Cooling and Grounding Laptops

[Kazooo]

I figure I may aswell do thermal paste when I disassemble and reassemble my y50-70. Its internal temps were a bit hot anyways. What paste would you recommend for a noob and a an old laptop.
How often should you do thermal paste? Does my Legion 5-17IMH05H  - Type 81Y8 from 2021 need thermal paste if it still runs cool? Ive heard thermal grizzly mentioned, is it good for y50-70/legion 5? Also how much paste should I need for the 2 laptops, does paste go bad when unused in a tube?
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut The, High Performance Thermal Paste for Cooling All Processors, Graphics Cards and Heat Sinks in Computers and Consoles (1 Gram) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

 

So my y50-70 has the improper ground screen flickering.

I am going to get copper tape but unsure what kind as some say they arent conductive on sticky side? Would they ground from sides/top? How would this work? 
I think 1/4 inch tape would be best size are either of these good?

Premium Adhesive Copper Foil Tape - Double-Sided Conductive - 0.25 inch (6.3 mm) - EMI and RF Shielding, Paper Circuits, Electrical Repairs, Grounding, Arts and Crafts, Home Interior : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement
Double-Sided Conductive Copper Foil Tape for Stained Glass Welding,EMI Shielding, Electrical Repairs,Supplied by Wonderway 2Pcs (1/4 inch) : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

This one says on image 3 not conductive on glue side which is part of my confusion on this whole thing
MIAHART Copper Foil Tape (0.24inch x 66ft) for Guitar and EMI Shielding, Slug Repellent, Stained Glass, Crafts, Electrical Repairs, Grounding - Conductive Adhesive : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement

 

My y50-70 has a third-party cord with no grounding cable, is that a problem for this fix? It has used the third party cord for many years with no issues afaik.
All help greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[ARandomPerson]

For thermal paste I would say about 3 grams of the stuff to account for if you don't apply it right the first time. Technically speaking there is an of 2 years in the tube before it dries but you should be fine. I do not have any experience with copper tape so I do not know what advice to give.

[OddOod]

10 minutes ago, Kazooo said:

what paste would you recommend

I always keep Noctua NTH1 paste on hand, but I'm just bougie. Really, any old paste will last til the end of life of that laptop, especially considering it was end of life a couple years ago (I repurposed my old 4th gen intel laptop into a meadery control center for my wife. dropped PopOS on it and it's still kicking). You can buy whatever's cheap on amazon, but if you wanna keep paste on hand I'd get something from either Noctua or Thermal Grizz.
 

14 minutes ago, Kazooo said:

How often should you do thermal paste

There is no hard rule. I ~never pop something open specifically to repaste. Instead it's an EVA add on task. If I'm in there doing something and the paste is more than a couple years old, I'll definitely redo it. But that is probably because it's rare to hit 5 years on a device without wanting to do some upgrade. I'd say that the time to repaste is when it starts acting up. 
 

17 minutes ago, Kazooo said:

does paste go bad when unused in a tube?

Everything dies eventually. Thermal paste has a long shelf life though, easily 5 years if not more. I've used 10 year old bottom shelf stuff and it....worked. Not spectacularly, but it worked.

 

19 minutes ago, Kazooo said:

Also how much paste should I need for the 2 laptops

a 3.5g tube is good for ~4 average applications.
 

 

21 minutes ago, Kazooo said:

This one says on image 3 not conductive on glue side which is part of my confusion on this whole thing

Your first link specifically says "Unlike various other copper foil tapes, both sides of the Eco-Fused Premium Adhesive Copper Foil Tape are conductive."
Should be fine. Worst case scenario you're out 12$

[RevGAM]

For TIM, it depends on what your laptop uses. If it uses pads anywhere, you'll need to use pads of the same thickness. 

You could try Honeywell PTM7950 pads and paste, especially if you want to keep using that laptop for years to come because it's phase- changing and gets better the longer you use it as long as you "burn" it in with at least 40 C after putting it on. TG is also a good choice, and so are many others,  although I'd search for reports of pump out in laptops. 

 

Get rid of that power cord and get a real one. Never use a 2- prong on a device that needs grounding. Trust me when I say that stray electricity isn't good for your PC. And if you already have a problem, using the copper tape isn't going to work without grounding. In fact, try replacing the cord first. 

[Kazooo]

 

 

5 hours ago, OddOod said:

Your first link specifically says "Unlike various other copper foil tapes, both sides of the Eco-Fused Premium Adhesive Copper Foil Tape are conductive."
Should be fine. Worst case scenario you're out 12$

Ok cool thanks, will get that one!

 

5 hours ago, RevGAM said:

Get rid of that power cord and get a real one. Never use a 2- prong on a device that needs grounding. Trust me when I say that stray electricity isn't good for your PC. And if you already have a problem, using the copper tape isn't going to work without grounding. In fact, try replacing the cord first. 

The lenovo site says official was 135w, unsure where to find amps/volts and other specs. Site doesn't say how many prong it was. How would I find this information out?

 

The Blackwebs charger I've been using for years is 90w, 19v 4.74a out, 100-240v 2.5a 50/60hz in.

 

Does it have to be official as finding one of those now might be tricky/costly/long time to ship?

 

Are there any good chargers on amazon with grounds, ideally 1 piece as my official 2 piece legion cord drives me nuts(the 2 peices constantly disconnect and make crackling sounds). I do like how the blackwebs has swappable heads so that would be nice aswell. If you don't know that's ok I can ask in power or laptop section.

Thank you!

 

EDIT: Found some more info in a paper that came with it. Since it was french I had to translate it. It didn't not say prong number but did say

input: 100-240v 50-60hz CA

output voltage: 20v CC

"food": 90w 135w

Edit 2: Site has a manual that refers to a ground cord I think but could just be for human safety not laptop safety. Y40 Y50 HMM (lenovo.com)

Edited March 14 by Kazooo
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