~Toughbooktalk~

My Cf-30 MK 1 is six years old now, still giving great service on our sailboat and I with a little help from this forum, have upgraded it to Windows 7, 4 GB of ram and most recently, a 500 GB SSD. The later was one of the best returns on $ by the way.

One problem - playing videos. I have a VGA link to the boat's TV as we like to watch Netflix , etc. Yes I know that building an entertainment device was not high on the minds of the engineers in Japan but would be a nice to have feature. Also the new navigation software I am running is pretty demanding on video and the PC has frozen here as well.

Symptom of the problem is that after about 10 minutes playing any video, the CF-30 freezes and needs to be rebooted. While CPU utilization is high (>80%), I have a temperature software app running and the core temp seldom goes over 80 deg C.

Anyone else see this behavior?

It's probably time to replace the pads inside the machine.

Also something else to look into would be since this is a fanless machine is it in a location that can get good cooling from the outside air?

Namoan wrote:My Cf-30 MK 1 is six years old now, still giving great service on our sailboat and I with a little help from this forum, have upgraded it to Windows 7, 4 GB of ram and most recently, a 500 GB SSD. The later was one of the best returns on $ by the way.

One problem - playing videos. I have a VGA link to the boat's TV as we like to watch Netflix , etc. Yes I know that building an entertainment device was not high on the minds of the engineers in Japan but would be a nice to have feature. Also the new navigation software I am running is pretty demanding on video and the PC has frozen here as well.

Symptom of the problem is that after about 10 minutes playing any video, the CF-30 freezes and needs to be rebooted. While CPU utilization is high (>80%), I have a temperature software app running and the core temp seldom goes over 80 deg C.

Anyone else see this behavior?

When you say frozen do you mean the video just stops? Does the audio keep going? I ask because I'm going to guess you don't have enough GPU for the task and maybe CPU also. How long have you let it sit to see if it would take off again?

I watched Netflix on my CF-30 with no issues. I think ADOR pegged this one... Which is the same thing I was thinking. You have thermal pads that go in between the CPU and the block of aluminum that goes from there to heat pipes spread out on the bottom of the laptop. The pads can dry out and shrink... When that happens things overheat. You can open the bottom plate and take a look. Sometimes they are still pliable and you can kind of scrunch them back with your fingernail to fatten them up.. >And or adding a little silver/ceramic paste (just a little) to help embed it.

The best thing to do would be to buy new pads if you find they are needed. But the above mentioned fix would work until you get them in.

In response to safn1949, the machine is definitely hung - video, audio (usually unpleasant tone) and all other apps. Needs to be shut down from the power switch. I think it is certainly overheating rather than software of bottle-necking as it can go for up to half an hour of video play if it is sitting on a cooling tray. Surprised the temperature monitor doesn't show a higher reading but perhaps it is the graphic chip that fails and its temp not known.

I will follow the suggestions and have a look at the thermal pads. Good to know that it is at least possible to watch video with this machine. We also have a CF-F9 that works fine but is usually not on the boat.

Thank you for your comments.

What are the specs for the thermal pads for a CF-30? I see some threads on the CF-29 that call for 1.5 mm thick pads. Frozen CPU has these:

Fujipoly / ModRight Ultra Extreme System Builder Thermal Pad Blister Pack - 60 x 50 x 1.5 - Thermal Conductivity 17.0 W/mK

Would that be enough?

The best one they offer if you are offshore. 1.5mm and as long as you are in there a bit of .5mm.

I have never done paste as it is a crutch. Many moons ago I read where paste was counter-productive when used with bad pads. (maybe any pads)

IOW squishing the old pads is better than adding inappropriate material. It was a scientifical paper I read ....wish I could find it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bottom line:
Get a couple of square inches of fujipoly and the results should astound you. Mmmmm I buy it by the quarter sheet. (multiple units here)

Your pad replacement should last for years. It's a toughbook.

I don't do mm but two 3/4 inch square pieces will do you. Tighten the screws along the heat ex-changer tubes. (they are usually tight)

Good luck.

Jeff

Works better but still crashes - CF-30 will now run about 50 minutes of video instead of the 10 before.

I purchased new thermal pad material from FrozenCPU plus the solvent used to clean and prep the surfaces. Ended up putting two layers of the 1.5 mm pad material on the CPU heat sink to get good connection. The pads material is "fujipoloy" with a conductivity rating of 17 w/mK. This the highest performance version of this thermal pad which also comes in 11 and 6 w/mK variants. It looks similar to the material of the original thermal pad. I also replaced the thermal pads at each end of the thermal rods where they connect to the back cover. They did look a little dried out although the CPU pad looked OK.

Unfortunately with the CF-30, there is no separate heat sink for the GPU and perhaps that is the problem (picture of back cover follows) when processing video. The CPU temperature was only 69 degrees C when it crashed.

Unless anyone can suggest another tweak, I will probably live with this improvement which is significant. Now my navigation software probably won't overheat the Toughbook and I can stay off the rocks. I will just use my iPad with the TV.

Since your problem is on the video card. Try also replacing the thermal pad of the GPU but it require a total pull out of the motherboard from the case as it is located beneath near the RAM area if I am not mistaken. Or you may try to retighten the screws near to its place(motherboard).

teo

Thanks Teo, Have downloaded the CF-30 service manual and am thinking about it. I'm sure you are right about this being the cause of the overheating but it is a little more dis-assembly than I was prepared for. There is a YouTube video describing replacing both (CPU & GPU) thermal pads on a CF-29 and they appear to be accessible simply by removing the back cover, not so on the CF-30 unfortunately.