why is my airport extreme overheating?

Thanks! Was having same overheating error message and the file sharing setting fixed it. Strange but it worked!!

Yes, I can verify that it does. Turing off File Sharing got it working again, but now I can no longer back up to the external drive attached to the Airport... It makes no sense since the drive is not inside the device.... Any ideas?

It’s the Airport Extreme 802.11ac. It doesn’t have a model number on the outside, but I believe it’s the ME918LL/A, the same one currently available.

It’s the tower, with no internal drive. I’m using only one of the Ethernet LAN ports for a HP laser printer, and otherwise I have between 5-10 devices at most connecting wirelessly (well shy of the supposed 50 users claimed on the Apple page for it).

I’ve been using an external 1TB Seagate 2.5” drive for Time Capsule for my laptop (which often doesn’t even come out of my bag when I’m at home), for about a year, with no issues until recently.

Naturally, I checked airflow, dust, and the temperature in the room, and none of these should be problematic. The unit was only very slightly warm’ certainly not warm enough to it to actually be overheating.

I turned off File Sharing yesterday, which fixed the noise, the yellow light, the error message in AirPort Utility, and intermittent internet access immediately. I re-enabled it this morning in order to run a backup, but 7 hours later it’s running fine. I will disable it again if it acts back up, but I’d like to know what’s causing this.

Thanks for any input you may have!

Sorry if I wasn't clear there. I meant I'd like to know what is causing File Sharing to (seemingly, only recently) have issues that make the device to run at those levels/speeds.

As I read it, describing it as a 'run-away process' makes it pretty clear that it's not supposed to behave in that manner. Since there is only one device that even connects to that file sharing, and then only occasionally, it seems like there is some sort of flaw in the File Sharing portion of the software/firmware.

So, from a software standpoint, I'd like to know what is making File Sharing's processes go (for lack of a better term) ape-****, and thereby cause the heat issue; and how to correct that in the software. It seems that is where the correction needs to happen, no?

I had the same issue and Apple replaced it with a refurbished that started having the same problem within a month.

Today, I pulled it out again and updated the firmware. Amber light came on again.

I checked out the settings and turned off enable file sharing (In Airport Utility, click on the icon of your base station and then select Edit from the popup window, then select Disks tab). I thought I would turn this off since my model does not have the internal disk.

Low and behold, the light went green and is staying that way.

I shut off File Sharing on my Airport Extreme Settings and amber light disappeared. No More Potential Overheating Message. ( Which always bothered me because the airport was fairly new, on a open wire shelf, in an cool room, without any other equipment near it.)

This actually helped me in discovering that my fan went bad. Thank you very much!

Worked!!!! Thanks

Same issue with 2 Airport Extreme bought around XMas 2017.

Thanks!! It works.

Actually my light turned back on the other day so I had to check the file sharing option then the light turned off again.

Interesting. File sharing should not be enabled by default on the AirPort Extreme base stations. Not sure if having it enabled without an external USB drive attached would cause this, but of course, anything is possible.

I am assuming two things:

1. There is plenty of room around the base station itself, and
2. The room where the base station is kept is not excessively hot.

Your 802.11ac AirPort Extreme has an internal fan near the top of the unit and air is drawn in & exhausted from the bottom. It may be possible that you have some "dust bunnies" building up in the base or that the fan is defective.

To get a better idea on what's inside, please take a look at the following iFixit teardown for this device.

If you have AppleCare in effect on one of your Macs, the AirPort Extreme is also covered. Get in touch with Apple Support and ask them to replace the AirPort Extreme for you. If you do not have AppleCare in effect on one of your Macs, and the AirPort Extreme is barely over a year old, I would still ask Apple to replace it for you. Nothing to lose

Apple considers the AirPort Extreme a sealed unit, so they do not offer repairs or repair parts for the AirPort Extreme.

If you cannot get the AirPort replaced at no charge, then you might want to open it up using the article that Tesserax provided as a guide. Normally, this would void the warranty, but if you have no coverage, it won't really matter. You might be able to clean out the fan to get it working more efficiently, or find out enough information about the fan to try to locate a replacement online.

Be very careful when taking components out of the AirPort Extreme, as ribbon connectors can break and other connectors may pull loose as well.

Same here....read the entire thread, and was believing it was hardware....but I've got a green light again. No file sharing needed (just using for wi-fi), so no big deal.....