{"id":4659,"date":"2020-03-31T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4659"},"modified":"2020-03-30T10:36:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:36:38","slug":"is-it-possible-for-laptop-heat-sinks-to-stop-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/31\/is-it-possible-for-laptop-heat-sinks-to-stop-working\/","title":{"rendered":"“Is it possible for laptop heat sinks to stop working?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Answer requested by Sameer Chakma.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No<\/strong>, if you mean your question literally: At its heart, a computer’s heat sink is usually just a piece of inert metal. There\u2019s nothing to break or stop working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I suspect you mean: \u201cIs it possible for a PC\u2019s heat-removal system to malfunction?\u201d and that answer is a definite yes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thermal bonding:<\/strong> The heat sink \u2014 again, usually just inert metal \u2014 is held to the CPU\/GPU or other hot chip or device with special, heat-conductive thermal paste or glue, and\/or tight mechanical fasteners to ensure firm contact and good heat flow from the device to the sink. If the paste\/glue or fasteners fail or come loose, heat won\u2019t be able to exit the chip or device at the designed rate. Because some of the heat never gets to the heat sink — which itself is perfectly fine — the chip or device can overheat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duct\/Fan Issues:<\/strong> The heat sink\u2019s upper surface is usually molded with bumps or fins to increase its surface area; a fan draws cooler room air across these fins to remove their excess heat, and blows the heated air out a vent somewhere on the PC. Reduced airflow due to a problem with the fan(s), or with dust blockage in any part of the cooling system, also can result in overheating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if your laptop or PC is experiencing overheating, it’s almost surely not<\/strong><\/em> the heat sink itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather, look for dust blockages, a dying fan, or \u2014 especially in a laptop that\u2019s been dropped or treated roughly\u2014- in a heat sink assembly that’s no longer properly attached to whatever it’s trying to cool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the latter — and if you’re willing and able to work on the guts of your system — you might be able to retighten the mechanical fasteners and\/or to remove the heat sink, clean off the old thermal grease\/glue from the sink and whatever it was attached to, and reinstall the heat sink with a thin, fresh layer of thermal grease\/glue (it\u2019s not very expensive: thermal grease glue – Google Search<\/a> ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4659<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Answer requested by Sameer Chakma.) No, if you mean your question literally: At its heart, a computer’s heat sink is usually just a piece of inert metal. There\u2019s nothing to break or stop working. But I suspect you mean: \u201cIs it possible for a PC\u2019s heat-removal system to malfunction?\u201d and that answer is a definite…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-hardware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/heatsink-rf.jpg?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-1d9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3399,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/11\/can-i-overclock-a-cpu-without-a-liquid-cooling-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":4659,"position":0},"title":"“Can I overclock a CPU without a liquid cooling system”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-09-11","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Lorenzo Gramigni) Sure. The system doesn\u2019t care how you provide cooling, as long as you keep the CPU safely within its designed temperature rage. Most PCs use air as the working fluid for heat removal. You can prepare many PC's for modest overclocking simply by adding a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3058,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/10\/i-need-to-leave-my-new-laptop-in-my-car-in-100f-degree-heat-during-my-roadtrip-how-can-i-protect-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":4659,"position":1},"title":"“I need to leave my new laptop in my car in 100F+ degree heat during my roadtrip. How can I protect it?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-07-10","format":false,"excerpt":"If the product is well-designed, it will be built to withstand normal shipping temperatures while off: Think of a cargo container full of PCs baking for days in the sun on the deck of a ship transiting the tropics; or deep-chilling for hours in an airliner's cargo hold; etc. That\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3247,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/29\/yes-your-hdds-and-ssds-really-do-weigh-more-when-in-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":4659,"position":2},"title":"Yes, your HDDs and SSDs really do weigh more when filled with data.","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-08-29","format":false,"excerpt":"It's odd: Questions about the physical weight of data get asked fairly often --- I don't know what's prompting it. Perhaps the move to SSDs? The most recent iteration phrased it this way: \"Does data have physical weight? If something is 10 gigabytes, does it actually weigh whatever system you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2505,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/08\/how-to-make-lithium-ion-batteries-last-for-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":4659,"position":3},"title":"How to make lithium-ion batteries last for years","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-04-08","format":false,"excerpt":"The older column reprinted below was originally published in the August 13, 2015 , Windows Secrets newsletter. This older content supplements brand-new content posted today (April 8, 2019) in the AskWoody Plus newsletter, available here. An upcoming column will update and refine the information below. (I\u2019m reprinting selected Windows Secrets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AskWoody Plus"","block_context":{"text":"AskWoody Plus","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/askwoody-plus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/W20150813-TS-BatteryFromTop.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3926,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/11\/will-a-device-charge-at-the-same-rate-with-a-10-meter-cable-as-with-a-one-meter-cable\/","url_meta":{"origin":4659,"position":4},"title":"“Will a device charge at the same rate with a 10 meter cable as with a one meter cable?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-12-11","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Rosario Mezzatesta) If the cables are designed properly, yes. However, if either cable's internal conductors are too thin, energy will be lost as resistive heat along the way; this can make the charging time longer. And: The longer the wire, the greater the thin-wire-resistance effect. Very long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/usb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4917,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/06\/is-it-safe-to-leave-a-lithium-ion-device-in-an-air-conditioned-room-whose-ac-temperature-is-set-at-around-20-degrees-c\/","url_meta":{"origin":4659,"position":5},"title":"“Is it safe to leave a lithium-ion device in an air-conditioned room whose AC temperature is set at around 20 degrees C?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-05-06","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Evan Zanark) Sure. In fact, one of the oddities of lithium-ion cells and batteries is that they work best at the same temperatures where humans work best: Room temperature --- 20C\/68F --- is great for both humans and Li-ion! But once you get up to around 40C\/104F,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/W20150813-TS-BatteryFromTop.png?fit=410%2C403&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4659"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4691,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4659\/revisions\/4691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}