I have a Inspiron 8600 that will only power up when I put it some where cold. When it does power up everything appears to work normal but it only runs for 5-10 minutes then shuts off. It does this on or off the power cord, with or with out the battery in. I have tried swapping out the memory with no luck. So any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
check the fans..
yep check all things thermal first (fans, vents etc) clean out all dust from the system, I find a little WD40 sprayed into the bearings of the fans helps give it a new lease of life.
Once it is all clean, boot it up again. If it still shuts down, remove the CPU heatsink, clean off old thermal paste, re-apply new thermal paste (a better quality one which has a higher % of silver in it) put back heatsink on CPU and boot up.
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Well, it might be that the power supply is failing. Another thing I have seen in cases like this is the motherboard has a hairline fracture(s) in it somewhere from screws being overly tightened or heat buildup or a slightly warped chassis that it is screwed to. When it is cold, the material making up the motherboard is contracted and the thing works. Once warmed up, it expands and breaks continuity between the copper paths. try hooking up a new power supply if you have one, to eliminate that as the culprit. If it still does the same thing it is likely the motherboard.
Thanks for the input. I'll post back the results.
Well, it might be that the power supply is failing. Another thing I have seen in cases like this is the motherboard has a hairline fracture(s) in it somewhere from screws being overly tightened or heat buildup or a slightly warped chassis that it is screwed to. When it is cold, the material making up the motherboard is contracted and the thing works. Once warmed up, it expands and breaks continuity between the copper paths. try hooking up a new power supply if you have one, to eliminate that as the culprit. If it still does the same thing it is likely the motherboard.
It's doubtful that it is the power supply as he said it does it with or without the power supply in, i.e running off batteries.
Yep it could well be heat stress to the board, if the fans/fins are clogged and through prolonged use the board has been subjected to high temperatures then it can cause stressing of the solder joints.
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I went to Radio Shack and purchased some silicone thermal paste. The computer will now boot up everytime but still locks up after about 15 minutes. I did find that once it locks up by pressing cetain areas on the case it starts to work again but stops once I quit appling pressure. This leads me to believe there may be a small crack in the mother board. I may try a silver based thermal paste to see if that helps. Thanks everyone for their input.
In that case it is almost certainly going to be a heat or physically stressed motherboard. Before replacing it, you should get a level and check the surface it will be screwed to to make certain it is not warped. If it is good, put the new motherboard in but make sure the screws aren't being put on to tightly, this is not an engine you are working on.. they just need to be slightly snug ;)
I also have an 8600 and when plugged into power cord it comes on for about 5 seconds or so then goes out. I am not a computer guru so any help will be appreciated.
Thanks
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