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Constant overheating.

H

Hamann640

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2010
5
0
Hey all,
I have a Late 2006 15" Macbook Pro. Core 2 Duo, 2.16 GHz. Model A1211.
I have a lot of problems with my laptop overheating constantly. I have it mounted on a iCurve, and no matter what temperature the room is, cold, or mildly warm, both fans go up to 6000+ RPM's, and the temperatures would be around 78+ Celsius.
After I start up my computer, after 20 minutes, with Adium, iTunes, and Safari open, with 3 tabs, the temperatures are already high up, and fans at max. The computer also get's extremely slow, mouse would bounce around everywhere, and audio gets extremely choppy. I never run any other programs due to computer getting laggy, or hot. Occasionally, my computer would randomly freeze up, audio is still running, or the screen would just black out. No warning signs, and a restart is required.
What should I do? Is this considered normal?

Right now, according to iStat pro:
HD: 46 C.
CPU: 78 C.
Enclosure base: 36 C.
GPU: 65 C.
GPU Heatsink: 71 C.
Heatsink A: 63 C.
Heatsink B: 50 C.
Mem Bank A1: 66 C.

CPU: 13% User. 9% System. 78% Idle.
Right Fan: 5998rpm
Left Fan: 6001rpm.
 
I would say most likely your fans are clogged with dust. Next possibility would be dried out or failed thermal paste. But I think the fans are more likely, as well as easier to fix.

Your heatsink temperatures are very high for a Mac with its fans at 6000 rpm and its CPU nearly idle. The fans should be able to suck an enormous amount of heat out of the heatsink in those conditions and so keep it very cool. Therefore I suspect your fans aren't moving much air.

You can take the back off and have a look, or try blowing in compressed air. Or get a specialist to do it. If the fans are OK I would move on to thinking about the thermal paste, but that's a much more difficult job

Good luck.
 
Pax said:
I would say most likely your fans are clogged with dust. Next possibility would be dried out or failed thermal paste. But I think the fans are more likely, as well as easier to fix.

Your heatsink temperatures are very high for a Mac with its fans at 6000 rpm and its CPU nearly idle. The fans should be able to suck an enormous amount of heat out of the heatsink in those conditions and so keep it very cool. Therefore I suspect your fans aren't moving much air.

You can take the back off and have a look, or try blowing in compressed air. Or get a specialist to do it. If the fans are OK I would move on to thinking about the thermal paste, but that's a much more difficult job

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Ahh alright, I'll try that. Thanks for the advice :D. I need Philips #00 to unscrew the case, correct?
 
Before you start opening your MBP, check Activity Monitor to see if you have any processes that are keeping the CPU running high?

Just last week, my girlfriend was complaining that her 13" MacBook Pro was too hot. A short check to Activity Monitor explained everything... namely she had some old printing task idle, which hogged the CPU to 100%. With only 2 clicks the problem was solved.
 
Constantine1337 said:
Before you start opening your MBP, check Activity Monitor to see if you have any processes that are keeping the CPU running high?

Just last week, my girlfriend was complaining that her 13" MacBook Pro was too hot. A short check to Activity Monitor explained everything... namely she had some old printing task idle, which hogged the CPU to 100%. With only 2 clicks the problem was solved.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've checked several times, and nothing is higher than 10%. Only browsing on the web now, since I can't really do much.. Temperatures are still at 70+ Celsius. The fans are running all the time.
 
Hamann640 said:
Yeah I've checked several times, and nothing is higher than 10%. Only browsing on the web now, since I can't really do much.. Temperatures are still at 70+ Celsius. The fans are running all the time.
Click to expand...

ifixit is your friend, my friend. Unless you want to pay geniuses, who have a flat fee of 300 as of my last encounter this past Spring. Now the fee could be higher or lower. I replaced the HD in a similar MBP once, and it sounded a lot scarier than it actually was. iFixit was super helpful, as it has huge photos.
 
Hamann640 said:
Ahh alright, I'll try that. Thanks for the advice :D. I need Philips #00 to unscrew the case, correct?
Click to expand...
I don't know that model so can't comment. As other poster said, iFixit is your friend. Let us know how you get on
 
I won't be able to update anytime soon about the overheating problems.. It seems I have one stripped screw in the way of opening my Macbook case. It's the screws holding down the ram shield where the battery is on the bottom.
I'll have to bring it to a shop so that they can get that screw out..
 
Sorry for bringing the thread back to life..
but I managed to drill out the stripped screw, opened it and cleaned out the laptop.
Tons of dust blocking the vents where the fans are. The thermal paste was VERY dry. It basically crumbled, and fell off when I slightly touched it. Not much was on there at all.
So I gave the mother board a full clean up. Applied new thermal paste, de dusted, and put it back together. The temperature has improved dramatically. :D
With the same applications running as my first post, CPU idled at 70%..
HD: 38 C.
CPU: 66 C.
Enclosure Base: 29 C.
GPU: 54 C.
GPU Heatsink: 59 C.
Heatsink A: 53 C.
Heatsink B: 42 C.
Mem Bank A1: 57 C.

Right Fan: 1999 RPM
Left Fan: 2001 RPM

Just wanted to share with you all how much of a difference it was after the cleaning. :D.
 
Hamann640 said:
I won't be able to update anytime soon about the overheating problems.. It seems I have one stripped screw in the way of opening my Macbook case. It's the screws holding down the ram shield where the battery is on the bottom.
I'll have to bring it to a shop so that they can get that screw out..
Click to expand...

Stripped screws are easy... Go get some powder cleaner (like Comet) and moisten the tip of the screw driver then dip it in the cleaner. The grit will allow you to get a bite on the screw. Apply firm pressure and gently turn... You may need to try to tighten it a little to break it free.
 
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