Scorched Lap

July 11th, 2006

If you actual work with a laptop computer on your lap, there is no doubt you have felt the heat it produces. More and more powerful electronics packed into smaller cases seems to generate more heat–and some serious safety issues.

I have owned Dell, Toshiba, and IBM laptops, and all can get very hot to the touch. The internal fans are supposed to keep them cool enough, but depending upon the surface you have them resting, it might not be enough.

I am still amazed that what you are doing with your computer can cause it to run hotter. I consider myself an experienced technologist, but I never really thought of a computer as a mechanical device that “works harder” on certain processes than others. I accept that a car carrying more weight up hill would work hard and hotter, but a computer is just pushing 1’s and 0’s around as electrons. Doesn’t it always work with the same amount of effort? Apparently not.

The fans in many laptops seem to be thermostatically controlled. When the computer gets hotter, the fan either turns on or runs faster. One of the laptops I used to have one that would actually shut down if it got too hot. I had only a few seconds to respond–the fan would start revving really fast, and I would need to pick the laptop up and wave it in the air a bit to cool it off enough to stay on. It reminded me of a Dilbert comic where the boss is given an Etch-a-Sketch as a laptop and his is told to shake it over his head to reboot. My current laptop doesn’t shut down, but I do hear the fan kick on faster when working on complex graphics or sophisticated games.

There have been many publicized cases of laptops starting on fire either do to extreme temperatures on flammable surfaces, or defective batteries and other components. So now I am very careful not to leave my laptop on and unattended, unless I know it is properly ventilated. I also where asbestos underwear.

Entry Filed under: Technology

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