrounding area.
I was not expecting to see this though because if you look to the markings of the two cables here you would see that both are connected to their wrong color that is marked on the label.
Since the laptop was working fine, I assuming that it is just bad labeling. Anyway, the repair continues.
More dust is found here as well and in my mind I am thinking how dry the thermal paste on the main chip is going look like?
A closer look to the fan and the vent, they were full of dust and dirt and had to be cleaned.
Finally, I got to the main chip and its heat sink and as I took the four screws on that metal, I saw this.
The thermal paste there was like putty that is dry and I could peal them easily off these chips.
It was really dry and dusty and had to be cleaned and add more fresh thermal paste to it.
More dry paste inside this laptop that needed my repair attention.
So I cleaned the two chips, cleaned the heat metals, added fresh thermal paste and I put it all back together and tested it out.
The fan was spinning nice and quiet, no dust and overheating and no more computer freezing or restarting. I love my maintained laptop.
Mission accomplished.
This article was prepared for you by Waleed Rishmawi, one of our ‘Master Authors’ and currently working in the Bethlehem area of Palestine repairing electrical and electronic equipment.
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Note: You can check his previous repair articles in the link below:
https://jestineyong.com/not-charging-in-iphone-6-plus-repaired/
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Emanuel Muscat
October 19, 2019 at 5:47 pm
I also have a similar Compaq laptop.I have a problem that there is no sound output.Can you suggest where to look since I believe it is a hardware problem.
The laptop was given to me after being upgraded to Win7.
Best Regards,
E.Muscat
Albert van Bemmelen
October 20, 2019 at 8:29 pm
If it is not a missing Audio hardware driver problem in your Windows, or a bad audio jack, it probably is a bad audio chip. In such cases where the chip or the mainboard problem can't be fixed, we presented to use a cheap external USB audio dongle to replace the not working audio port to our customers. Maybe that helps Emanuel?
Waleed Rishmawi
October 22, 2019 at 1:55 pm
Emanuel: usually with these kinds of laptops the output jack has issues, check that out first then trace that to the main audio Ic and see if it has input voltages.
have a blessed day
Albert van Bemmelen
October 19, 2019 at 7:42 pm
If you say that the laptop was already about 15 years old, it must have been a top of the bill computer at that time if you are still using it with todays internet and software. But better keep your fingers and skin clean and away from the thermal paste because we never know what poisonous nano particles are inside the substances. Names like 'artic-silver' and so on, probably do not mean there is only harmless silver in there. For that same reason I do not want to have a Laserprinter in my home because of the toner nano particles. Although maybe not toxic they are dangerous for contact with sensitive organs.
Waleed Rishmawi
October 22, 2019 at 2:03 pm
Albert: every step of the repair I was careful. I did not have any cloves on that day but now I have plenty of. thanks for the tip
have a blessed day
Joshua Oloo
October 19, 2019 at 10:29 pm
Thanks for the article Mr.Waleed. dirst is always a factor when it comes to repair,and that is a very good experience coming from you.
Waleed Rishmawi
October 22, 2019 at 2:04 pm
Joshua: you are most welcome. I am glad you liked it
Yogesh Panchal
October 20, 2019 at 12:12 am
waleed
Have you used this thermal compound before on this type of processors?
because thermal compound specially made for this processors are bit expensive.
Waleed Rishmawi
October 22, 2019 at 2:07 pm
yogesh: yes I have on many laptops like these. it is a high quality thermal paste and it is made to be used on many devices. I also use them on Welding machine IGBT' and Mosfets. have a blessed day
Parasuraman S
October 20, 2019 at 12:13 pm
There are very few professionals like youPlease zoom and read. Kindly circulate to all known contacts! who would such a perfect job, that too on tiny devices like this! Well done! You saved the laptop from a major 'heart attack' by a preventative treatment.
Waleed Rishmawi
October 22, 2019 at 2:08 pm
Parasuraman: I thank you for the kinds words. the laptop is up and running and I just love it. have a blessed day
Lee
October 20, 2019 at 12:48 pm
When cleaning CPU & GPU's I found that degreaser from the Auto store helps clean the old thermal compound of the CPU & GPU. Yes Yogesh is correct in saying that the thermal compound is different for CPU's.
Albert van Bemmelen
October 20, 2019 at 8:55 pm
Or use turpentine that is also used to clean brushes. Never use Alcohol because that doesn't help much!
Waleed Rishmawi
October 22, 2019 at 2:12 pm
Albert: turpentine is very concentrated liquid that could damage components. I use very pure cleaning alcohol and so far it has been wonderful. have a blessed day
Waleed Rishmawi
October 22, 2019 at 2:10 pm
Lee:I just clean them with cleaning alcohol that has a high lever of purity and so far it is working just fine. have a blessed day
Tayo
October 21, 2019 at 9:52 am
The only thing more impressive than you using a 15 year old laptops as your daily driver (something you use everyday) is the fact you never had the need to open it up during all those years! You must have a life-proof case on it. 😀
Waleed Rishmawi
October 22, 2019 at 2:14 pm
Tayo: I work in an environment that is really dusty but the way this laptop was running up to this minutes is just amazing. it handled dust well through out these years but everything has to come to a certain point that needed some TLC and this is what I did here. have a blessed day