Rollerr

My battery was one of the 'recalled' ones and I got a new replacement battery. Well done Dell.
But But But....

When I heard about the battery issue, I assumed that the 'extra' heat underneath was due to the battery. Now, even with the new battery, the underside is still overheating.

Checking further it appears that that the center of heat is around the RAM compartment.

Assuming that its not the battery, what could be causing this 'above normal' heat and what can I do to 'cool it'!!!

Rashiki

Any time you jam high performance, high tech electronic components together in a teeny weeny little space along with the power unit as well as little air movement, heat is going to be generated. Laptops in general get very hot due to their nature. That is part of the reason Intel implemented the SpeedStep technology. When your laptop is idling or just being used lightly, the speedstep tones down the processor speed, conserving energy and producing less heat. The best you can do is provide room for the case to get airflow acrossed it. Try to avoid stuffing it in big puffy fabrics like a big sweater or a blanket, and you should be ok.

ebackhus

*nod nod*

Rollerr

People do that?? Puffy fabrics?? Big sweaters?? BLANKET??? You are kidding me right?? BLANKET???

My laptop travels with me in my backpack without a sleeve or any fancy bits. Laptop goes into the backpack (its one of those Targus jobs) naked, gets snuggled up in the velcro bits and comes out naked.

When not in back back, its usually on a flat surface, with an unused hard spectacles case (lined top and bottom with a thin rubber mat) propping up the bottom back end, so that the laptop sits at an incline allowing for air flow.

In the meanwhile, I powered down, unplugged and then took a can of compressed air at all the orifices that would take a blast of high-speed arctic air. Did a clean up and realised that the colour of the laptop was actually silver gray and not black!!!

Next downloaded and installed SpeedFan 4.29. Allows for automatic control of fan speed based on the temperatures SpeedFan records for the HD, CPU etc. It does seem a little bit cooler than before, but I'll need to keep is running for a bit to really see if it does make a difference.

But BLANKETS????? Naaaah. You're just pulling my leg, aintchya?!!!

Rashiki

Well, i meant operating a laptop with the computer resting on a blanket, say, on someone's lap whilst watching tv on a wintery night.

But what you're doing is great, just do that and you'll be all set. Airflow is the name of the game.

jrcorwin

Do these cooling mats actually work?

http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...03620&pfp=cat1

TodaSuBaseEsMia

Yes, yes they do.

Not only does it provide fans to pull more air across the bottom of the system but it also holds it up off of a flat surface allowing more airflow.

I think it is well worth it.

Dirkpitt289

I don't think you have anything to worry about. I work with these laptops all the time. I have about 400 D505 and D510's in my environment. Not one of them was on the recall list yet all of them generate a lot of heat. Its just the nature of that type/model laptop. and I personaly own 2 D510s and I haven't had any problems

Terrister

A laptop cooling pad will help with this. Look at these.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...laptop+cooling

hwm54112

When running on AC power, take out the battery. It acts as an insulator and as a heatsink to hold heat "in"

Rollerr

@ Rashiki, ebackhus, jrcorwin, todasubaseesmia, dirkpitt, terrister and hwm:

Thanks for all your responses.

Reassuring to know that D505 is like that when it comes to the heat. I was a tad concerned about the heat causing any sort of damage, even with the new replaced battery.

The Speedfan utility and keeping my laptop at an incline has really helped a lot in keeping the lappie cooler. I have now raised the front end of the lappie a little bit. It is still at an incline but now the whole lappie is off the desk surface allowing for more air movement.

I think I will look at the Tigerdirect laptop fans, but am concerned a bit about the noise level. How noisy are these?

Thank again, all of you.

Rollerr

I hadn't thought about that. A good hack. Thanks

hwm54112

Neglected to mention when a battery is charging, it produces heat so batteries can have a big effect, alot more than one would think.

laboye

What temps are you getting from speedfan? I have laptops that get hot underneath (burn leg, hot), but they have a core temp of only ~50-55 under load. (Thats good). If you're temps are below 70 (70 being critical for a laptop), you're OK.

Rollerr

The temps are well below the 70 mark you indicate. Highest I've seen it go when the processes are intensive is around 62 max.

Here's a piccie of my speed fan readings. Everything good to go, i hope.

laboye

Those are excellent readings. You haven't a thing to worry about. Try working the processor, though. The simplest way I can think of is ripping a CD. Download Prime95 from here:

http://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v2414.exe

Run the stress test and monitor the temps. This will really work the processor, so prepare for slowdowns and temp rises. Report the temps again when the CPU is under load.

Rollerr

Here you go. I got a bit distracted with reading all that stuff about the prime number search. Another free CPU utilisation program. Always great to help out.

Back to work!!

Here's the screengrab of the temps in speed fan, with CPU working at 100% about 15 minutes into the stress test by P95. The temps have gone up with the 'concern-causing' flames next to the temps!!

laboye

Heh, those are good temps in our case. I've seen far worse (88 under load). You're 'good to go'.

Rollerr

The first few responses on this thread made me feel a little better that there was nothing wrong with my laptop, battery, HDD or CPU. Now with your help on the temps, I am a happy bunny.

I'm good and I'm going!

Thanks for you help.

laboye

No Problem. I'll say we can close this thread.