Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga 3Rd Gen Thermal Paste Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

2

Time Required

                          20 minutes            

Sections

1

• Thermal Paste
• 2 steps

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What you need

Step 1

              Opening the back panel               

• Unscrew all screws holding the back panel in place.
• Use a prying tool to release all the clips and remove the panel.

Unscrew all screws holding the back panel in place.

Use a prying tool to release all the clips and remove the panel.

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Step 2

              The insides               

• It is recommended to disconnect the battery.
• Unscrew the screws holding the CPU heatsink and disconnect the fan.
• Clean the old thermal paste both from the cooler and the CPU. It is best to use isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs or paper towel, but be careful not to go too hard on the CPU.
• It is also recommended to use compressed air to remove any dust in the laptop and the fan. You can open the fan to clean it from the inside.
• Dont use too much thermal paste, just enough to cover some portion of the pad. If you have a spreader, use it. The thermal paste will apply evenly after you tighten the heatsink.
• Last, put the heatsink back carefully and tighten the screws in order to ensure even pressure. Dont forget to plug in the fan cable and the battery.

It is recommended to disconnect the battery.

Unscrew the screws holding the CPU heatsink and disconnect the fan.

Clean the old thermal paste both from the cooler and the CPU. It is best to use isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs or paper towel, but be careful not to go too hard on the CPU.

It is also recommended to use compressed air to remove any dust in the laptop and the fan. You can open the fan to clean it from the inside.

Dont use too much thermal paste, just enough to cover some portion of the pad. If you have a spreader, use it. The thermal paste will apply evenly after you tighten the heatsink.

Last, put the heatsink back carefully and tighten the screws in order to ensure even pressure. Dont forget to plug in the fan cable and the battery.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                                      with 1 other contributor 

                    Simeon Brankov                     

Member since: 11/08/2020

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Alan - 4 days agoJan 19, 2023

Reply

I have one of these. Is thermal paste replacement necessary? Except for a battery issue that just arose and I intend to fix with a battery replacement, I hadn’t noticed any problems with the unit’s operation.

Simeon Brankov - 4 days agoJan 20, 2023

Hello,

It really depends on how heavily you use the laptop and in what physical environment. It is generally a good idea to replace the thermal paste and dust the device once a year, or once every two years, to keep it from overheating and burning a chip. However if you dont have information on whether this was performed in the past, it would be good to be done.

Alan - 4 days agoJan 20, 2023

Reply

I only took the back of the case off earlier this week when the battery stopped taking a charge. I have owned this laptop since new and this has never been done. The laptop is used daily all day. Maybe I should consider it. I thought that it might be something that some people do that is not necessary. Thanks!

Simeon Brankov - yesterdayJan 23, 2023

Your laptop was released in 2018 so it is probably out of warranty by now. And yes, for that time period it is necessary to perform this change. Be sure to use quality thermal paste (Arctic MX-4 or Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut are my favourites).

Battery change is also pretty easy on this model, you just have to be careful with the connector when disconnecting/reconnecting.