Keep you laptop cool - on the cheap !

[HangOver]

Hi All
My Laptop used to get too warm for me. But maybe it's not really designed to be on for about 5+hrs a day ? :D
The keyboard would be warm like tepid water and the fan exhaust vents would get warm like a pie from the deli.

Anyhow I pulled the fan from an old PC power supply and cut the USB cord off an old USB mouse. I wired them together and placed the fan near the exhaust vents it works much better than I had thought ig would.

Now the keyboard is cooler than body temperature and the exhaust vents are cooler than tepid water, hardly even warm at all.
If yours gets warm you should do this. Total cost; ermm 3" of tape and x3 cable ties about 10 cents. Bargain !

[worraps]

not a bad idea i find a laptop cooler works much better tho my toshiba a120 runs 24/7 reboots only for updates or travel has been this way for around 7 months solid so far :)


worraps

[scrambler]

not a bad idea i find a laptop cooler works much better tho my toshiba a120 runs 24/7 reboots only for updates or travel has been this way for around 7 months solid so far :)


worraps
I hope you've got the battery out of it or are prepared to put a new one in about now ;)

Good idea, HangOver - a lot cheaper than the commercial stands.

[Utemad]

Another good idea is to pull your laptop apart and clean all the dust out of the cooling fan and heatsink.

I use one of the off the shelf cooling pads but only on hot summer days or at gaming LAN days.

[HangOver]

I was going to get one of those off the shelf coolers as I have seen them for $20 odd bucks and up. Cheap enough, but this little fan works really well so it'll do me.

My laptop gets switched on around 6pm and off around 11-12pm-ish.
I wondered about removing the battery; I try to run it battery until it is flat then mains until it's 100% charged then batterry again then ......

I thought about taking the battery out but I don't know how they react to long term non-use?
Should be stored full charge or flat?
If full charge how often should it be flattened and recharged to keep it in top condition?

They say these new batteries don't have this memory effect but I think that's a load of cr'p. I have been using the totally flat then recharge method on my mobile phone battery (li-ion) and I have had it for nearly 5 years with the same battery.

[HangOver]

Another good idea is to pull your laptop apart and clean all the dust out of the cooling fan and heatsink.

I use one of the off the shelf cooling pads but only on hot summer days or at gaming LAN days.

I have done that a few times with old laptops it's such a pain though. I find it easier to use a can of air, (work suppiled) and blast the dust out. As the current laptop is only a few months old I haven't had to do this yet.

[Utemad]

I have done that a few times with old laptops it's such a pain though. I find it easier to use a can of air, (work suppiled) and blast the dust out. As the current laptop is only a few months old I haven't had to do this yet.

A blast of air might get out the visible stuff or maybe a bit more but you'd be amazed how much dust is in there. We blew them out before we pulled them apart but there was still heaps in there.

You don't have to be in dirty environments either. I took three apart. Mine, Dad's and a friend's. Mine and my friends are on more often than off but in cleanish office and home environments whereas Dad's gets used in filthy dirty places with lots of dust and dog hair etc and his was the cleanest by far. Not through design either as Dad's and my friend's laptops were the same model.

Well worth the strip down and doesn't take that long.

[EchiDna]

That fan idea is great Hangover!

I have a docking station which holds the laptop on a slight angle (the back is about an inch off the desk)... more than 10 degrees difference in operating temp compared to lying flat on the desk as measured by the internal temp sensor on the processor.

with your fan concept... it would be even greater!

find something to prop the rear end of your laptop up a bit, see if that helps even more!

[HangOver]

That fan idea is great Hangover!

I have a docking station which holds the laptop on a slight angle (the back is about an inch off the desk)... more than 10 degrees difference in operating temp compared to lying flat on the desk as measured by the internal temp sensor on the processor.

with your fan concept... it would be even greater!

find something to prop the rear end of your laptop up a bit, see if that helps even more!

Hi
I totally agree with what you are saying and I do.
I usually stick a pen under one side or at the back just to lift it a few mm.

I had the laptop on last night from about 7:30pm till about 1:30am it, it was still cool.

BTW if anyone does try to make one don't bother crimping the wires I tried three times and they are too thin. Hence the tape.
I know I could have soldered and "shrink tubed" it, but it was an experiment. Maybe on the next one.

[HangOver]

as measured by the internal temp sensor on the processor.

Do you have a downloadable utility for measuring internal temp?

I can only do it using the bios but that won't measure under load as you have to be using the thing at the time and you can't if your in the bios. I tried to find one but after about 10 mins gave up.

[Utemad]

Do you have a downloadable utility for measuring internal temp?

They do exist. I had one on my last computer but can't remember what it was called.

One of the ones I had you could even control your fan with it. Like making it run regardless of temp.

[moose]

I run a thing called "motherboard monitor" on my PC. Not sure if it would work on a laptop, but I suppose it's would be worth the try. Plenty of places to download it from on a google search!:)

[HangOver]

I finally found one it's a freeby : http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

It says on the dell website that motherboard monitor wont work on thier laptops????