Thinkpads Forum

Good afternoon all,

I wonder if anyone would be kind enough to help and share the expertise on this issue, or series of issues, I'm having with my X220.It's pretty much a stock machine other than the RAM being upgraded to 16GB and the hard drive to a 1TB SSD. Current specification had been working without issue for years.

I'm currently on business in a warmer country and then a few days ago, the laptop just crashed after an hours' use and wouldn't restart. The base was hot to touch, and even though I didn't have the battery installed with the laptop just plugged to the mains, I suspected that a change in environment was playing havoc to its cooling so I cleaned the vents and fan for dust.

The next day again it just cutout but this time after a few minutes. Given the laptop's age, it could be that it's thermal CPU protection is probably now non-existent so I have bought a 4g tube of Arctic MX-4 thermal paste with the intention of repasting the CPU.

However, since yesterday the laptop now refuses to start at all. It's extremely temperamental and sensitive, only seeming to start at certain angles or positions. Even when it does start it barely gets to load Windows before just conking out again.Today the fingerprint green LED shows whether it's just on battery or plugged into the mains. Pressing the power button does nothing. I have never used biometrics nor set a fingerprint. From memory I think I even disabled it on the BIOS and it's never been a start issue when the laptop was functioning correctly.

The problem now seems more serious than just the overheating and could be that it's either caused problems to the motherboard and/or other components. In the rare chance it does function, I don't get much more than 5 minutes usage, making me think it's not overheating.

Any ideas to what it could be or as to why the fingerprint reader LED has now triggered the start sequence?

Thanks in advance.

Looks like some kind of short circuit to me. Was that device ever cleaned inside? Dust inside can cause overheating and in combination with other things also short circuit. Once, I cleaned the whole laptop (it was totally dead after close meeting with Coke ) with a toothbrush and normal water (had nothing better around me)... really every possible part. Dried it overnight, and it started in the morning without any problems.

I think it has only ever cleaned inside once when I opened a few days ago to clean the fan. I did the keyboard and tracked at the same time but have not done anything else.

It could be a short circuit I guess. Other than water, perhaps try with a cotton bud and alcohol. I might as well repaste the CPU while I'm at it.

My X220 died last year, and like yours it progressively ran hotter over time. I heavily suspect that the processor itself was degrading due to age (caused by electromigration), and other issues had cropped up over the years (USB 3.0 port losing power, WiFi slot dying, occasional sudden shutdowns). I applied liquid metal (Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut) as a last-ditch effort to keep CPU temperature down, and it worked to a certain extent.

My recommendation is to let go of that machine. At 12 years old, it's far beyond its designed lifespan, and any X220 you get to replace it may end up dying after some time.

I would say it's probably a series of age problems (old thermal paste, accumulated dust and the fact that, as pointed out, it has already surpassed it's designed lifespan) and the change in environment was the tipping point. I would say replace the thermal paste and give it a good clean, if you are lucky that might be enough to keep it running for a while longer. If it doesn't work, the "smart" option would be to let go of it. If you really like it, motherboards are still available, both new and refurbished, so as a last resort you can try that, but get it diagnosed first so you know whay you are dealing with.

Pull everything out - memory, drives, wifi, battery, then plug the power in and power it on to see if it beeps. If so, try putting parts back to see if you can find the cause. If it does not beep there's likely a problem with the planar. Use a different power supply too if possible. I've seen bad adapters do strange things from time to time.