Opening the bonnet

[rumpus]

My 2012 hp all in one is running very hot. 85 degrees c.
I called three repair shops and telling them the thermal paste needs to be replaced,
one wanted to sell me a new computer, another asked me what the thermal paste was for,
and the third stated they don't do that kind of work.

I cleaned the vents and the fan but ,,no joy.

Funny that hp secures the back cover with #2 phillips screws. but inside they are all tamper proof screws
Is there anything I need to know before I start this adventure?
(I do have a back-up computer0 and all my stuff is backed up to it. r

[Pierre]

that thermal paste isn't very expensive
& should be available from an electronics hobbyist type shop.


do take lots of photo's of the way the various components are laid out.
- you shouldn't have to go too far . . just to get to that fan area
in order to clean that area & to get to the CPU, in order to re-seat it .. with that paste, of course.

[Portreve]

In addition to what Pierre said, I'd like to add a thought.

By no means am I suggesting your idea about thermal paste is a bad or irrelevant one. In fact, it may well be 100% of the problem. However, a lot of these pre-made, non-high-end systems often do not have the best cooling solution. I'd like to suggest you search for a better CPU cooler and consider replacing your present one in addition to cleaning and redoing the thermal paste.

Here are some examples of units you might consider, though this is certainly not an absolutely comprehensive list.

[SMG]

My 2012 hp all in one

HP has a Youtube support chanel HP Support.

Within our channel you’ll find over 20,000 videos designed to help you find solutions to everyday tech issues.
We have a variety of content including longer videos, YouTube Shorts, and videos translated in many languages.
Use the channel search option, not to be confused with the YouTube search bar to easily locate your desired content.

Maybe you can find info on your model there. If not, maybe someone else has information on your model available.

[Portreve]

My 2012 hp all in one

Oh crap. I totally missed that part. Never mind my previous comments, rumpus.

[RollyShed]

I cleaned the vents and the fan but ,,no joy.

I had a laptop a few weeks ago, just about burn a finger on its underside. I used our compressed air blower to clean it out and now it is just possible to tell that it is running as it is so cool.

So the question is, how did you clean it?

[axrusar]

You haven't posted any information about the model number of your HP all in one.
If you are handy taking apart stuff and putting it together, you should be fine.
Search online and YouTube of course, search for your all in one service manual, there might be a PDF with the instructions to remove every part of it. Although it should not be too difficult to take pictures during the process and use them to put it back together.
The CPU cooling element will probably resemble a laptop's one, and have 4 metallic legs holding it in place. When you remove it to scrap off the rock solid old thermal paste stuck on it, you can bend the legs a bit so when you replace it, there will be more pressure against the CPU.
Use a good quality silver thermal paste, and do not go bananas oozing it, just a little drop with do. You can spread it on an even very thin layer with a little piece of cling wrap in your index finger.
Make sure the fan moves freely or get a new one.

[Portreve]

It's always interesting to walk into a Best Buy (sorry, that's the only computer and electronics retailer left in my neck of the woods) and see the various different systems HP has produced. Well, not just them, but still they do put out an interesting range. That all said, they're really horrible (like many others) about using non-standard components which cannot be replaced except through themselves.

This is yet another reason i want to build my own system, because I prefer using industry standard parts which I can replace at any time and for a fraction of the cost.

[Hoser Rob]

... Search online and YouTube of course, search for your all in one service manual, there might be a PDF with the instructions to remove every part of it. ....

Good stuff. HP is pretty good about such things. Also, make damn sure you know how to ground yourself before poking arund the innards, it's too easy to brick hardware permanently if you don't.

[rumpus]

A big thank you to all for the helpful hints. When I first cleaned out the computer
i used a can of compressed air and a small brush. It turned out, in my case, to be
a mistake. All I did was blow ll of the dirt into the heatsink and clog up the fins.
I found that after removing the heat sink from the cpu.

Everything is cleaned now and I am waiting for a slow poke friend to deliver the thermal paste.
While I wait for him I am removing the hard drive and ram and reinstalling same.
If the computer works after this I may update it with an ssd and more ram.

One would think that at 86 years I would keep my hands out of stuff
Time for a Jack and coke.......r

















i used a can of compressed air and a brush

[rumpus]

Computer is back up and running. Temp at idle is 41 degrees c.
With google running a Bob Ross video and Linux mint forum running on Firefox
the temp is 61 degrees c.
I guess it's fixed.

I ordered 8 gigs of ram to update , but decided to forget the ssd. I don't think the rest of the computer is up to it
Thanks again for the hints....r

[Petermint]

86 years

That is an old HP.

SSD upgrades are well worth it even on old machines. Most of Linux activity is reads. Lots of small reads. Old machines lack the memory for giant file caches. SSDs remove the wait for head seeks. Well worth it as cheap SSDs from reputable brands can max out SATA with no wait.

[AndyMH]

As said swapping out an HDD for an SSD is the one upgrade that will result in a significant improvement in performance. And they are cheap now. Get an SSD same size or larger than the HDD then you can clone it. Get one smaller is a bit more fiddly.