Thinkpads Forum

I know this has been covered, but my feeble search effort didn't turn up similar results. I know, gotta try harder.

T60. 1952-AP2, "upgraded" to 2 gig memory, a 250 gig hdd, and a flex screen. Otherwise stock, I think.

Thing has picked up a bad overheating habit.. such that it just shuts down on me. Only when plugged in. Never on battery only power.

Today, pulled out the fan/heat sink unit, cleaned thoroughly. Easy enough, as I wanted to replace the keyboard and track pad panel. So, that's what I did.

No difference. Still overheats, still shuts down. But I sure do like the new keyboard with all it's keys (even though two of the keys are mixed up)

TPFC shows her to be running at about 65 degrees on battery power.

I plug in to the wall, and it soon rises to low 80s. It shuts down at about 87, and seemingly gets there every time, eventually.

The fan is clean, and is definitely working. It blows a bic lighter out, which seems good enough for me.

other 'trial-and-error' diagnostics that have proven to make zero difference are trying a different battery, and trying a different charger, thinking maybe a weak battery draws too much, or a charger that over-charges makes too much heat. No difference.

Again, sorry for posting, yet again, about this overheating thing. Seems all too common.

Thanks...
*sigh* --Matt

Moderator edit: Edited threat title (to remove non-relevant part)

Hi, Matt,

You said the fan is working, can you feel the exhaust port(the copper louver) on the left upper corner? is it warm?

I am asking because even if the fan is working, but if there is bad conductivity either defective heat sink or bad conductivity between the heat sink and Cpu/Gpu, in that case, the heat cannot be transferred out very well, and you will feel the exhaust port is cool.

I bet you did not clean up/replace the thermal paste (such as AS5) between CPU and cooler.

Thanks, both...

Yes, there is heat blowing out of the vents.

And, correct on the thermal paste. I did my best to transfer that from my parts computer, but I guess I'll just have to pick some up and do it right.

My only issue there is that I don't understand why, if that is the problem, it would only be a problem when plugged to the wall via battery charger.

On battery the CPU (normally) only works at a reduced speed, causing less heat.
On AC the CPU (normally) works at full speed, causing more heat.
The above is valid assuming (normal) power management settings.
Thermal paste is a MUST-HAVE in any case!

VolvoMatt wrote:Thanks, both...

Yes, there is heat blowing out of the vents.

And, correct on the thermal paste. I did my best to transfer that from my parts computer, but I guess I'll just have to pick some up and do it right.

My only issue there is that I don't understand why, if that is the problem, it would only be a problem when plugged to the wall via battery charger.

Replace with new thermal paste like Real black staff mentioned above, it will make differences compared to used one. CPU will consume more pwr than "battery on model" and system will apply more voltage to CPU, it will produce more heat, which is the reason in your computer.