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I tried putting my laptop on a bag of frozen peas and here's what happened | DIY Laptop Cooling - HW Forums

I tried putting my laptop on a bag of frozen peas and here's what happened

So my old Dell was hitting 95C while I was just browsing Reddit, so I grabbed a family size bag of frozen mixed vegetables from the freezer, wrapped it in a dish towel, and sat the laptop right on top. It dropped temps to around 65C for about 20 minutes, then I started hearing sizzling and noticed a puddle forming on my desk from the condensation. The towel got soaked and water was dripping onto the intake vents on the bottom. I unplugged everything fast and let it dry out overnight, luckily nothing fried. On one hand, the cooling was incredible while it lasted, better than any stand I've tried. On the other hand, it's pretty clear you're risking water damage and a wet mess if you go this route. Has anyone figured out a way to make something like this work long term without water dripping everywhere?

2 comments

2 Comments

wrenstone2mo ago

Why not try sealing the bag first before wrapping it? Double bag it in a ziplock and squeeze the air out so there's less pressure to leak. I did something similar with a bag of ice packs made for lunch boxes and they worked way better since theyre sturdier and don't drip as much when they thaw. The condensation is still a problem though, you have to wrap it tight in something absorbent and change it out every hour or so. Did you check if your laptop's intake vents are on the bottom or the side? That makes a big difference for where the wet towel sits.

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karenw902mo ago

wrenstone's got the right idea with double bagging, I just use a freezer bag instead of a regular ziplock since they're thicker. The absorbent wrap trick works but you kind of have to baby sit it the whole time, which defeats the purpose of a cooling pad. At that point you might as well just take breaks every 20 minutes and let the laptop cool off on its own.