Powerbook 12" Fans rapidly ramping up/down

[Hallivand]

Hey all, I've recently gone back into the PowerPC market after a long hiatus (Macbook Pro died and needed a machine to tie me over until I can afford another one) and recently bought a 12" Powerbook G4/1.5Ghz. This machine is flawless, however I can't watch any films or do something graphically intensive without the fans revving full blast. The temperatures climb into the sixties with the fans at full blast.

Even when I'm browsing some graphically intense sites, it just ramps up and down very rapidly, no gradual increase or decrease. It reminds me of my old G5 and how it would on occasion ramp the fans high and then low. Sorry if it's an obvious question but I've never had this when I owned any previous Powerbook, as the fans would just gently rev up but still be rather quiet.

I'm on OS X Leopard, with 1.25GB RAM and a 320GB HDD.

Many thanks for any help,

 

[Goftrey]

Look, they're not new machines. You've just came from owning a MacBook Pro. Anything is going to sound loud compare to that.

My 12" fans spin up when my CPU hits 52 degrees c.

I think you just have to learn to live with them.

You could take a peep inside and clean the fans of dust if you really wanted to. Or you could use G4FanControl to control the fans but I haven't & will not bother with it because I personally think it's dangerous and makes the machine prone to overheating if you manually mess around & control the fans.

Hope this helps.

 

[MAC MAN JW]

Hey all, I've recently gone back into the PowerPC market after a long hiatus (Macbook Pro died and needed a machine to tie me over until I can afford another one) and recently bought a 12" Powerbook G4/1.5Ghz. This machine is flawless, however I can't watch any films or do something graphically intensive without the fans revving full blast. The temperatures climb into the sixties with the fans at full blast.

Even when I'm browsing some graphically intense sites, it just ramps up and down very rapidly, no gradual increase or decrease. It reminds me of my old G5 and how it would on occasion ramp the fans high and then low. Sorry if it's an obvious question but I've never had this when I owned any previous Powerbook, as the fans would just gently rev up but still be rather quiet.

I'm on OS X Leopard, with 1.25GB RAM and a 320GB HDD.

Many thanks for any help,

I Have the same PowerBook as you and the fan does go on hi when Web Browsing or any thing that has to do with useing the GPU a lot (iStat pro says fan speed is 5200+ RPM when loud) Back in 2009 when i got my powerbook it ran alot less loud not because it was newer and had less use on the fan but now webpages have more Videos and flash in them and this pushes the PowerBook to the Max

 

[burnout8488]

Use a temperature monitoring widget (iStat pro) and watch your temperatures rise.

If they gradually increase, the sensors are fine. If the temperatures seem to suddenly JUMP up and down, clicking the fan on and off, there is a sensor issue.

My old PowerBook would make one of the temperature sensors increase 30ºC just by moving the trackpad. When I stopped touching it, the temp would go back down again. I could technically turn the fan on just by moving my cursor.

What you described SOUNDS normal for a PowerBook 12", but check your temps to rule out any sensor problems. Also, going inside to clean the dust out of the fan and heatsink will do wonders. Apply new thermal paste to the CPU too.