Flooded Mac Pro - Heat sink Damage

[kakkoiimac]

Hey everyone-

At my university there was a flood during christmas break while I was away, and my office had about 8 inches of water in it. When I got back, I saw the damages and was quite sad to see my mac pro filled up with dirt and debris.

So I cleaned it out and tried to boot it up and amazingly it works almost perfectly...in fact I am typing this on that mac pro. The only damage is that the fans now run at 2500rpms all the time.

So Here are my temps from iStat. It seems like maybe the sensor for CPU B and the north bridge are messed up. Anyone have any experience with fixing/replacing those parts? I am wondering if my diagnosis is correct and what is the best way to fix this machine.

Anyway, I am pretty amazed that my machine is working at all!

 

[nanofrog]

Are those temps in C or F?

 

[cherry su]

regardless of ºC or ºF, the 259º should not be there!!!

 

[nanofrog]

regardless of ºC or ºF, the 259º should not be there!!!

No it shouldn't, but it could help put the temps into perspective. That way, we could see which are normal, and what's too hot (besides the 259º).

More information is needed to narrow down the cause.

Real temps would be extremely helpful, and an IR thermometer or thermocouple & multimeter w/ temp function would be handy. (I doubt the OP has these, so a touch test might have to do).

 

[alam]

i have the exact same problem
apple told me that they will change my heat sink and that will fix my problem and thank god that i'm still on warranty

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

VBVXVBXG

Hey everyone-

At my university there was a flood during christmas break while I was away, and my office had about 8 inches of water in it. When I got back, I saw the damages and was quite sad to see my mac pro filled up with dirt and debris.

So I cleaned it out and tried to boot it up and amazingly it works almost perfectly...in fact I am typing this on that mac pro. The only damage is that the fans now run at 2500rpms all the time.

**snip**

You're lucky the MP was off or not asleep while you were away. Something could shorted out and fried it. Also it's not a good idea to turn it on right away after you "think" it's dry. Should wait a few days first. But just because it works now doesn't mean it will work fine in a few months. The water or debris could eventually corrode solder joints and kill it all together. You can take the fans out and reoil them maybe. I've done that to many older fans on PCs and Macs and are now whisper quiet and run correctly.

Just a thought you could do or buy new fans.

 

[kakkoiimac]

thanks for the replies. Those temps are in ºF and actually the mac pro was allowed to dry for about 3 weeks (during winter vacation) so hopefully it should be pretty dry.

As far as real temperatures, I will see if I can find some sort of thermometer around here..but I am pretty sure we dont have a IR one.

I have ordered the heat sink to replace it myself, but one thing I am not sure about is the northbridge. Does anyone have any idea where that is, and if that is replaceable?

 

[nanofrog]

thanks for the replies. Those temps are in ºF and actually the mac pro was allowed to dry for about 3 weeks (during winter vacation) so hopefully it should be pretty dry.

As far as real temperatures, I will see if I can find some sort of thermometer around here..but I am pretty sure we dont have a IR one.

I have ordered the heat sink to replace it myself, but one thing I am not sure about is the northbridge. Does anyone have any idea where that is, and if that is replaceable?

Since you're working in a university, would it be possible to borrow one from another department?

Science or Engineering would have one I would think. Getting them to loan it to you may be another issue.

Perhaps if you asked them to accompany the meter, you might get better results, as it can allay their fears of it getting abused and broken.

 

[TK2K]

Hey everyone-

At my university there was a flood during christmas break while I was away, and my office had about 8 inches of water in it. When I got back, I saw the damages and was quite sad to see my mac pro filled up with dirt and debris.

So I cleaned it out and tried to boot it up and amazingly it works almost perfectly...in fact I am typing this on that mac pro. The only damage is that the fans now run at 2500rpms all the time.

So Here are my temps from iStat. It seems like maybe the sensor for CPU B and the north bridge are messed up. Anyone have any experience with fixing/replacing those parts? I am wondering if my diagnosis is correct and what is the best way to fix this machine.

Anyway, I am pretty amazed that my machine is working at all!

There is a utility called SMC Fan Controller which lets you manually set the RPM of any fan. The danger is you set it and your mac overheats, but if you keep iStat open and set an alert for CPU temp you should be golden

http://www.macupdate.com/download.php/23049/smcfancontrol_2_1_3.zip


p.s. I can't believe it still even works.... you are so lucky.. you have no idea.

 

[/dev/toaster]

There is a utility called SMC Fan Controller which lets you manually set the RPM of any fan. The danger is you set it and your mac overheats, but if you keep iStat open and set an alert for CPU temp you should be golden

http://www.macupdate.com/download.php/23049/smcfancontrol_2_1_3.zip


p.s. I can't believe it still even works.... you are so lucky.. you have no idea.

Without knowing if the 259 degrees is the real temp or its a malfunction ... adjusting the fan speeds could make things far, far worse.

Even using a basic thermometer would give you a good idea. Don't use one intended for a human, use one for cooking they can handle that kind of heat.

I would recommend keeping use very light until you get it sorted out. You might just need to replace a heatsink, fan or some cabling. You don't want it overheating and causing more damage.

 

[kakkoiimac]

Without knowing if the 259 degrees is the real temp or its a malfunction ... adjusting the fan speeds could make things far, far worse.

Even using a basic thermometer would give you a good idea. Don't use one intended for a human, use one for cooking they can handle that kind of heat.

I would recommend keeping use very light until you get it sorted out. You might just need to replace a heatsink, fan or some cabling. You don't want it overheating and causing more damage.

Thanks for the advice. I know for sure that the 259 is not the true temp just from a simple touch test. That CPU B heatsink is cool to the touch when I first boot up and yet the 259º still shows up.

As for a thermometer, i will nab one from the chem department tomorrow. I am actually a biochem major and spend a ton of time in the lab...i am sure they wont notice it in the mean time

As for the SMC Fan controller option, how does one set an alarm for a certain CPU temp? I downloaded the SMC fan app and it seems like it should be fine, especially if I can get some alert setup to use in conjunction with it. My mp is actually used as a machine to setup lab images, so it does not really do any heavy lifting, mostly as easily accessible place to update images. So i am not too worried about burning out the CPUs.

Anyway thanks for all the help guys.