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+--- Thread: Cause of MBP heat stroke? (/showthread.php?tid=195434)
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Cause of MBP heat stroke? - Buzz - 09-27-2016
C2D MBP w/ SSD in main drive bay, and 750GB pull from newer MBP in optical bay w/ data doubler. Mavs on SSD main drive, w/ El Cap on large partition of optical bay HDD, and SL on smaller partition. When using El Cap or SL, the MBP can get pretty toasty, but when using the SSD, and presumably the optical bay drive is sleeping, the MBP usually runs very cool. The last few days have been hotter than words alone can describe, and even when only using the SSD, the MBP is getting hellaciously hot, w/ the optical bay area heating up almost as hot as when El Crap or SL is in use.
Any ideas on why the whole MBP is getting so much hotter when the optical bay partitions are not being accessed? And any ideas on how to help the MBP regain its cool?
Thanks.
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Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - ka jowct - 09-27-2016
Are the fans OK?
Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - Buzz - 09-27-2016
Fans seem to be OK... they come on when putting the pedal to SL or El Crap, though perhaps a little later than they should (I wouldn't mind if the fans came on a little sooner as the wrist pads heat up). After a fresh cold reboot, w/ no reason for the optical bay drive to be accessed, the heat ramps up. It's almost as if the current heat wave somehow triggers the optical bay drive into heating up. I may try unmounting the optical bay partitions from the desktop, rather than just sleeping them to see if that helps.
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Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - hal - 09-27-2016
Are the fans CLEAN? Did you blast the fans last time you opened it up? This is the first step - open the computer and look at the fan - blast canned air until dust stops coming out.
A standard test at the apple store can ascertain if the fans are reaching the proper speed.
Beyond that... I've seen crappy RAM get really hot and I've seen HDDs get very, very hot when something is very wrong with them, but they are usually showing signs of failure by then.
Download an run SMART Utility and see if it shows and errors.
Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - Buzz - 09-27-2016
No SMART errors, and the shop said they cleaned everything just a couple of months ago when I had them do the drive swaps. RAM has been OK since it was upgraded from 4GB to 6GB quite some time ago. The old (smaller) 7200RPM HDD used to get pretty hot on occasion when driven robustly, and the SSD was immediately much cooler, except when used in conjunction w/ one of the optical bay partitions. With the current heat wave, the MBP just doesn't seem to like it. I unmounted the optical bay drives an hour and a half ago, and the MBP was cool after resting, but has heated up again pretty quickly. It's in the mid/upper 80°'s inside here today.
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Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - modelamac - 09-27-2016
Buzz,
Install Macs Fans control (free software). You can manually set controls for fans turn-on point. It will make a difference, but it is still treating the symptoms, not the disease. You may have a chunk of dust blocking an air intake or exhaust.
What they said they did and what they did may be two different things. It would not hurt to expose the innards and do your own blasting.
Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - Buzz - 09-27-2016
Will install the fan software. I forgot to mention, that before the heat wave, spousal unit put a leaf in the table the MBP is on, so now it's about 15" further away from the ceiling fan. By simply pointing the table fan at the MBP, instead of toward the hallway, the MBP seems to be a lot cooler now. I guess there's an ambient temperature threshold that it plays nice under, and gets cranky if it goes over.
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Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - JoeH - 09-27-2016
One other thing that may cause this type of fast heat up before ramping up the fan speed is the heat transfer pads for the CPU and discrete GPU if you have one in that model. They can dry up or be damaged when work is done inside the laptop.
Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - Buzz - 09-27-2016
Good point, I'll call and ask... I was on top of them /blowing out the dust bunnies, but not being familiar w/ the entire install process, I didn't even think about the CPU/GPU thermal connections.
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Re: Cause of MBP heat stroke? - M A V I C - 09-28-2016
I had one fan die but the other worked. Wasn't apparent from the sound.