Computer overheating when power adapter plugged in

Hi Derek,

Welcome to the Discussions.

Go to System Preferences>Energy Saver and click on Options. Is the processor performance set to Highest or Automatic when on the power adapter?

John

Hello Derek, Yes that could possibly solve your problem.

Here's a few other things to consider;

1. What surface is your ibook on, helps to be on a horizontal flat surface of a solid material i.e a desk not a bed.

2. As daft as it may sound but it could possibility that your plug adapters not working properly so more electricity is passing through your power adapter than is needed.

3. Are the air vents clear, air must be able to travel in and out otherwise it will over heat.

4. Are the power settings for your ibook on too high?? as been already mentioned.

5. what lengths of time is your ibook on at one time because if for instance it's been on over night it's bound to start over heating or be very hot.

6. How hot is the room temperature?? or is your ibook kept near any object which emits heat?

I hope this helps, I always try to narrow the problem down so that I can then concentrate on a solution,

Good luck,
Regards Mike.

Are you sure it's "overheating" such as locking up, melting etc.? The fans should come on when it's hot. The CPU varies in temperature depending on CPU load. Under heavy load, i.e. video encoding, the fans will run to keep the components from overheating. Sounds like it's working as designed. In the Energy preferences, if you set the processor to the lowest setting, you'll get less heat because you are using less CPU, as a result you machine will be running slower.

Hope that helps.

iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

My iBook G4 just started to have the same problem. After trying the things suggested above, it still gets hot (150 or higher) when the power is plugged in. When I unplug, it goes right down to a more normal temp, (120ish) Changing the energy settings didnt do anything, any more suggestions?