reapplied the thermal paste, now the fans kick in too early - downgrade FW?

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Level 1

10 points

reapplied the thermal paste, now the fans kick in too early - downgrade FW?

First of all, I have not forgotten to attach the temp sensor as previously mentioned. I was quite lucky that everything went well.

My MBP is now 60 C top at almost full load (doing video at 80% load) and runs 48 in idle.

Which is incredible but it's also loud. Even when idle the fans run faster than the minimal speed, which is obviously caused by better heat conductance. When under load the fans quickly begin to spin full speed. As I said I havn't topped the 60 C mark yet.

Partly I think this has to do with the SMC firmware update, as Apple tweaked the fans to spin up earlier.

What I'm looking for is a way to get the old threshold setting back (the one before the smc firmware update). So that my MBP is as cold as possible but also more quiet than now.

And I read that there is a way of editing some powermanagment settings in order to change the threshold but havn't been able to google it.

MBP 1.83, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on Sep 24, 2006 12:44 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 24, 2006 2:00 PM in response to MaTiCeK

"My MBP is now 60 C top at almost full load (doing video at 80% load) and runs 48 in idle."

Just out of curiosity, what was it before?

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

362,017 points

Sep 24, 2006 2:57 PM in response to MaTiCeK

Sounds like possibly you forgot to connect the fans' sensor during reassembly and your computer is simply cooler because the fans won't shut down.

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Answer 3

Sep 24, 2006 4:26 PM in response to Kappy

I think thats why he put:

"First of all, I have not forgotten to attach the temp sensor as previously mentioned. I was quite lucky that everything went well."

as the very first sentence, so people wouldn't reply the way you replied 😉

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Answer 4

MaTiCeK Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 25, 2006 5:20 AM in response to William S.

William thx for clearing that 😉

Before it was on full load at 76 to 78 and 54 to 59 (it depends on the use of a passive cooling stand). So the temperatures have dropped. But I care less for the processor, it was the casing that got extremely hot. Now it doesn't, but sadly the fans kick in at full speed when the processor is near 60 C. If I could only reverse the smc upgrade somehow.

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Answer 5

Sep 25, 2006 8:09 AM in response to MaTiCeK

Say no more: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/firmwarerestorationcd11.html

Let us know if reversing the firmware update managed to solve it.

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Answer 6

MaTiCeK Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 25, 2006 9:01 AM in response to William S.

That's what I tried before starting this thread. But after a careful look I realized that at the end there is a sentence that reads something like this:

This restoreCD is only meant for intel macs that failed during a firmware upgrade.

This basically means, that you can't restore it to factory settings if you have it working correctly....

Anyway I think changing the temperature threshold value for the fans, would be much more clever, as Bootcamp and probably even some other software needs the newest firmware available.

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Answer 7

a brody

Level 10

85,366 points

Sep 25, 2006 9:14 AM in response to MaTiCeK

Having done the thermal paste, you may have inadvertantly put on too much or too little. I recommend you let an authorized service technician look at it. Doing the thermal paste work yourself basically is playing Russian Roulette unless you have the same manual as the official authorized service technician, and the same training.

Good luck. And never try doing such a repair yourself again unless you have authorized service technician training. It could pose a real hazard to the computer and your property if not done right.

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Answer 8

Sep 25, 2006 10:12 AM in response to a brody

not wanting to dampen the good old diy spirit, but yeaup. brody's right!

*warning... Warranty void*

:P

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Answer 9

Sep 25, 2006 3:06 PM in response to a brody

I dunno. I think if you have the skill to open up your Macbook and put it together again, you should have the skill to put on thermal paste.

I used to build computers for a living (PCs) and never found that to be problematic. I know everyone has different levels of technical ability, but from what it sounds like, the original poster is not a luddite or someone of lower intelligence.

I know we lack sufficient information on this, but applying thermal paste is not rocket science.

I have yet to see a manual that actually states the exact amount of thermal paste to apply. I would also assume that it is not a comprehensive area of training for any tech either.

I agree with you that such cautionary advice is the best advice to give, but if we establish that the user is indeed proficient with hardware, I think all of it loses relevance.

Apologies if this comes across in anyway negative. It was not meant to be at all.

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Answer 10

Sep 25, 2006 3:09 PM in response to MaTiCeK

That is a little misleading on Apple's part.

Have you contacted Apple directly to see if they can in fact provide you with a way to restore factory firmware? Might be an avenue to go down.

Other than that, I can't think of anything other than playing with the amount of paste. Perhaps add a little more and see if the fans quiet down (stop spinning). It could simply be that you just didnt add enough. Perhaps Apple has a reason for over applying the paste upon manufacturing.

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Answer 11

Sep 25, 2006 3:53 PM in response to MaTiCeK

I know you said that you had reattached the sensor.

But as the fans are running full bore, there's a bad sensor connection. That's it.

It's not a problem with the amount of grease you applied. If you had used too little or an inappropriate material, your CPU cores would be fried by now.

Personally, I don't recommend reapplication of the thermal grease. I don't think Apple's design specs for thermal grease are wrong, although the result doesn't look pretty.

My week 12 MBP runs at light load around 45-48C, and in the low 40sC at idle. Processor-intensive use can raise it to the 60sC, with a peak temperature in the low 70sC. Under normal use the metal strip behind the function keys is just warm, not at all hot, with an ambient room temperature of 23-24C. I do use an aluminum tilt stand, a KoolSink.

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Answer 12

MaTiCeK Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 25, 2006 10:54 PM in response to Bill DeVille

Maybe it's my english, but the fans don't go full speed all the time. Now as I barely started the MBP and just surfed the internet a bit, I have fans running at their minimum.

And they stay on minimum as long as I don't do any harder work. Let's say start playing iTunes with visualization on.

As for the skills. I'm not professionally trained, but I've been building my own PCs for a couple of years now. Never laptops, obviously, as they come already built. And yes I also have a copy of the Service Manual that was floating around. I think I tend to infrom myself very carefully before doing any such work. That's probably I'm a medical student, which brings us to thermodynamics.
Apple defenitely applied too much termal paste, which has the effect that instead of filling in only the microscopic spaces of air between the heatsink and CPU, the thermal paste actually forms a layer between the CPU and heatsink. And generally speaking the thermal grease is a worse conductor than the CPU/Heatsink junction, but still much better than small spaces of air that would be between the CPU and Heatsink if no thermal paste was applied.

Strangely my girlfriend has a MBP which doesn't get as hot as mine. But her was bought in august, mine in april, so Apple might have looked into the problem themself.

About the Apple support thing:
I'm from Slovenia, the official Apple seller ( www.epl.si ) has a very rude way of customer support. Luckily I live very near the Austrian border, so I bought my MBP in Austria.

Well it seems to me that controlling the fans isn't yet possible on the MBP, as noone was able to point into any direction.

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