How to prevent gadgets from overheating

Filipinos have been dealing with searing heat these past few weeks, which is expected to continue until the middle of May.

Heat indexes that rise to dangerous levels may cause heat cramps and exhaustion, as well as heat stroke, for individuals exposed to continuous heat, the state weather bureau PAGASA said.

How about gadgets?

High temperatures can harm gadgets just as much as they can endanger a person's health.

Devices can withstand heat up to a maximum of 95°F, or 35°C, according to Ramil Olave, a senior technician at a service center of ASUS, a Taiwanese computer hardware and electronics company.

“[Mararamdaman] mo 'yan 'pag nahawakan mo 'yung laptop mo. Mainit talaga 'yan sobra. Kumbaga sa normal na gamit mo, malalaman mo kung mainit talaga,” he told GMA News Online.

([You would feel] it if you touched your laptop. It would be very hot. In normal use, you’d know how hot it really is.)

Your device might also experience slowdowns as it approaches the maximum temperature it can withstand.

Frequent shutdowns can also result in a fried motherboard, in which case you would need to take your device to a service center right away for repair.

“Kadalasang nainit diyan CPU (central processing unit) at GPU (graphics processing unit), kahit sa mobile phones. Sa overheating, motherboard talaga [ang naapektuhan]. Sa service center talaga yung palit noon. Kadalasan niyan nasa mga 80% ng pagkabili mo ng laptop [ang presyo ng repair],” Olave said.

(What usually heats up is the laptop's CPU and GPU, even in mobile phones. Overheating [really affects] the motherboard. You would really have to replace that at the service center. Usually, [the price of the repair] is 80% of the price of your laptop.)

Nevertheless, Olave said that devices like laptops have safety features to prevent damage.

“Kapag umabot naman 'yan sa [95°F], nagau-automatic shutdown naman 'yan. Mas maganda 'pag umabot ng ganoon, huwag mo muna gamitin,” he said.

(When the temperature of the laptop reaches [95°F], it automatically shuts down. It would be better to avoid using it when it reaches that point. )

He said that a one-hour break after it shuts down due to overheating would also help.

Meanwhile, Olave advised gadget owners to limit the use of devices to three or four hours each day to avoid overheating, especially during this dry season.

He said it would be better to use the devices in air-conditioned rooms or near a fan to promote airflow.

“Basta hindi siya kulob, di siya nakukulong na init. Mas maganda [kung merong nakatapat na electric fan] tapos elevate 'yung laptop, hindi flat talaga sa mesa,” he said.

(As long as it’s not a closed space that traps heat. It would be better [if you placed it in front of a fan] and if your laptop is in an elevated position, not on the table.)

And don't forget proper maintenance, too.

“[For laptops], every six months, mas maganda kung napapalinis [at] napapalitan 'yung thermal paste. Mas maganda, may proper maintenance 'yan,” Olave said.

(For laptops, it's better to have them cleaned and the thermal paste replaced every six months. It's better to have proper maintenance.) — VBL, GMA Integrated News