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Need help: Fan problem on a NEWLY Puchased Macbook Air

E

EuStoN

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 26, 2011
29
0
NJ
I have just purchase a refurbished macbook air 2010 from Apple.com two weeks ago. I'm now traveling in China and won't be back in the state until end of Nov.

The fan have gotten very loud today. I didn't have this problem before. I just started notice it today. Could you guys advise me if this is a problem or it's normal? if it is abnormal, should I be contacting apple in China or State??

Thanks!!!!
 
Last edited:
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Have a look at Activity Monitor (Applications / Utilities /) and select All Processes and sort by CPU to see what the culprit may be.

image below uses sorting by CPU as an example
Acitivty_Monitor.png

Further reading:
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Is it Flash?
Adobe Flash Player is CPU intensive, thus more power is needed to feed the CPU, which results in higher temperatures and often higher fan speed(s) on mobile computers. As more power is used due to Flash, the battery life of mobile computers is shortened by a good bit.
To check, if Adobe Flash Player is responsible for less battery time, go to Applications / Utilities / Activity Monitor and select to show ALL PROCESSES and sort by CPU.

There are a variety of Flash blockers for all the four major browsers available.
A Flash blocker does what it says, it blocks Flash content, but via a click on the marked Flash object, the Flash object can be activated and used.

  • Safari: ClickToFlash, for which there is an extension and a plug-in; CTF allows you to download YouTube and other kinds of MPEG-4 encoded video too.
  • Opera: has a built-in Flash blocker
  • Firefox: Flashblock is an add-on to block Flash
  • Chrome: FlashBlock is an extension to block Flash

Also make sure to have the latest Adobe Flash Player version running, you can get it here.​

Btw, maybe remove the "Resolved" tag from your thread?
 
Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning at a minimum of 2000 rpm (for MBPs) or 1800 rpm (for MBAs, MBs and minis). They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. If they're spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC. Also, make sure you don't block the vents, which are located at the rear, near the hinge.

Learn about the fans in your Mac
Apple Portables: Operating temperature

iStat Pro will give you accurate readings of your fan speed, temps and other things.
 
Thanks for your replies!!!


I know flash does take a lot of CPU~~~

But I only have two thing working at the time
1. Safari- with only one tab (on tweeter.com no video)
2. Messenger - one chat screen opened (with a video chat screen)

I have installed the iStat Pro: (the fan is running loudly right now, while everything seems like it's in good healthy working order.)

This is how the iStat showing right now:
98e23232.jpg



Same exact situation as yesterday~~~~ Right now I still have around 400~600mb of free memory (out of 2GB)
 
EuStoN said:
Thanks for your replies!!!


I know flash does take a lot of CPU~~~

But I only have two thing working at the time
1. Safari- with only one tab (on tweeter.com no video)
2. Messenger - one chat screen opened (with a video chat screen)

I have installed the iStat Pro: (the fan is running loudly right now, while everything seems like it's in good healthy working order.)

This is how the iStat showing right now:
Image


Same exact situation as yesterday~~~~ Right now I still have around 400~600mb of free memory (out of 2GB)
Click to expand...

Well, iStat is showing that your fan is spinning at 1,999 rpm, which means it should be barely audible. If you can clearly hear the fan grinding away, then something is wrong with it and your warranty should cover the repair or replacement of the fan. If there is an Apple Store near where you're staying in China, then visit them as soon as you can. Chances are, they'll be able to do the repair on the spot.

Good luck, and report back to let us know how everything turned out!
 
japanime said:
Well, iStat is showing that your fan is spinning at 1,999 rpm, which means it should be barely audible. If you can clearly hear the fan grinding away, then something is wrong with it and your warranty should cover the repair or replacement of the fan. If there is an Apple Store near where you're staying in China, then visit them as soon as you can. Chances are, they'll be able to do the repair on the spot.

Good luck, and report back to let us know how everything turned out!
Click to expand...

i guess i might have to bring it back and get it checked up~~~

thanks guys
 
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