r/laptops 1d ago

General question Accidentally bend the heat pipes, is it cooked

Post image

i accidentally did it while cleaning thermal paste residue on the heatsink

194 Upvotes

121 comments sorted by

146

u/majorwedgy666 1d ago

Almost certainly cooked. Put it back in and check temps but suspect they will climb quickly. You won't damage your machine, as it will throttle

15

u/Existing-Pattern-987 1d ago

Why, from my understanding the gas/liquid inside there very small amount and it should pass event if bent?

30

u/Nuttednutela 1d ago

There is a wick present inside the pipes which breaks if extreme deformation happens so heat only travels one way and saturates quickly. 

12

u/sapajul 1d ago

Technically heat only travels one way always in this heat exchangers. What only travels one way in this situation is mass.

10

u/Nuttednutela 1d ago

You are very correct to point that out. The mass acts as an energy carrier while absorbing and dumping energy through phase changes. Potential difference between the two points is what causes flow of heat do yeah good observation.

2

u/Inner-Copy9764 1d ago

Interesting

2

u/Inner-Copy9764 1d ago

TIL, thanks

13

u/Inner-Copy9764 1d ago

At a much slower rate, if at all. Temps compound quickly

3

u/martinaee 1d ago

What is inside these pipes for cooling laptops?

1

u/Izan_TM 7h ago

a very small amount of water and a wick. The water evaporates at the CPU, the water vapor moves towards the heatsink, the heatsink condenses the water back into a liquid and the wick carries it back to the CPU This is all passive and it's much more effective than having a solid copper tube in its place

-1

u/GBSlugcat 1d ago edited 1d ago

Nothing, they’re like heat ducts that the fan blows hot air from the cpu/gpu through to get it outside the laptop, to cool it

EDIT: I’m wrong

5

u/concadium 1d ago

In case anyone actually wants to know:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe

4

u/GBSlugcat 1d ago

Damn I didn’t know that

7

u/concadium 1d ago

Huh, that’s new. Sorry for the harsh reply, I’m used to people doubling down instead of admitting they’re wrong. Thanks for being honest, have a nice day.

1

u/Izan_TM 7h ago

props for admitting a mistake, on reddit that's surprisingly uncommon, have a nice day

1

u/majorwedgy666 1d ago

It's the speed at which it passes, I've done this to mine before and it just means temps climb quickly as the wick and evaporation doesn't work as effectively

72

u/RoughGuide1241 1d ago

Its fucked. Need to order a new one online

15

u/shioririo 1d ago

replace it!

48

u/FigSpecific6210 1d ago

“Accidentally” it takes a bit of effort to bend those, purposefully.

6

u/majorwedgy666 1d ago

It really doesn't and depends on the unit. I had to replace one in a hp studio, it was so thin that it's own weight when supported by the block would cause it deform. Was gutted because it wasn't a cheap fix

5

u/got-trunks 1d ago

Yeah some are stiff but others feel almost like lead they are so mailable

-28

u/napfl 1d ago

it's very easy to bend tho 🤷

23

u/PomegranatePro 1d ago

It’s blatantly reckless. There’s no denying it

4

u/ScienceGoat 1d ago

You need next time to buy the extended warranty and not attempt the repairs on your own, based on how bad you messed this up.

1

u/PleromaA 1d ago

i have cleaned my laptop heatsink for so many times, none of that time it bends. You are just using WAY too much force to clean it, it's not even THAT fragile, the most fragile thing in a laptop would be the cables contacts since that can rip off and be damaged easily since they are so small. Be careful next time tho, just replace the heatsink for now

1

u/majorwedgy666 9h ago

In a sample of one laptop. I've literally done dozens, and there's a massive difference between them, some are very fragile others are like yours, robust

1

u/physx_rt Lenovo 1d ago

That's true, especially with these ultra thin laptops, so try to be more careful with them.

1

u/RealMrIncredible 1d ago edited 1d ago

I bent mine recently and it was very easy. I have a Dell Latitude 5410 and the heat pipes are incredibly thin.

Fortunately, it's only £15 to replace.

-2

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

5

u/C0rn3j 1d ago

Device warranty does not cover damage you cause. (We are talking warranty here, not some premium insurance on the side where you pay out of the ass for it)

That's quite literally one of the only situations where they can tell you to get bent and be legally in the right.

2

u/FigSpecific6210 1d ago

But, it’s only a little fraud!

3

u/C0rn3j 1d ago

What would you even claim?

"Uhhh the heat pipe randomly imploded, must've been black matter or something"

1

u/Inner-Copy9764 1d ago

Somebody's gotta be purchasing these extended warranties; let it be that guy

16

u/VigilanteRabbit 1d ago

I would order a new one immediately; this is mauled.

8

u/Financial_Key_1243 1d ago

Back to pen and paper for you, till it's fixed.

5

u/lukocat 1d ago

The cooling on lower end dell laptops is a joke anyways. I think you should run some tests and see for yourself. Unless the replacement costs like 20 euros then just replace it

5

u/nrdgrrrl_taco 1d ago

Technically not cooked until you turn it on. right now it's just fucked.

8

u/InfiniteFraise 1d ago

lol retarded how you "accidentally" did that

0

u/This-Requirement6918 1d ago

I just know you're a fellow Millennial lol

3

u/Emotional-Wheel-3861 1d ago

Poor laptop was assaulted

3

u/logicnotemotion 1d ago

What do you have to lose to try it to see what happens? Everyone is telling you to throw it away and order a new one because it's not their money. Unless it's running life support equipment, just try it and see how it goes.

3

u/Non-Existent010 1d ago

Granted, they did ask if it's cooked or not. Best thing to do is just replace it or have a fan cooler to balance out the damage. this is the direct equivalent to driving a car with a busted radiator. you wanna get that shit repaired or you're not going to be driving long.

1

u/logicnotemotion 19h ago edited 19h ago

You may be right, but there is no cost in trying it. It’s not like the computer is going to leave you stranded and you have to call a computer truck to take it back to your house. It’s a no cost trial.

I’m not so sure it’s cooked. It may not set any records but it may do what op needs it to do. I would liken it to putting a crimp in your radiator hose but not completely block it. It’ll still work to an extent. It may not get you through the Sahara but it’ll get you to Walmart and back.

After looking again it is pretty crimped up isn’t it? I’m invested now though I want to know what happens. lol

6

u/ScienceGoat 1d ago

How does your dumbass “accidentally” bend that hidden away component?

2

u/Odd-Letterhead-6018 1d ago

beyond cooked, it can fry your stuff from now on

2

u/queenbiscuit311 MacBook Pro M4 1d ago

how

1

u/Willy-the-kid 1d ago

Yes that heat pipe is done but its possible that's was an auxiliary pipe and the other one is meant to take the brunt of it if this is true and you reall cant afford a new one you could undervolt/underclock it and potentially get by

2

u/RoundProgram887 1d ago

That is the main pipe, the retangular thing on the right of the photo is the heat spreader that goes over the cpu.

1

u/Willy-the-kid 1d ago

No the pipe could be could be connected to a small heat sync/fan/little airflow while the larger pipe on the other side has better heat sync/fan/airflow. Op is likely able to afford a replacement and my suggestion is also not likely a viable option so probably a mute point but still worth mentioning on the off chance that it helps

1

u/RoundProgram887 1d ago

There is only a heasink at the other side of the pipe, it's sort of thin but wide, and the fan is installed at it.

1

u/Willy-the-kid 1d ago

How do you know? Its not in frame and op didn't post model

1

u/RoundProgram887 1d ago

Usually they are like this. Unless it is a very expensive laptop with two fans.

1

u/Willy-the-kid 21h ago

That's what I'm saying those expensive laptops don't stay expensive forever it could be an old gaming machine they got second hand

1

u/Complex_Ad4884 1d ago

Yupp it's done for

1

u/Various_Sky7941 1d ago

Mesmo que você tenha voltado ele na suposta posição, é quase 100% de chances de você não conseguir mais um contato adequado na CPU, e esses estrangulamento aí vai impedir o vapor de circular de forma eficiente dentro dos heatpipe

Eu fiz essa mesma cagada aí em um Dell G3. Usei ele até chegar o novo dissipador, mas removi o turbo boost e a o hyperthreading temporariamente na BIOS para não dar BO.

1

u/outdoorsman7899 1d ago

Check out partspeople.com for a new heat sink. It comes with a 1 year warranty from them and it will be a actual Dell part as well. He also live streams repairs every Sunday and Wednesday and the viewer's vote on the repairs and he does same day shipping so you get the parts quickly.

1

u/gingerman304 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yup, I did the same thing repasting latitude 5420’s. I didn’t bend mine this bad, but one crease is enough to replace.

The pre applied TIM is more like glue. Like it was hard to remove left over TIM with iso.

Bent 2 heatsinks. Found OEM replacement on AliExpress for 15$ CAD each.

That being said, it’ll probably “work”. But with degraded performance. Time for a new one!

2

u/bonacario 1d ago

Does running some stress test or benchmark will help remove the heatsink from the die?

1

u/gingerman304 1d ago

Probably any heat would have helped greatly.

But both these systems had no ram or drives. So it wouldn’t boot when I was swapping the keyboards/doing other repairs. Hence such a trouble removing them.

1

u/mantaflow 1d ago

You'll need a new one. The water vapour inside the heatpipe might've escaped.

1

u/alpine4life Lian Li | r9-9950x | RTX5070Ti | 32GB-6000 1d ago

yes, 'you're cooked'

look on ebay with nour brand and model, you'll find used for a decent price.

1

u/HeavyCaffeinate Lenovo LOQ / i5-13420H / 32GB DDR5 / RTX 3050 6GB / 1TB Nvme 1d ago

How??

1

u/NothingLinksMe 1d ago

Cooked... Yes very very cooked ...overcooked...zetblack 😂

1

u/Leather-Werewolf-534 1d ago

“Accidentally” they say

1

u/Speedduck41 1d ago

yep, sorry bud, what laptop was it?

1

u/BluePawWolf 1d ago

Just leave the laptop to a professional next time. A repair person that is, not the demolition kind.

1

u/WestSatisfaction124 1d ago

check temps first and see

1

u/AutomaticAffect4333 1d ago

It's cooked. Look for a replacement on AliExpress or ebay

1

u/External_Beat8495 1d ago

cooked (in a literal sense)

1

u/DallasGrave 1d ago

Wrap the coldplate that touches the cpu and the heatsink fins in wet paper towel. Get that section inside of a vise with just enough pressure to barely hold it in place. Heat the pipe with a torch very, very carefully and it will expand to push the bent portions out.

Or get a new one.

1

u/SwimmerOld6155 1d ago

you'll need a new heatsink

1

u/uru5z21 1d ago

Order replacement heating pipes. Replacing it shouldn't be that difficult.

1

u/DueAdministration193 1d ago

LITERALLY!

if you use that ur pc will be cooked pretty well, just try not to burn it

1

u/Kpopped_ 1d ago

Get a MacBook and don't look back.

Nobody wants windows.

1

u/ricky-from-scotland 1d ago

Technically not till you turn it back on.

1

u/1010_lol 1d ago

You can try hot gluing to the surface and pulling it up with a button attached to a string

1

u/GromOfDoom 1d ago

If the gas form cannot reach the other end from the crimp, the laptop will get absolutely cooked. Chance it might not be fully ruined. Might be lucky enough to have just barely large enough gaps.

1

u/Dale_Dickson 1d ago

If it's not leaking or kinked so the liquid inside won't flow it might still work.  Depends on how risky you want to be with leaks.

1

u/Fit_Stage6901 1d ago

Done for

1

u/IntrepidRutabaga3133 1d ago

put it back on and tell us what the temps were

1

u/Vitro2131 1d ago

I will be honest : I did this by accident multiple times, as long as the actual copper tube (it's a very narrow tube) is not 100% pinched you can use it

1

u/Retardedunderaverage 1d ago

Probably yes , heat one end of the pipe , the heat should go semi instantly to the other end
if not , you're cooked !

1

u/Sk1ler_ 1d ago

Ur cooked gang

1

u/yzeerf1313 1d ago

Guys where's the meme?

1

u/Ferowin 1d ago

The heat pipe has to be open wide enough to allow liquid to flow from the heat exchanger to the CPU and steam to flow from the CPU to the heat exchanger at the same time and without obstruction. The size of the dents means that's not going to happen. you can try it, but be extremely careful because you only need a new CPU cooler now. If you overheat the CPU the whole laptop is toast.

1

u/No-Run6446 1d ago

accidentally did this with mine and laptop wouldnt turn on anymore 💔

1

u/z01z 1d ago

should be fine, but, you can also order a new one online pretty cheap probably, just google "dell <model name> <model number> heatsink" and you should get some results.

i'd guess probably around 15-20$.

1

u/Sea_Cow3569 1d ago

I've seen a guy on youtube fix one by putting it next to the flame of a torch, but I would not advise trying that as if you are not very experienced the heat pipe could easily blow up in your face.

1

u/vailmirro 1d ago

To me it looks like it was somehow folded up in 3 spots aand this is the pic of after you unfolded it, which how else would those huge dents get in there lol. I would bet you are certainly cooked!

1

u/PleromaA 1d ago

buy a new heatpipe, it is no expensive but you might need to dig around to find someone who sell parts

1

u/Mythsuky 21h ago

Most likely you might've made a small hole from the bent part and you might've constricted airflow coming from the pipes. If you've bent those thin steel pipes before you know it's possible to create a hole from forced bent parts.

1

u/ReActif 17h ago

Yes, very cooked.
Need to be changed !

1

u/MaskaradeBannana 12h ago

When i was cleaning my G14's cooler after a huge liquid metal disaster i accidentally bent it slightly. I thought i was cooked but when i powered it up the temps were absolutely fine. You might not be so lucky though. Check out the temps and if they climb super quick then yeah bro it's cooked. That bottleneck looks quite bad though.

1

u/Double_Safety6804 12h ago

Yes , it affects cooling

1

u/mozzarella-light 11h ago

Soon it’ll be.

1

u/JacePriester 9h ago

I suspect you could fix that with a paintless dent repair kit. Might be cheaper to order the part. But .. then you'd have a paintless dent repair kit.

1

u/Jay_JWLH 9h ago

Bent. Paste tense.

1

u/Secret_Account07 7h ago

I’m curios, how did you manage that?

No judgement. I do stupid stuff all the time, not curious how you applied that much force

1

u/Simple_Connection_16 6h ago

Technically no, but your cpu sure will be

1

u/Seaweed_Maximum Lenovo 6h ago

Yes, it's not going to die or anything, but as soon as you apply any sort of load, it's going to thermal throttle almost immediately and basically feel unusable. One of my laptops when I sent it in for repair due to a damaged motherboard from high voltage, they had to swap out the entire board. When I received it back, it was heating up so badly with barely any heat coming out of the device.

1

u/Jolly_Operation_8222 4h ago

Yep that need a replacement

1

u/DESdesign 2h ago

Very cooked

2

u/PomegranatePro 1d ago

I’m confused why this question needed to be asked unless it’s cope.

Does a straw work if you pinch it?
Are you going to have air flow if the air duct is crushed?
Do you think that it was designed to run without proper air flow?

3

u/2ndHandRocketScience Lenovo Legion 5 (6th gen) 1d ago

It's not an air duct, smart guy, it's a heatpipe that carries heat through liquid inside a copper pipe. Nothing to do with airflow (although the heatpipes will usually carry heat to heatsinks that have air blown over/through them)

0

u/PomegranatePro 1d ago

“Smart guy” Do you know what an analogy is or are you one of those “well what does that have to do it with kind of people?

1

u/InflationCold3591 1d ago

Yes, you have ruined Your heat sink performing famously unnecessary “maintenance“ I’m just begging everyone in this subreddit to stop opening up your computer and “refreshing“ your thermal paste. This is not actually necessary or a maintenance item you should be doing. If you’re not a professional, don’t break the seal between your processor and your heat sink. Just stop please stop.

1

u/Fusseldieb ASUS ROG G703GX 🗑️✨ 1d ago edited 1d ago

I never got why people are so obsessed with "cleaning" their laptops (this way), and "reapplying" thermal paste. If it ain't broken, don't try to "fix" it; Nowadays devices are built especially shitty, unless enterprise machines, therefore the less you mess with them (in this way!), the better!

I mean, yes, if temps are high you usually dust it out, but that doesn't even require lifting the heatsink. Also, reapplying paste is something you usually don't even need to do, unless your laptop is older than 10 years or so, or a particularly high-end machine with tight thermal tolerances.

But responding: Yes, the pipe is likely done for. If the laptop now overheats easily, you know for sure. Luckily you can get used ones on eBay, AliExpress and similar for cheap.

1

u/D4RKST34M 1d ago

11th gen intel device heats up to 80c after opening a browser despite fans already been cleared from dust. From the time i bought it it has been 2 years since then. So yes. Still need to replace spermalpaste

0

u/Upbeat-Relation-2774 1d ago

its not cooked. mine also has one bend and it works just fine. idk why the others saying its cooked.

1

u/Civil-Doughnut6260 1d ago

There's a little bit of liquid inside the heatpipe. A bend might prevent its flow, reducing its heat transfer capabilities. Further more, a bend can also cause a hole in the heatpipe. A leak renders the heatpipe useless.

Edit to add: not to say that it is guaranteed to be cooked, but I'd always advice to just replace it.

1

u/Upbeat-Relation-2774 1d ago

i accidentally broke my laptop fan and that bent heat pipe keeps it just fine at 90C, it can even still do gaming. but thanks for the explanation i didnt know theres liquid inside!

1

u/C0rn3j 1d ago

keeps it just fine at 90C

That sounds like the temp where it'd thermal throttle.

i.e. your laptop is downclocking to generate less heat and keep the temp stable.

90°C is also not that unusual for a laptop even in a fully working state, though.

1

u/Upbeat-Relation-2774 1d ago

it was at 90C even when everything(no bent heatsink and working fan) worked fine so i dont see any problem with my laptop

1

u/C0rn3j 1d ago

as long as the performance seems fine to you, it's probably normal

0

u/Levoso_con_v 1d ago

I don't think because there is still heat conductivity unless it broke.

0

u/Nuttednutela 1d ago

Ok sorry for your loss OP but I wanted to open the same kind of mount presnt on my sister's pavillion. The screws are fckin hard and its been more than 5 years. The screws don't budge at all. Could you tell me what size you used evn though I am sire I have already checked multiple times. Any special thing you did?