The fan spins up the moment you open a browser, the underside is hot, video and games stutter after ten minutes, and now and then it shuts down on its own.
It is the most common problem we see, and the one where most money is wasted if nobody looks first.
Free diagnostics, with measured temperatures rather than impressions.
Start with what nobody says. The «redo the paste every year or two» advice you find everywhere has no primary source: no PC maker, and not Intel, publishes an interval. Every official instruction is tied to an event, not to the calendar.
The event is: the heatsink came off. Intel: «a good guideline is to replace the TIM if you reinstall the processor or fan-heatsink» and «always replace the TIM. Never add new TIM on top of used TIM». HP is blunter: the thermal material «must be thoroughly cleaned from the surfaces of the heat sink and the system board components each time the heat sink is removed» — and replacement material is already included in the heatsink, processor and board spare kits.
So why do we still recommend servicing? Because of the other thing: dust. A clogged fin stack stops dissipating no matter how good the paste is. Our recommendation is every 18–24 months, and it is ours — we do not attribute it to any manufacturer, because none publishes one.
Thermal pads are a separate matter. Solid interfaces covering the gaps paste cannot bridge. Lenovo lists them as customer-replaceable parts, separate from the fan assembly. A pad compressed once does not recover its thickness, and the thickness has to be right: too thin does not touch, too thick lifts the heatsink.
| Fin stack condition | how clogged it is: seen on opening, not estimated |
|---|---|
| Fan | cleaned or replaced, depending on bearing and noise |
| Thermal paste | always redone when the heatsink comes off, per the maker |
| Thermal pads | replaced once compressed, at the original thickness |
| Included material | heatsink kits already include the thermal material |
| Recommended cadence | 18–24 months: our workshop's recommendation, not the maker's |
The factors that actually move the cost of this job. They are not our rules: they depend on how the manufacturer supplies the part, and they are checked at the diagnosis stage before anything is ordered.
ElectrONIK Lab is an independent workshop: it is not an authorised service centre and is not affiliated with the manufacturers. The trademarks named here belong to their respective owners and are used only to identify the devices we work on. Your statutory consumer rights towards whoever carries out the repair are unaffected.
Free diagnostics, a clear quote and the part chosen by you.