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REALLY hot CPU!

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Vin - Mar 29, 2010 at 11:51 PM
 mikey - Apr 25, 2010 at 12:06 PM
I have a Dell Inspiron 1526 that won't boot because the CPU gets very hot in only a few seconds. I was getting a CPU failure code (blinking num lock LED) so I changed the CPU. Same problem.

In desperation, I changed the motherboard. Unbelievable, but the same problem! I tried to do a diagnostic start up and it shut down in about 40 seconds. When I went to swap the CPU, the heat sink was so hot that I couldn't touch it. I let things cool off and restarted with the unit on its side. Testing the heat sink with my finger, it became too hot to touch in only about 15 seconds, and shut down in about 30 seconds. The first thing you're going to suggest is that I didn't tighten the CPU ZIF socket screw. I checked twice, and it was tight. There's thermal paste on the CPU and the fan is plugged in. There's no dust on the cooler assembly.


Any ideas would be appreciated. After all this time and money, I really want to find out what's wrong. New motherboard and new CPU should fix just about anything that's wrong with a laptop, except this one.

Further info: Running from battery or AC adapter makes no difference. Original problem was that the unit was dropped and the display broke off the unit, but it still worked in 2 pieces (connected only by the video cable). I replaced the hinges and display bezel to fix the display. Is there something in the display that could be causing this?

Any ideas would be appreciated. I'm stumped. Thank you.

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3 responses

Answer 1 / 3
mikey
Apr 25, 2010 at 12:04 PM
i had the same problem, changed the CMOS battery and problem solved. only bad thing about the inspiron 1526 models is you have to completly remove the motherboard from the system to replace the CMOS battery.
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Answer 2 / 3
closeup22 Posts 8922 Registration date Friday May 15, 2009 Status Member Last seen October 7, 2010 2,099
Mar 30, 2010 at 12:12 AM
Hi there,

Remove the paste present on it and add new one and try again,links below from Faq will be useful concerning overheating:

https://ccm.net/faq/2947-cpu-is-overheating
http://ccm.net/faq/4281-dell-inspiron-1525-overheating-and-shutting-down

Thanks
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Vin
Mar 30, 2010 at 04:44 PM
Thanks for the reply. Each time I changed the CPU, I used alcohol to remove the old paste and applied a thin coat of new paste to both the CPU surface and the surface of the heat sink. There is no build up of old paste as both surfaces start off clean and shiny before I put new paste on. Good try, thank you. Does anyone else have any ideas?

This afternoon I'm going to substitute a different LCD display/inverter board combo to see if this makes any difference. With a new mother board, new CPU and different display, I've essentially built a new laptop. What else can I do? This has to work! I'll post my results when I'm done.
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Vin
Mar 30, 2010 at 06:03 PM
Wow! In the total of about 90 seconds that the unit was on since I changed the CPU and motherboard, I think I fried one or both of them! When the new CPU/motherboard were installed, I turned the unit on while holding down the Fn key. This starts the Dell in diagnostics mode to test the system. It went along fine for about 30-40 seconds and shut down. That's when I discovered the heat sink was red hot. I tested once more to confirm the heating but this time turned it off before it got too hot to prevent any damage. Maybe I was not fast enough. When I changed the LCD/inverter combo to test it out, all I got was the original problem: blinking num lock LED indicating CPU not found. Back where I started but out the cost of a CPU and motherboard.

If anyone has seen this problem and can suggest a cure, I would really appreciate your input. Otherwise, it's time to put my money and effort into a new unit and get on with life. Man, this stinks!
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Answer 3 / 3
mikey
Apr 25, 2010 at 12:06 PM
little clairification. my inspiron would not boot, would not display video or anything. cdrom would spind and fans wold become active for a second then nothing but blinking lights. replaced the cmos battery and never had a problem again .
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