Battery and/or Power Funkiness

Hey all,

I've had my Sager 8790 for over 2 years now, and have just come across the first problem I've ever been able to not explain.

I leave my 8790 on and plugged in all the time, it sits happily on a coffee table, in a room where the ambient temperature is usually 75F. The temperatures vary between 35-45, depending on what it's doing.

Lately, while streaming internet radio or just jumping around the internet, I've noticed that the system makes a steady, beeping noise at a random point in time.

Right now, as I'm typing, the LED's across the bottom of the lid are green, green, and orange, which tells me that the battery is on AC power and that the battery is fully charged. (and that Wi-Fi is on)

When the 'beeping' starts, I notice that the green LED that signifies the CAPS LOCK and the Number Lock blinks along with the system. The beeping last for about one minute. Also, I've watched the AC adapter while the beeping happens; the brick's green LED stays lit, indicating to me that the AC adapter is working as normal.

One of two things happen when the beeping ends. My system will shut down completely, as if I held down the power button for 5 seconds, or the beeping will just plain stop, allowing me to do whatever it was that I was doing.

I haven't had a chance to look at the OEM manual that came with the 8790 due to my work schedule and the fact that I'm not living at home right now, so any insiht would be appreciated.

Also, right now, I'm thinking it's the battery... so I'm going to let the battery drain slowly while the computer is online.

I wanna watch Windows representation of the battery dying to see if the battery is slowly starting to go bye bye.

I have a 9-cell battery at home that I've never used. Parents bought it as a Xmas present. Should I switch to it when I get a chance and see if it beeps or what?

EDIT: I let the battery quickly die... something's screwy with the battery I think. I was watching the Windows Power Meter at about the 40% mark, then the screen dimmed, and I got the comic book text telling me to plug in or die. The power meter reported that the battery had 6 percent left on the battery.

Still confused in MD, USA...

You hit the nail on the head, it seems obviously this has happened before, if it just needs a good cleaning, then sounds like a plan to me.

I know to blow out the 3 fans on the bottom of the laptop, then wipe the screen since the dust seems to blow fram the fan area through the speaker holes onto the screen, and to remove the keyboard for dust cleaning. Is there any other places that I need to blow out? If you could link me to a photo walk-through, I'd appreciate it.

Also, would you recommend dropping in the 12-cell battery?

Hmmm, I'm a little nervous about taking a $2,200 piece of equipment apart. You mean remove the screws/metal plate underneath the keyboard?

And the CPU stuff I want no part of, personally that scares the hell out of me.

Where's the dust filter that you speak of?


No, I haven't. I didn't think that the machine would start up at all. I'll give it a whirl this week.

I have no problem unscrewing the panels on the bottom of the computer and blowing things out that way. Can you show me approximately where the heat pipe intakes are if I pop the panel and take a picture?

I'm not near a local repair shop, nor would I want them laying their hands on my machine that's still under warranty.

Paging Dr. Boogieman, Needed In the OR!

I finally had a chance to review my contract for warranty and pick up my larger, non-subwoofed battery for a half-hour worth of fun and family entertainment..

I took G's advice and cracked open the big-honkin' section of panel that hides the CPU, RAM, and other vital looking stuff.



As I continued, I saw the four spring-laced screws that G was talking about earlier, concerning the heatsink. I played with one of the screws, finding out how tight it was. With a small Phillips head screwdrivers and a pair of pliers, I unpopped the heatsink. Not much dust there. Enough to tweezer out.

What I found in the air flow area is NOT WORK SAFE FOR ANY I.T. EMPLOYEE!!!




Now.... I know I've been bad for about 2 years, but

I didn't have any compressed air on me, so I used my good ole' NES tools: my lips.

Replaced the heat maker and heat sink, screwed the screws in nicely, and said a prayer in FT's name that the 8790 would come back up.

and SUCCESS!!

After letting the 8790 run for about a minute, I saw the MobMeter say 45C at startup w/ no Turbo fans. Uh oh.. I fired up the turbo fans + the Antec cooler and my CPU temps have gotten past 35C, with about 5 tabs open in FireFox.

So, here's the pictures of what I think have been causing me "Roadrunner" syndrome, complete with a 10 cent dime for comparison.






And finally, the death of said vermin.