Macbook Heating / Fan Issue - Will The Apple Store Check It?

[Bricky]

@Serafina: there are no apple stores in Argentina, but there are lots of official service centres, all of whom will support the macbook:

https://locate.apple.com/ar/en/service/?pt=4&lat=-34.6037232&lon=-58.38159310000003&f=

Personally I'd go the Gringoboy route though - it's probably just a process gone nuts. (activity monitor will tell you what)

 

[ArielFabian]

Try to find an expert you can trust. If you can't an option is: What happens many times is that the dust on the cooler blades does not let the cooler spin. Many computer stores sell compressed air cleaners. Since it contains compressed air and air is not a good conductor of electricity it will not harm your circuits even if it is in a liquid state; any drop of air will be converted into gas state air immediately, there are risks like the change of temperature but a tiny drop should not dramatically harm. DO NOT SHAKE the compressed air cleaner and then apply it (do not apply it upside down or it will be a very cold liquid). It is beneficial to apply compressed air periodically to prolong the life of the computer and do not let the dust to be accumulated and become a block. The compressed air cleaner always needs to be applied when the computer is off. Dell notebooks tend to over heat even if the cooler is clean.

I am not an expert in repairing computers but this has been beneficial to me. You should apply it near coolers, in some cases it can be done without disassembling the computer.
Sometimes the dust is abundant and the compressed air cleaner is not enough:

http://www.mejor-ant...limpiar-pc.html

Cleaning MacBook cooler system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABs0L2VpLuA

 

[Gringoboy]

Ariel, clearly you are not an expert in repairing computers as you so readily admit.
I use this compressed air and it clearly states NOT to shake the can before use.

 

[ArielFabian]

Ariel, clearly you are not an expert in repairing computers as you so readily admit.
I use this compressed air and it clearly states NOT to shake the can before use.

Thanks ! sorry for my mistake. The services here are not very reliable sometimes and you need to fix as you can.

 

[syngirl]

Sounds like it might be dirty. My laptop was doing the same thing. Took it to my local tech guy and they opened it up. It was unbelievably filthy. They cleaned it. No problems since then.

GS might be on to something here -- there seems to be an incredible amount of dust here, I cleaned out my old laptop vents a few times, it was crazy how they got blocked up. You can do this yourself or take for a cleaning. Then you can buy a cool pad too -- you can get these pretty easily, just a platform with a couple of fans that you place the laptop on top of this. However.... prognosis probably not that great, try the above but you may want to dump it as soon as you know you have an opportunity to reacquire. Overheating issues.... yikes.

 

[Alicia karr]

There are several good apple service centers in BA. And there's Josh MacDaddy who's a member of the forum and an excellent apple tech. And of course gringo boy who deserves a reward for opening his business here!

 

[nlaruccia]

I don't charge to investigate/diagnose the problem, but once diagnosed, we agree on a course of action, price etc.
Always seems the fairest way.
The non starting problem could be any number of things and I would need to see it; likewise overheating, although probably quicker to diagnose.
I'm actually in La Lucila now, next to the train station. Send me a PM Citygirl.

I wish you were closer to the city. I always need to have something done or fixed with my laptop. So the bottle cap method is a no go? LOL.

 

[nlaruccia]

Try to find an expert you can trust. If you can't an option is: What happens many times is that the dust on the cooler blades does not let the cooler spin. Many computer stores sell compressed air cleaners. Since it contains compressed air and air is not a good conductor of electricity it will not harm your circuits even if it is in a liquid state; any drop of air will be converted into gas state air immediately, there are risks like the change of temperature but a tiny drop should not dramatically harm. DO NOT SHAKE the compressed air cleaner and then apply it (do not apply it upside down or it will be a very cold liquid). It is beneficial to apply compressed air periodically to prolong the life of the computer and do not let the dust to be accumulated and become a block. The compressed air cleaner always needs to be applied when the computer is off. Dell notebooks tend to over heat even if the cooler is clean.

I am not an expert in repairing computers but this has been beneficial to me. You should apply it near coolers, in some cases it can be done without disassembling the computer.
Sometimes the dust is abundant and the compressed air cleaner is not enough:

http://www.mejor-ant...limpiar-pc.html

Cleaning MacBook cooler system:
https://www.youtube....h?v=ABs0L2VpLuA

I have one of those, but I thought you were supposed to open the computer up to blow the dust out of the fan. I was told when purchasing one, that if I blew it into the fan without opening the computer up that I would just blow the dust even further inside the compute.

 

[Gringoboy]

I do go to Cap Fed to see customers, that's not a problem and gives me a chance to run the bike out.
Anything you can do to provide good ventilation for a laptop has to be a good thing. For example, not using one on a cushion, blanket etc as the vents are usually underneath.
Those laptop coolers are pretty good when used in conjunction with periodic cleaning.
Opening up a laptop isn't recommended if you're not doing that sort of stuff every day.

 

[ArielFabian]

I have one of those, but I thought you were supposed to open the computer up to blow the dust out of the fan. I was told when purchasing one, that if I blew it into the fan without opening the computer up that I would just blow the dust even further inside the compute.

This is true, it will depend on where the cooler is placed and if there is a way to remove the dust so it can flow without opening it. some models can be opened easily, in this case I would open. The best option is always to call a professional, but the cost of repairing can be high compared with the value of the tablet/notebook/computer. And if it is an old model most likely if one thing is repaired another will break, so then even if you are not a professional you might decide to try to fix as you can unless you have important data inside. This will depend on a personal decision. Even not being a professional on this clearly, I could remove dust from coolers because the service cost was high in a DELL notebook, also the original battery cost was 50% the value of a new notebook, so then I removed the dust and bought a generic battery, and bought a new notebook. I decided not to invest in an old computer and managed to extend its lifetime (probably not in the best way because it was not that easy to open this notebook model, but at least it did not turn off because of overheating).
What I would never do is to set the compressed air cleaner upside down, an intensive cold temperature might damage your computer. I would rather prefer to try to remove the dust than keep using the notebook with the dust, this will certainly burn the microprocessor and might be more risky. It will require common sense trying not to apply a very cold temperature (frozen) and find out how not to en-worsen the issue with the dust and get rid of it.
Shaking the cleaner will create more drops, I did that way because it seemed to be more intense, I did not know this could be harmful applied on the cooler surface, it will be certainly harmful if applied over other circuits directly. Just in case do not shake the compressed air cleaner.