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MBP 2014 faulty fans: technician claims battery has to be replaced

H

HeavyMantra

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 11, 2018
100
37
I have a 2014 MBP that's only used when plugged in since the battery is in bad conditon. Have had problems with the fan revving up to max even from just browsing the internet: something about the fan behaviour is faulty.

Asked a technician about this, and he claims the battery has to be replaced because this could be the culprit. He currently has the computer and has looked inside it. Again: only using the machine while plugged in. Is there any truth to this or is he just trying to sell me a battery?
 
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How long does your battery last when you don't have your MBP connected to power? I have a 2013 MBP and I get about 1 1/2 hours when not connected to power. You can start your MBP in Safe Mode and it will tell you the condition of your battery or if its near end of life. I believe mine is very close to that.
 
About 3 hours or so? I'm wondering if a bad battery can affect fan performance when plugged in though
 
OP:

Do you have a brick-n-mortar Apple Store anywhere near?
They should replace the battery for $199, which includes parts and labor.

It's actually a bargain, and worth doing if your battery is getting weak.
 
Fishrrman said:
OP:

Do you have a brick-n-mortar Apple Store anywhere near?
They should replace the battery for $199, which includes parts and labor.

It's actually a bargain, and worth doing if your battery is getting weak.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I'm only interested in getting the fans to work again.
 
Sometimes my fans do rev up but not to the point to where I find it annoying. Is the Apple tech certain that the battery is the issue?
 
HeavyMantra said:
Thanks, but I'm only interested in getting the fans to work again.
Click to expand...

Install "Macs Fan Control" (free) and take a look at the temperatures. Maybe it's just a faulty sensor that's reporting too high temperatures. The battery for example has two sensors (at least in my MBP 2014), one of them could possibly be the culprit. If you don't want to pay for the battery replacement, just set a manual fan speed or curve in the tool and you should be fine as long as the other temperatures are ok.
 
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Quite possible a bad battery will affect fans. Sensor failure isn't so uncommon, and sometimes for some reason, absence of battery will also speed up the fans.
 
I opted to only have him clean the fans. It seems to have solved the problem. Thanks for all the input!
 
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brianmowrey said:
lol that the tech didn't even give that a shot (or pretended not to have) before trying to upsell
Click to expand...

Yeah, my alarm bells went off and that's why I created the thread

It's possible that the situation could improve even more with a new battery, but this machine doesn't have that many years left in it anyway
 
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