HP Elitebook 8440p Randomly Shuts Off

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amodoko

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Okay, I'm assuming the main reason that my 8440p randomly shuts off because of dust build up inside. Not positive though. I just got this, put in a used hard drive, installed my OS and everything. I noticed that the fan was constantly running, so it made me think it was overheating. My question is, what is the easiest way to deal with this? Do I take a shop vac and try to blow and suck out the dust from the vents? Or do I just take the whole thing apart and clean it with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol?

The other thing I wanted to ask, is I happened to install a used hard drive into this. I was wondering if it is even possible for a hard drive to cause a laptop to just randomly shut off repeatedly? In the past, whenever there were hard drive issues I would get a BSOD, but with the 8440p there is no BSOD so I was hoping the hard drive was fine.

Thanks in advance!
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
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@amodoko The easiest and cheapest way to remove the dust is to buy a can of compressed air and spray it into the vents. It sounds like your laptop is overheating. Try that first and if there are any more problems then get back to us. :)
 
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amodoko

Member
Okay, thanks so much! I will go get a can of compressed air and blow into all the vents (as spirit kindly advised) to see if that resolves the issue. I will also download the programs that Punk recommended to check out the temperature. I will get back to you guys and let you know what happens. Thanks so much!
 
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amodoko

Member
Okay, finally got around to tinkering with the 8440p again. I didn't have any compressed air cans around, so I did the shop vac method (blow air into all the vents, then later sucked air from all the vents with the shop vac). I also installed the programs that Punk had mentioned and monitored the temperatures. At first, I thought I had fixed it since it definitely did not shut down for a very long time. The temperatures seemed high though, they fluctuated quite a bit, but it was averaging around 70 degrees C for CPU and about the same for GPU. There was one time where the CPU temp got to about 89 degrees C and the GPU temp got to 99 degrees C at one point as well (based on what those programs reported). But the laptop did seem to manage the temperatures better and was able to cool itself down (where I don't think it could cool itself down once it got hot before I used the shop vac). Then I decided to run it on battery to see if that made any difference, and within about 3 minitues, it shut off. So I don't know if it running on battery affects its ability to cool itself, because it did not shut off at all while it was plugged in. I'm going to go and try to clean it a bit more by blowing into it with the shop vac again and running it on battery to see if it shuts down again.

Update: I did blow into the fan again with the shop vac, turned it back on, this time on battery power only, and it lasted about 8 minutes before shutting off again. When it shut off, the fan got louder and louder, and then shut off. That's weird, it will run indefinitely it seems (although warm) when plugged in... but when it's on battery it won't run as long even though it has plenty of battery life left. Is it harder for some laptops to cool themselves on battery power vs being plugged in?

What should my next step be? I'm thinking I should disassemble it and clean it by hand.
 
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johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
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Being on battery is probably causing the added heat from the battery to make it worse. The procedure you are doing with the vacuum really isn't the best, you should tear it down and clean it manually if you feel you can do it. I'm sure there is a buildup of dust bunnies somewhere inside. 70 degrees is way too high.
 
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amodoko

Member
Okay, I will take it apart and clean it manually. I'll just use a q-tip by itself and clean out the dust. I agree the shop vac method probably isn't a great one. Will keep you guys updated once I get it cleaned out. Thanks again!
 
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amodoko

Member
Okay, finally got around to this and went and got some cans of compressed air. I just watched a YouTube video on the disassembly of an 8440p so I could just follow the steps. They ended up taking off the the copper looking heat sink and fan together so I did too since I didn't really know what I was doing. I then realized I would probably need to get some new thermal paste since I separated the CPU from the heat sink thing (sorry, don't know a lot about PCs and terminology yet). I don't know if the thermal paste was actually the issue. Because after taking the PC apart, it really didn't look too dusty around the fan and cpu. So maybe the thermal paste had just dried out and that was the issue? I don't really know. I ended up cleaning off the old thermal paste from the CPU and heat sink with q-tips and 91% isopropyl alcohol. I have a few questions about this that I have indicated in the photos. Please look at the photos if you have time. The main questions being:

1) Do I need new thermal paste now?
2) If I do, is this one fine: http://www.microcenter.com/product/391499/15g_Metal_Oxide_Thermal_CPU_Paste_Compound
3) Do I need thermal paste anywhere else besides the CPU?
4) Do I need to disassemble this PC even further than I have already in order to clean it properly?
5) There are two adhesive flaps indicated in the photos. Do I need to remove these or should I leave them? One is torn
6) If you have time, please look at the attached photos as there are a few questions within them.

Thanks in advance guys! Any help is appreciated since I've never really had to do this before. Thanks
 

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amodoko

Member
Any tips or suggestions anyone? No worries if everyone is busy, I'm just about to go try to take care of this today or tomorrow and wanted some extra advice. Thanks in advance for any help:)
 
A

amodoko

Member
Okay, thanks for the reply! I'll get the paste you recommended and I will leave the pads where they are even though they are torn. I will update this thread after I attempt to fix it. Thanks!
 
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amodoko

Member
Just wanted to give you guys an update. I was putting this fix off for a while since I just felt like I would mess something up. I did a bit more research on thermal paste application, etc. and finally got around to doing it. I used Arctic Silver 5 for the thermal paste as was suggested by johnb35, reinstalled everything and put it back together, and so far it seems to be running much cooler. I am averaging about 50 degrees Celsius on the CPU and about 70 degrees Celsius on the GPU when I'm running it on battery, and I average about 10 degrees Celsius even lower when the laptop is plugged into an electrical outlet. This is a much cooler CPU temperature than before, about 25 to 35 degrees Celsius cooler. The GPU is not really much cooler than before, and I think it is because the GPU is the one with the thermal pad in the photos above. Since I did not really reapply anything to the GPU or buy a new thermal pad, that makes sense that the temperature for the GPU is the same as before. I also ran it on battery for 15 minutes and it was able to stay around 50 degrees Celsius as well for the CPU (when I first got the laptop it would shut off on battery power within 10 minutes). I had no idea that thermal paste could be the issue. Either thermal paste can go bad over the years and needs to be reapplied once in a while... or the last person that applied it didn't apply it properly or maybe used a bad paste. I am not sure. If anyone knows how common it is to need to reapply thermal paste, or if thermal paste can go bad over the years inside a laptop, please let me know, I am just curious.

Anyways, as of now I think it is working. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Thank you guys for your help, much appreciated!

Update: The temperature readings on the CPU are now even better. I am regularly getting temperature readings around 35 degrees Celsius even while on battery power. I believe that the temperature readings have improved even more because Arctic Silver 5 "settles" in over time (based on what I read on the internet, not sure if that's true).
 
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johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Yes, the temperatures should go down a little after it settles. After a day or two and that will be it. Thermal paste will dry up and not allow heat to transfer as good so it's always best to replace it every few years.
 
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amodoko

Member
Okay, thanks so much for the information and the help! Much appreciated! So glad this laptop is finally working:)
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
85mc said:
did re applying thermal paste after cleaning dust work. im having same problem
Click to expand...
I doubt the original poster will see this as he hasn't been back in almost a year. Might want to post your own thread with your issue.
 
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