PowerBook Problems Thread.

[MrPilot]

Definitely needs fresh paste. I highly recommend Arctic Silver Ceramique 2. It is available in two-tube packs at RadioShack and is thicker than many pastes making it easier to apply in my opinion. It is very effective and took my PowerBook from 140 F at idle to 110 F. Remember to only use a plastic spudger or old credit card to strip the old paste off the heatsink. Also, never replace a pad with paste or you will suffer problems.

Thanks bud, though radioshack is thousands of miles from here I do have arctic silver, but not ceramique 2.. it's I guess slightly less effective, still good though. Argh the 12" seems tougher to take apart than the 15". I guess that's what I need to do. I will also remove the fans and spray with special grease and blow out any dust.

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Still 80c is quite high. Maybe use a lower quality video.

No no I will use 720p regardless

Btw, nice TiBook!

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I would re-apply thermal paste. It sounds like your PB thinks it's a G5 LCS!

LOL yes, it seems so

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I might also recommend taking Q-tips and dipping them into 70% isopropyl alcohol and cleaning the CPU die off with it. It will remove a lot if not all of the residue AFTER the bulk of it has been cleaned off with an old credit card. This worked great for me with my PBs old dried paste.

Yeah, I have that alcohol solution and was gonna do just that. I didn't know about the credit card, nice one buddy!

 

[eyoungren]

I have done repasting exactly three times now, so I'm open to suggestions. But, I'm going to put my process out there and if it helps anyone - great.

There are a few other more expensive and better pastes than Arctic Silver, but AS tends to be recommended most I think because it's right in the ballpark of performance and price. So, originally, I bought a clean kit and paste from Amazon.

The clean kit is Arctic Silver's cleaner and follow up. I put a few drops of the #1 bottle in the areas I am working in and let sit for a minimum of 30 seconds. As, previously stated, I use coffee filters for cleaning. It's my understanding that you want to clean with lint-free cloth. In the absence of a lint free cloth (paper towels, napkins and your standard washcloth or dish towel are NOT lint-free), coffee filters were suggested. So, I use that.

Repeat this process until everything is cleaned. Then take the #2 bottle and place a drop or two on the surface again for a minimum of 30 seconds. Then wipe off. The #2 solution will make the everything look pretty and locks in the cleaning.

Then, apply a liberal amount (enough to coat the chip entirely without running over when the heatsink compresses against it) of paste. I used Arctic Silver 5. Ceramique seems to be suggested a lot here too, but my understanding is that is a less expensive and somewhat less effective paste then AS5. That may not be true, I don't know, but everything I read seemed to suggest that which is why I ultimately went with AS5. No offense Altemose.

That's pretty much it.

 

[MrPilot]

I have done repasting exactly three times now, so I'm open to suggestions. But, I'm going to put my process out there and if it helps anyone - great.

There are a few other more expensive and better pastes than Arctic Silver, but AS tends to be recommended most I think because it's right in the ballpark of performance and price. So, originally, I bought a clean kit and paste from Amazon.

The clean kit is Arctic Silver's cleaner and follow up. I put a few drops of the #1 bottle in the areas I am working in and let sit for a minimum of 30 seconds. As, previously stated, I use coffee filters for cleaning. It's my understanding that you want to clean with lint-free cloth. In the absence of a lint free cloth (paper towels, napkins and your standard washcloth or dish towel are NOT lint-free), coffee filters were suggested. So, I use that.

Repeat this process until everything is cleaned. Then take the #2 bottle and place a drop or two on the surface again for a minimum of 30 seconds. Then wipe off. The #2 solution will make the everything look pretty and locks in the cleaning.

Then, apply a liberal amount (enough to coat the chip entirely without running over when the heatsink compresses against it) of paste. I used Arctic Silver 5. Ceramique seems to be suggested a lot here too, but my understanding is that is a less expensive and somewhat less effective paste then AS5. That may not be true, I don't know, but everything I read seemed to suggest that which is why I ultimately went with AS5. No offense Altemose.

That's pretty much it.

Great tutorial!
One question, is lint-free the same as the fiber-free cloths that you would use on a glass screen to clean it?

 

[weckart]

Great tutorial!
One question, is lint-free the same as the fiber-free cloths that you would use on a glass screen to clean it?

The disposable alcohol soaked paper ones, certainly. Not so certain about the nylon microfibre variety.

With regard to 70% isopropyl /rubbing alcohol, I read constantly on various guides that this should not be used near electronic components as it still contains 30% water. The guides insist on 99% IPA. Might be overkill, I dunno.

 

[eyoungren]

Great tutorial!
One question, is lint-free the same as the fiber-free cloths that you would use on a glass screen to clean it?

I believe so. However, if you've never done this before, you're going to find that anything you use to clean will be pretty dirty after the first cleaning. I didn't use any of these kinds of cloth (although I have a few) simply because I didn't have one specifically for this. Once I saw how dirty the coffee filters became I was glad I didn't go and buy one though. It was easier for me just to use the filters.

But whatever works best for you. You won't know until you've done it once or so.

P.S. I didn't know the credit card trick until now, so I just used the cleaning solutions to soften all that crap up and then cleaned it up with the filters. Using that trick may lessen some of the cleanup considerably.

 

[Altemose]

I have done repasting exactly three times now, so I'm open to suggestions. But, I'm going to put my process out there and if it helps anyone - great.

There are a few other more expensive and better pastes than Arctic Silver, but AS tends to be recommended most I think because it's right in the ballpark of performance and price. So, originally, I bought a clean kit and paste from Amazon.

The clean kit is Arctic Silver's cleaner and follow up. I put a few drops of the #1 bottle in the areas I am working in and let sit for a minimum of 30 seconds. As, previously stated, I use coffee filters for cleaning. It's my understanding that you want to clean with lint-free cloth. In the absence of a lint free cloth (paper towels, napkins and your standard washcloth or dish towel are NOT lint-free), coffee filters were suggested. So, I use that.

Repeat this process until everything is cleaned. Then take the #2 bottle and place a drop or two on the surface again for a minimum of 30 seconds. Then wipe off. The #2 solution will make the everything look pretty and locks in the cleaning.

Then, apply a liberal amount (enough to coat the chip entirely without running over when the heatsink compresses against it) of paste. I used Arctic Silver 5. Ceramique seems to be suggested a lot here too, but my understanding is that is a less expensive and somewhat less effective paste then AS5. That may not be true, I don't know, but everything I read seemed to suggest that which is why I ultimately went with AS5. No offense Altemose.

That's pretty much it.

It is within 1-3 degrees of effectiveness between Ceramique 2 and Silver 5. That's pretty good for a more affordable paste! I like it since it is thicker and spreads nicer than 5.

 

[eyoungren]

It is within 1-3 degrees of effectiveness between Ceramique 2 and Silver 5. That's pretty good for a more affordable paste! I like it since it is thicker and spreads nicer than 5.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it's no good or anything, just that AS5 seems to be a bit better is all.

You're right though, in that performance to price wise it's pretty good. My local electronics store used to have it and AS5, but of course when I needed it a month or so ago they only had other brands! I would have bought the Ceramique because the last time I was there they had lots of it!

 

[Altemose]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it's no good or anything, just that AS5 seems to be a bit better is all.

You're right though, in that performance to price wise it's pretty good. My local electronics store used to have it and AS5, but of course when I needed it a month or so ago they only had other brands! I would have bought the Ceramique because the last time I was there they had lots of it!

I think the only thing OP needs to know is that he or she needs a quality paste and not some cheap stuff ordered off eBay.