MBP RD 2012 - Fan cleaning costs?

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Level 1

6 points

MBP RD 2012 - Fan cleaning costs?

I've had my MacBook Pro (Retina Display - 2012) for 2 years and am generally pleased with it. The fan is running a little more and a little louder than usual these days. The SMC reset helped but I am sure that getting dust off the fans would be good for the machine's health. I have AppleCare until July 2015 but Apple says this is not covered. They said they'd be happy to fix it if it conked out but no preventive maintenance. Not happy about it but there's little I can do short of voiding the remainder of the warranty by doing it myself.

I'm looking for going rates on fan cleaning before I start contacting authorized repair shops. I am in the Los Angeles area. Suggestions appreciated.

Posted on Jul 8, 2014 6:54 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

cbs20

Level 4

2,796 points

Jul 8, 2014 8:15 PM in response to NivaR

Opening and cleaning your system does not void your warranty unless you damage it while it's open. Make sure discharge static electricity then open the system and use a can of air to clear out the dust. I have done it multiple times with my retina.

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Answer 2

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

Jul 9, 2014 4:35 AM in response to NivaR

If you have the notion of servicing the fan yourself, note that you will need a special driver to open up the MBP (PENTALOBE) They will not be available in your local hardware store but can be found on the Internet. Try Amazon.

Ciao.

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Answer 3

SergZak

Level 6

10,338 points

Jul 9, 2014 5:21 AM in response to NivaR

As long as you can get into the case as OGELTHORPE says by using the pentalobe driver, it should be quite easy to clean the fan yourself. Compressed air and a brush to loosen the dust should be pretty much all you will need.

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Answer 4

NivaR Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 9, 2014 10:41 PM in response to NivaR

Thanks, all. I'll look into getting the driver and trying it.

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Answer 5

NivaR Author

Level 1

6 points

Jul 11, 2014 11:50 AM in response to NivaR

Followup: I backed up the machine, bought a pentalobe screwdriver, put the MBP on an antistatic surface, and pulled the back off easily. A dangerous amount of dust had clumped into the heatsinks, fan, and the vents. I got it all out, put the back on, and it booted up fine. I'll be tracking the fan noise over the next few days but this could only have helped. Thisis my first and only Mac after years of PC/laptop purchases and I'm very impressed with Apple's hardware design. They packaged this thing aggressively but there was enough margin to keep the it alive in spite of the load on the thermal system.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

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