Laptop overheating

[wallyuwl]

I know there are a lot of computers guys here, so I'm hoping one of you can help.

I have a Toshiba i5 laptop. About a week ago it started freezing up out of nowhere. There was a slight "hot air" smell. It did this several times over the past week. To get it running again I had to hold the power button until it shut down, then start it up again. Yesterday it froze, then I got a blue screen for a split second (it was there and gone way too fast to read anything on the screen), then it shut down on its own.

Tonight, it stopped responding and then about thirty seconds later shut down on its own. Tonight there was a definite burning smell, sort of like when you are soldering something.

It has only done it on battery power, and it doesn't take being on battery power long (five minutes tonight) to do it.

Any ideas what it could be?

I'm going to take it to a computer repair place tomorrow but it would be helpful to have some idea before going in there.

 

[zyxelenator]

Battery if frying(defective), or clogged vents and coolers with dust. Most common reasons.

 

[JHZR2]

+1.

Do you get any smell when recharging the battery?

Be real careful, you may be experiencing a Li-ion battery failure, which can be catastrophic. There could be a soft short that is manifesting itself under discharge conditons, and when the shutdown separator gets hot enough, you loose enough power to freeze the computer up.

Be careful.

Does the battery feel hot? When you smell it, shut down the machine, remove the battery and feel it all over for hot spots.

 

[tinmanSC]

Are you sure it only happens when the laptop is on battery power? You can keep it running on normal A/C power from the grid and it doesn't happen?

That would seem to indicate a battery issue (can be serious!), or an issue with the power converter (sometimes called a power supply) inside the laptop.

 

[wallyuwl]

OK, so something new now.

Originally the symptom was the mouse touchpad would stop working. That was usually followed by the burning smell and/or having to power off the machine because it had locked up (or it seemed to, since the touch pad wasn't working).

Well, just now I hooked up an external mouse. The mouse is working fine, but the touchpad is not working at all.

I have the PC Monitor up (which monitors CPU temp and fan speed, among other things), and the temp is saying the same with or without the power cord plugged in. But it just smells different on battery power, or maybe I'm just imaging things.

The battery does not get hot at all, and the "battery monitor" part of the PC Monitor software says it is in good shape (though I'm not sure what it uses to determine that).

 

[OVERKILL]

Sounds like something is rotten in Denmark. Is it still under warranty?

 

[wallyuwl]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Sounds like something is rotten in Denmark. Is it still under warranty?


No. As a university student I can get repairs done with a local business that works with the university, though, for $35 labor plus parts.

 

[OVERKILL]

Well, it sounds (or smells rather) like there is a definite electrical problem. However, isolating it is going to be next to impossible without taking it apart. Which I get the impression, that you aren't comfortable doing. Which is fine. But also means we aren't going to be able to do much to help you.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: wallyuwl


The battery does not get hot at all, and the "battery monitor" part of the PC Monitor software says it is in good shape (though I'm not sure what it uses to determine that).



There is lots of known experience with known good Li-ion cells failing with an extremely substantial amount of gassing.

Im thinking more and more that the battery isnt the issue, but do be careful with it.

 

[wallyuwl]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Well, it sounds (or smells rather) like there is a definite electrical problem. However, isolating it is going to be next to impossible without taking it apart. Which I get the impression, that you aren't comfortable doing. Which is fine. But also means we aren't going to be able to do much to help you.


I've built desktops and taken apart a couple laptops, but for $35 labor I'd rather not go through the hassle of doing that and troubleshooting.


I'll have them look at the touchpad, and make mention of the locking up and burning smell. I've been on battery power for the last hour and it has been fine, it is just that the touchpad is completely not working.

 

[FL_Rob]

You have to "elevate" the laptop.I use my kids tinker toys up on blocks to get airflow around the base try it .if it dosen't work you may have a memory prob......Write back.

 

[Rand]

I'd call toshiba, sometimes they will repair for free if its a known issue, or a flat rate repair.

If something is busted all your 35$ is going to do is tell you "yep its hardware parts cost 400$ for a new motherboard"

Originally Posted By: wallyuwl
I know there are a lot of computers guys here, so I'm hoping one of you can help.

I have a Toshiba i5 laptop. About a week ago it started freezing up out of nowhere. There was a slight "hot air" smell. It did this several times over the past week. To get it running again I had to hold the power button until it shut down, then start it up again. Yesterday it froze, then I got a blue screen for a split second (it was there and gone way too fast to read anything on the screen), then it shut down on its own.

Tonight, it stopped responding and then about thirty seconds later shut down on its own. Tonight there was a definite burning smell, sort of like when you are soldering something.

It has only done it on battery power, and it doesn't take being on battery power long (five minutes tonight) to do it.

Any ideas what it could be?

I'm going to take it to a computer repair place tomorrow but it would be helpful to have some idea before going in there.

 

[wallyuwl]

Well, a day or two after my last post on this I smelled a strong burning smell, then the track pad stopped working totally. After that, though, everything else has been fine with it (an external mouse would work hooked up USB).

So I took it in. They said it was some screw associated with the tracking pad that burned up. About $100 for the part and labor. So they will fix this and then determine if anything else is wrong with that circuit.