Dell Inspiron 1501

[linkin]

Fixing up this laptop for a family friend, she said it was just turning off over and over again. Naturally I assume it's overheating. So far I've taken it apart, cleaned up the crappy thermal pads and replaced them with AS5, cleaned out the fan and all that jazz. Before this I had it on for about an hour monitoring the temperature. After I put it all back together is when in starts randomly powering off on me as described. I've got it back for now monitoring the temperatures again, they are lower, the laptop's CPU still heats up to 50c - 55c when even just virus scanning, but it hasn't powered off just yet.

The fan is very flaky as well, after it has an episode of powering off, I can turn it back on and the fan will go full blast and then the whole thing just shuts down again, after a few more tries it will get into windows (maybe) and then behave itself until further notice.

Monitoring the temps they are okay now, 30-40c just idling at the desktop charging the battery, but rising.

Calling for anyone with experience with dell laptops randomly powering off

 

[gamblingman]

How much dirt did you remove from the laptop? Was it enough to have been causing it to overheat?

I've been using a Dell 1520 for about 4 years now. And while not the exact same model as yours, the temps are similar. I have been checking my laptop temps since I bought this laptop, when at rest it averages about 35-45C. At full use (virus scan, browser, game playing) it rises to a max of 60C (+/-2C), and even then its doesn't stay there for long.

The fans on Dells seem to be setup for quiet running, most of the time they sound like they are completely off (its weird and took me a long time to get used to). The fan will kick on a little higher when it begins to heat up past about 50C. It never really runs at what I would call a high speed. And like you said, Dell fans will run for a bit, enough to cool the system, and then turn back down.

You can also test the fans in the Dell diagnostic utility at BIOS start, if I remember right press F12.

Does it startup and run normally?

Since you just replaced the thermal paste I'd just use it with a standard load on the parts for about a week to break it in, and keep an eye on it. I'd also teach her how to read that temp program to watch for problems.

 

[linkin]

It's been running fine now, no more crashes. I put the thing back together and had 3 screws left over

So far it's just been web browsing/sitting there with HWMonitor open in the background.