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You’ve heard that there’s “no smoke without a fire,” which is generally true, but there can be a lot of heat without a fire.

Microwave ovens make heat without any kind of flame.

So do a lot of the components of your computer systems

Any system that creates a lot of heat by its normal operation needs to be continually cooled or you have troubles ranging from reductions in performance to a complete failure. Think about your car — it makes a lot of heat burning all that fuel, and your car uses a system of fans, coolant, water, and outside air to regulate itself to keep functioning without anything going wrong or worse.

Your computers generate more heat than you think.

A typical desktop can generate 175 watts from normal operations!

As long as the system is being cooled this is ok, but when it is not, you can have serious problems.

How Your Computer Cools Itself

Your computer uses a combination of two basic methods of keeping cool.

One is a fan (or multiple fans). The fan works to either expel hot air from the case of the machine, or bring cool air in, or both.

The second is what are called “heat sinks,” small metal structures designed to keep heat generated in one area from reaching a more sensitive adjoining area and doing damage.

If you have ever used a soldering iron, you may have used a heat sink to keep a thin wire from melting — since the wire could handle much less heat than the circuit to which the wire might be connected.

Heat sinks generally don’t fail, though in theory they work something like a circuit breaker though when they “break” rather the circuit being stopped, the heat will flow to where it shouldn’t go and you’ll have the “meltdown” the sink was designed to avoid.

This is a comparatively rare problem, and would most likely be caused by the heat sink being asked to take a bigger load than it was designed for, which is probably a fan-related problem to begin with!

A much more common problem is fans being rendered ineffective.

There are several ways to keep computer fans in top running condition. Keeping your fans working well

· Do not allow anything to block the venting holes or slots in your computer cases. Locate them and keep them where they can “blow freely.”
· Do not keep computers in dusty environments. You may have heard that dust can hurt machines, and one of the most efficient ways is by slowing the effectiveness of fans, either by blocking intake or output ventilation, by coating the blades, or by coating the components themselves. Dust acts like an insulator, so a layer of dust on hot switches will make them even hotter.

Replace any fan that clicks, hesitates, or does not come on or run as smoothly “as it used to.”

Today computer cooling fans literally cost only a couple of dollars, and not doing so could cost you your much more expensive machine, or even your priceless data.

Are there different types of fans?

Yes, actually, like any “industrial” part it gets pretty complicated. Fans are classified and rated by physical size, the kind of bearings it has, speed, propeller design, and ‘CFM’ or the cubic feet per minute it is rated to move/cool.

For most purposes, if you have a fan that breaks, just replace it with the same size, model, and ratings.

Help! My Laptop Has the Hots for Me!

A lot of people ask me if a warm laptop is something to worry about.

Almost always, no (other than if it annoys your thighs if you are the rare person who actually uses a laptop on their lap).

The nature of many laptop batteries and their charging systems creates noticeable, but harmless heat — you may find this to be true of your cell phone or MP3 player also. If you’re concerned, do some research on your particular computer.

There have been some cases of dangerously overheating laptop batteries, but it’s rare.

Desktop machines, with all their additional components and much large power supplies, tend to be where the troublesome heat arises.

Keep the fans working!

Even with limited risk of fire and fully functioning fans, you can still create an environment in which more heat than is healthy for your PC can be generated.

Some Like It Hot!

But your computers do not.

Exercise an extra level of common sense here:

· Keep computers away from any external heat sources. These include heating equipment like radiators, heating registers and space heaters — but also less obvious ones like TVs, microwaves, some refrigerators, large stereo components, musical instrument amplifiers and the like.
· Keep computers out of direct sunlight! Think about what a couple of hours in the summer sun does to your car seats. Ouch — exactly.
· If possible keep your PC in an air-conditioned environment. Some companies get a little crazy with this (you could hang sides of beef in some of the computer server rooms I have seen) but a normal home or office air conditioning system is plenty.
· Keep some dusting spray around and use it. Falcon’s Dust-Off or any equivalent will do. For about 7 bucks this is a good investment. It has use beyond avoiding heat build up, too, as we’ll discuss later.
· Make sure your computer’s vents — and for laptops also the keyboard area — can “breath”.

Man, it’s getting hot in here.

If your business is so “hot” your fans might need some help with their job, liquid cooling systems and other products are more available, and more affordable then ever.

And just when you thought it was safe keep on working with all those fans spinning happily, here comes a thunderstorm to poop on your parade.