Overheating and Loud Fan on Macbook 13" HELP!

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Naomi-Clare Author

Level 1

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Overheating and Loud Fan on Macbook 13" HELP!

Hey Guys

I hope someone can Help

I've had my Macbook Since early 2008. But only in the last 8 Months my fan has become increasingly Noisy and Hot.

I upgraded to Snow Leopard last year (I'm on Mac OS X 10.6.8 ) and it seems it became alot noisier after this.

I originally only had 2gb Ram, but upgraded this week to 4gb ram thinking that would help. I've also gone and purchased an external hard drive and moved all my movies, photos, music etc onto this in an attempt to not only back up my files but hopefully alleviate some of my space on the mac.

I've tried the Resetting SMC and also followed another apple step by step guide (??) and in my activitiy monitor nothing is even over 10% and i've been regularly checking for the last hour.

I'm aware the fan is always running, but the noise is ridiculous. I've done so much research on this and i'm at a complete loss, I know there is only one fan in this version of macbook and it's definitely running as I hear it all the time.

Can any one help me at all?! Please??

I know when using websites with java/flash can affect this and i accept that- But I rarely do this as the noise just ruins the experience.

Any help...would be vastly appreciated.

Regards

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 17, 2012 2:32 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

BGreg

Level 6

17,552 points

May 17, 2012 3:15 PM in response to Naomi-Clare

Have you run the Apple hardware test? Insert the original OS X disk that came with your system that says 'AHT Version x.x' in small print on the label, and reboot holding the D key down (if that doesn't work, reboot holding the alt/option key and choose the Apple hardware test). Choose the extended test. Does that point out any hardware issues? One of the things the hardware test looks at are the various sensors, and if one of them were faulty, that might cause the system to crank up the fan.

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Answer 2

May 17, 2012 3:19 PM in response to Naomi-Clare

In addition to the advice above, check out the link below.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1473

Stedman

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Answer 3

Naomi-Clare Author

Level 1

0 points

May 17, 2012 3:22 PM in response to BGreg

Thanks BGreg...It's a bit late at night here for me to try that just now. I'll try both yours and Stedman1s', suggestions tomorrow and let you know how I get on. Thanks both of you for replying so quick

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Answer 4

May 17, 2012 4:53 PM in response to Naomi-Clare

You're welcome. Please check back in with your findings.

Stedman

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Answer 5

Naomi-Clare Author

Level 1

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May 21, 2012 3:04 AM in response to BGreg

Hi Bgreg,

I've Tried the hardware test, I completed the extended one which took approx 90 minutes, the whole time the fan was noisy. Is it possible it could be the harddrive making the noise instead?

When I completed the test it fouud no problems. Now that i've rebooted the fan has stopped. I'm really at my wits end with this.

Stedman1, I checked your link and I had already tried this as per my original question.

Any suggestions or ideas would be great,

Thanks

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Answer 6

Naomi-Clare Author

Level 1

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Jun 8, 2012 11:27 AM in response to BGreg

Hi Guys

So i ran the software test, no faults found.

But i did download a desktop client: Istat Pro

I've since transferred all movies, music etc onto an external hard drive, given my mac a complete clean up. The only time the fan seems to run fast now is when i'm online streaming. I'm guessing it's because of the software that it runs. So i'm avoiding streaming as much as possible and this seems to have rectified the fan issues.

Strange one.

But thanks again for all your input and help. Definitely be using the Apple Forums instead of trawling Google for what seemed like an eternity 🙂

Thanks again

Naomi

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Answer 7

Jul 6, 2012 12:36 PM in response to Naomi-Clare

I read the above posts, and had already looked at the Activity Monitor. Something made me look at the power management. I remembered I had turned on "Never Sleep" when plugged in. I returned it to 15 minutes and my fan is quite for the first time in a long time.

I have no idea if this really was what helped but thought I would pass the information along.

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Answer 8

carolg97

Level 1

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Dec 23, 2012 7:34 PM in response to Naomi-Clare

Mine had the same problem. I have a Macbook Pro Early 2011. It's a great computer, but occasionally the fan is really noisy and hot. I had the problem once and reset the SMC by pressing Shift-Control-Option and power button at the same time, then turning on the computer again; that did the trick. But another time, I tried doing that and it didn't work. Turns out, an application called Dropbox was uploading/downloading/syncing massive amounts of info. When I paused the syncing, the computer went right back to its quiet old self. Try looking for applications that are syncing or downloading things in the background. If you upload it little by little, you should no longer have this problem. Otherwise, I strongly recommend trying the SMC reset. Hope this helps!

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

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