Re: [tlug] Dust busters?

[Lyle H Saxon <llletters@example.com>]

On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 4:27 PM, Darren Cook <darren@example.com> wrote:

My dell notebook (2.5 years old) sometimes overheats and suddenly shuts
down. And it is getting worse. (*)

I've been advising a friend who has... (make that *had*) - an HP laptop that began periodically (and suddenly) shutting down about a year after he bought it.  I talked him into buying one of those fan-cooled bases that plugs into a USB socket.  That helped, but it would still suddenly shut down occasionally, at wonderful times, like when updating software...

Next step was to use one of those high pressure air cans, which again helped, but the problem - after getting better for a while - gradually worsened again not long after that.  At this point I did some extensive Google searches for that model (HP Pavilion DV-6700), and it appears to be a very common problem.  At that point, I advised my friend to trash the d**n thing and just get a new computer.  He did, and the problem is solved.  (It was about four years old and out of warranty.)  Try running a Google search for your computer model name with "sudden shut down" and see what comes up.

Incidentally, even if you do find a high power vacuum, you need to be careful using it!  I damaged the bearings in a cooling fan once on a computer using a high power vacuum on it.  The power (speed) of the air flow spun up the fan to a really high (and damaging) speed.

Maybe it's not the same type of issue as the above mentioned HP, but if it is, the aggravation and wasted time spent fighting an inherently bad hardware design should be weighed against the possibility of buying a new laptop.  They're pretty cheap these days.

Personally, I'd go the warranty route and/or trash it and go for a new one.  Time is pretty valuable, and this type of problem in a laptop - if it's anything like that bloody HP my friend has/had (he still has it, but it's now sitting in a closet) - isn't worth wasting time fighting if you can avoid it.

One more thing.  It's interesting how the full-size LED light bulbs are rated at 40,000 hours, while the smaller size are rated at 20,000 hours.  Heat is the difference apparently.  Laptops bake their components and the shut-down problem may be more about deteriorating component quality than dust build-up.

Lyle