t430 left palmrest heat

[zahirw]

I purchased a t430 i5 3210m a few months ago and my keyboard keys were giving me an issue. I took it up with customer support & they sent someone over to replace it(I have on site warranty). While replacing the keyboard, the tech noticed that my usb ports were shaky and proposed to replace the motherboard too.

A week later, he showed up with a new mb and strapped it on, taking the old one back. Unfortunately, after installing the new board, my left palmrest started heating up significantly. My t430 has always been cool even under load but now it had become uncomfortably warm, to a point where my palms would literally sweat. Post this, the tech came back & did the following :

- replaced the fan & thermal grease
- replaced the motherboard all together
- replaced the new fan with the old fan & added more grease

Yet, within 30 mins of use, the laptop just becomes too warm to rest your palm on. The issue persists only on the left palmrest and the underbody. Right palmrest is cool.

At last, he suggested that the hdd might be the issue so he's going to try replacing that even though this problem didn't exist on the old board. The tech agrees that the laptop is unusually warm.

RealTemp measures 35-45c at idle and 45-65c under load spiking upto 80c if I'm using photoshop with a couple of tabs on chrome & video.

Even if I crank up the fan using turbo boost, the laptop runs warm.

Any clues? Suggestions? Similar situations?

[zahirw]

Anyone have any clues on this?

[Cvandoes]

I got a new t430 about 2 weeks ago and have the same problem, it's just uncomfortably warm where I rest my left hand. I'm so glad that I am not the only person to experience it. My desktop support say there is nothing that can be done as the hard drive is located there and that's just the way it is!!!! What to do,what to do, I've even been using an external keyboard plugged into a USB port but that is not at all ideal.

[thinkpadin]

Hi,

Me too having the same issues

Apart from this one problem, the thinkpad rocks.

[Kaso]

It's the hard drive. Or, more precisely, it's the main drive slot that is so confined that heat cannot escape and just builds up.

Also, the stock HDD is noisy. TPFanControl does subdue the stupid fan noise (cheap part, no doubt), but the HDD noise now becomes prominent.