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12" PowerBook Random Shutdowns

P

pl1984

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Original poster
Oct 31, 2017
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The other day I picked up another PowerBook to add to my collection (these things are just so darn inexpensive). It was another "as-is" sale and, upon receipt, it fired right up. It's the 1.33GHz model, 768GB RAM, 80GB HD, SD, etc. Nice system.

However it suffers from two problems:
  1. Like my 17" PowerBook I have to reset the SMC if I power it off and then back on shortly after having used it. If I power it off and then on the next day it powers on fine without resetting the SMC. Like the 17" PowerBook the clock has to set on this system when it is powered up. I chalk both of these issues to dead NVRAM batteries. I have a new NVRAM battery on the way for the 17" PowerBook (it was supposed to be delivered Saturday and I had planned to spend the day today installing it) so I am hopeful its replacement will solve the requirement to reset the SMC.
  2. This one appears to randomly power off. I haven't actually observed it doing so while using it but rather coming back to it after it has been sitting idle. I did alter the power savings settings to put the system to sleep after three hours so I know it's not that. I suspect this might be a thermal issue and a re-pasting is in its future.
So my question to the forum is: What things do I need to have prepared in order to do the re-pasting? I'd like to avoid having to take it apart more than once if possible. I've seen several posts where people have torn down their systems to re-paste, clean, etc. so any feedback you have is welcome.

I'd also like advice for temperature monitoring software that is compatible with Panther (which is the OS currently installed, forgot how zippy it was).
 
You need a decent thermal paste and thermal paste remover. Some compressed air will come in handy also.
 
Thanks Gav. What about thermal pads that I've read about? Any in this model PowerBook?
 
From memory there’s no thermal pads but the heat sink is fragile so use something like the I fix it guide (I’m sure there’s one) and take your time.
pl1984 said:
Thanks Gav. What about thermal pads that I've read about? Any in this model PowerBook?
Click to expand...
 
The 12" PowerBook has a few thermal pads. Unless they are dried out or look damaged, you can reuse them. Do not replace them with paste, your PowerBook will overheat. The heatsink has two screws near the upper part that screw into the logicboard. Be careful with those. If you break one of them off the logicboard they are difficult, near impossible, to repair. Not having bother properly secured and tightened, will cause your PowerBook to overheat.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses. I'll be putting this on hold until I've replaced the NVRAM battery on the 17" PB to see how that goes. Hopefully a re-paste will do the trick.
 
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