fan turns on even when laptop powered off, and sudden shutdowns

tamarinera

Estimable
Feb 4, 2015
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4,510
Lenovo U150, 5 yrs old, Intel Dual Core, new Toshiba 1TB hard drive, 4 GB RAM. Sorry in advance if I'm too wordy - trying to include all info.

After some pretty hard traveling (laptop bag being leaned on, maybe a touch damp even), I found my battery totally totally drained. I hadn't left the laptop on sleep. Laptop shut down suddenly while trying to start up...I didn't realize that battery was dead, tried a couple more times then waited til back in the city. That's when I found out battery at 0%.

After recharging battery, cleaning fan and spraying contact cleaner, laptop has sudden shutdowns still at random times. When reboot, I get "Windows did not shut down correctly" screen.

SpeedFan shows ACPI warmest at 54C, core temps and HD temps okay, all around 40C. I thought it was better if I put an ice pack underneath, but not really because it will sometimes shutdown even during first boot of the day. On battery only, cord only, or both, it will happen. Virus scans hard to complete b/c of shutdowns, but one done at least 90% was negative.

Also, during assessments, wifi adapter broke: someone recommended I disconnect in case of virus, so I used the side switch (instead of the F key). When I switched it back on, it wasn't recognized anymore by Windows. Ubuntu didn't see it either, so clearly a hardware issue. Although the little ((( [] ))) icon does show on the screen when I turn it on. I'm using a USB wifi now.

Now I see that the fan actually starts up even after the laptop shuts itself off. So I turned it on and shut down using start button...and still the fan lit up with it powered down. (I did change startup programs options yesterday to streamline boot up, and so power management options may be different now: but if computer is not powered on, why would that affect it?)

So I'm thinking maybe the fan came on during all that traveling and drained the battery...but why would it do that? And why is it coming on now even when the computer is not powered on? Can the machine get hot even if it's not working? With the thing totally opened up, no battery, the cord plugged in...it feels like the motherboard may be a touch warm when the fan spins. (Again, the laptop is not turned on). But only a bit warm: when it's on, it feels hotter. SpeedFan doesn't seem to have a motherboard temperature.

Is my motherboard failing? Could this be the smaller card on the right-hand side, the one that holds the wifi and also the power cord inlet? The USBs between those two things seem to be working fine. But if the machine got wet, it likely was just on one end, so could have been that side. I can replace that card for just $18.

I guess I could get a cooling pad, but if it's getting hot even when turned off...?? I read something about thermal paste failing, but I can't see where that would be. I'd hate to have to take my battery out whenever I'm not using the machine...better to understand what's actually happening, right?

Thanks tons for any help: I'm trying to get through the next few months until I get back home, and can buy a new laptop. Don't want to buy one where I am now. Thanks!!

 

Possibly. The CPU or the RAM could cause this sort of issue also. The least likely culprit is the storage drive, but if there's a problem with the connection, a short may result in a sudden power cut/shut down. You mentioned the bag being damp; it's unlikely any liquid got into the laptop, but if any did, liquid damage can definitely cause this kind of behavior when it gets to the circuit board.