MBP - Should the fan be constant?

[bimboles]

I am on my 5th MBP now and this one still has issues.

Since installing upgrading the firmware and installing bootcamp the latest one has the fan on constant. I'm sure after doing this on the others I have had the fan would only cut in when it was needed.

Does anyone else notice if the fan is on all the time?

I have also found that this MBP has the mooing problem. When it gets hot I hear a fan try to kick in on the left hand side it strains for about a second and then stops. It does this every 10-20 seconds.

I also have the whining issue but I am prepared to put up with that.

I don't want to have to take this one back but it is quite annoying.

 

[bobdgil]

I assume by "constant" you mean in OS X and not just Windows?

 

[DannySmurf]

The revving fan problem could be because the temperature of the computer is just within a degree or two of where the fan is supposed to turn on. I've found in other Intel machines (though not my MBP) that the fan will spin up and then right back on once or twice a minute if I'm using the machine in such a way where the processor works briefly, then idles, then works briefly again, then idles again, etc..

 

[bimboles]

Yep constant in os x and windows. I'm sure it used to turn of on the previous MBPs I had.

I can live with the fans being constant. I just wondered if they should turn off at any point.

The other noise is strange it almost souns like it is straining.

 

[thegreatluke]

Wow, I thought I was alone with this issue!

Since I got my MBP in February, my fans have always been running, constantly. The volume is about the same as someone whispering in a quiet room, if that helps.

However, sometimes I hear the fans (or something else) "groaning." Think of someone making a groaning sound if they're sick or something. It's a kind of robotic sound, though, and it comes on at random times. I'd record it to share, but as I said before, it comes on at random times.

Do you think Apple would fix this? (Sorry for hijacking your thread, bimboles, but it is a similar problem.)

Oh, and bimboles, by "5th MBP" do you mean 5th replacement MBP or the 5th time it was fixed? Because, by US law, if a product is sent in for repair four times, it's required that the company give you a replacement. If it is a 5th replacement MBP though, I'm sure you can call in and complain enough until you get a 17" MBP or an iMac with a gift certificate or something.

 

[bimboles]

I am on my 5th MBP they have been replaced for the following reasons:

1 - Screen flickering when brightness turned on full and CPU whine

2 - Broken Cursor key and CPU whine

3 - Dead pixel and CPU whine

4 - Scratch on the lid when I unboxed in the apple store

5 - (Current) Fan on constant, weird straining noise from left hand fan and CPU whine

I got it from the Apple Store in Regent Street London and to be fair they have replaced it each time without any hassle. Although they will not acknowledge the CPU whine.

 

[Josias]

your question, the fan should never be on constant, but just ask them to take your 15", give them a few hundred bucks, and get a maxed pout 17"!

 

[bimboles]

The 17" would be to big for me. I just want a 15" MBP with no issues. I don't mind putting up with the CPU whine for now. I am sure that can be fixed via firmware. But I am sure the fan should stop occasionally.