Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > 12 inch Fan Question

12 inch Fan Question
Thread Tools
Mcroftksu
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Manhattan Kansas
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 03:18 AM
 
First off, I have looked through the threads here and I could not find anything directly related to my problem. If I am mistaken I apologize for wasting your time again.

I am in college and living the dorms and take my powerbook everywhere I go while on campus. No matter where I am: dorm room, library, class, student union, etc. I never hear the fan, it is never on. Just the other day I was ranting to my father about how quite this thing was. How I could be sitting in the dead silent library and this thing would not make a sound. Anyway, on with my problem. I am now back home for the holidays and have noticed that the fan is on ALL the time. It has not turned off since I been here. So first I thought: 14 days of uptime, maybe I should restart, no help. So I checked the power settings and changed everything to auto still no change. I then reset my PMU and once again no change.

Is this normal? Should I be concerned? The fan is on the lowest setting it is just always on. I mean it not a huge deal just has me worried.

Well thanks in advance, I would appreciate any advice or discussion you can give to me.

Matt
     
mrwizard256
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Dec 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 03:57 AM
 
my 12" fan is on too... its very quiet but its on, but i didn't really notice it before. it could be because i added more RAM, or maybe one of the OSX updates did it. It doesn't really bother me because it's still really quiet.
     
macintologist
Professional Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Smallish town in Ohio
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 10:04 AM
 
My Powerbook fan is horribly loud, because a blade or something isn't screwed in correctly or something. Anyway, it's annoying as hell, but the fan never goes on when I'm running on battery power since the CPU is reduced, so at least the embarrassing sound only occurs within the privacy of my own room

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=211311
( Last edited by macintologist; Dec 26, 2004 at 12:02 PM. )
     
f1000
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 10:16 AM
 
In addition to keeping your processor performance low, try putting your hard drive to sleep as much as possible.
     
Agazzie
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Sweden, Gothenburg
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 12:27 PM
 
"12 inch fan question", man that's a huge fan
Do not do anything today, which
someone else can do tomorrow..
     
NittanyToto
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2004
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 12:30 PM
 
I have the same issue with my Pb. The fan pretty much goes on when it wants to and stays on for a while. From what I have read that is pretty normal.
     
Amorya
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: England
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 02:52 PM
 
My 12" PB is quieter with fan on than my Pismo was with fan off!

The fan is on most of the time but it's so quiet I hardly notice.
What the nerd community most often fail to realize is that all features aren't equal. A well implemented and well integrated feature in a convenient interface is worth way more than the same feature implemented crappy, or accessed through a annoying interface.
     
fisherKing
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: brooklyn ny
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 09:26 PM
 
my fan never came on UNTIL i bumped the ram to 1.25g...
now it's on much of the time (except when running "reduced" on the battery).

occasionally, it goes into overdrive (when i'm doing a lot of stuff).

it's a shame...my pismo fan came on maybe twice in three years.


oh well, until the next 12" pb...
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
audvidsvs
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Missouri
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 10:10 PM
 
Any idea why the fan would come on more with more memory in the computer?!?
     
fisherKing
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: brooklyn ny
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 10:50 PM
 
there's something to it, not sure of the details.
something about a larger operating space, so the processor is working harder...

anyone else?
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
melman101
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Bronx, NY 10471
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 23, 2004, 11:13 PM
 
i have a rev a powerbook march 2003. fan is on almost constantly, and the thing is always super hot.

Mel
     
oscar
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Minneapolis
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 24, 2004, 02:28 AM
 
more ram, more heat = more fan
     
audvidsvs
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Missouri
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 24, 2004, 07:44 AM
 
This seems like a fairly significant deal if it is true.
Most people seem to imply that adding ram will help battery life as the hard drive wil spin less often.If this is true I would imagine the fan would offset any hard drive power savings easily.
Of course the ram will help with computing chores but the trade-off with battery life is important to me as I did get the PB to be portable.

I also just ordred a 1gig chip and am waiting for it(was delayed by the snow according to Outpost) so I will report my findings when it is installed.
I have had 256,512 and now 1gig in my machine so I should be able to notice if the fan act any differently.
     
psk-ele
Forum Regular
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Dayton, OH
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 24, 2004, 12:13 PM
 
If you processor setting is on "Highest" you don't have to do much more than open a web browser for the fan to start kicking in. If you have the processor setting on "automatic" then you will most likely not hear much noise unless you are have several apps open at once or you are doing something intensive. Letting the HD spin down when not needed is another way to reduce heat build-up. I have noticed that the fan is on much more while using an external monitor set-up. I have the 1.33GHz with 768 MB of ram. Also, if the room you are in is warmer than yours at school, that could be a determining factor also. My room at home is warmer than mine at school, and I have noticed this seems to make a bit of difference while using the powerbook.

Most of the time the fan is in an idle state and makes next to no noise. Not till I play a game or use the visualizer in iTunes does this fan rev-up and start to become louder and quite noticable.

Just remember that you are trying to cool lots of pieces of heat producing chips and systems with one teeny fan in that back center of the powerbook. You also only have one small air inlet in the front left.

The only logic I see behind more memory and more fan noise, is that you are opening more apps than you normally would since you have the memory, and/or the apps are using up more memory and the processor in turn is working more. Interesting correlation as I have heard the exact opposite for some time now.
"When people say that Macs suck, that
means they have never used
them.....trust me...."
     
Musti
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Montr�al, QC
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 25, 2004, 05:35 PM
 
Originally posted by oscar:
more ram, more heat = more fan
More RAM, less hard drive thrashing, less heat.

The increase in heat by more RAM is much less than the increase in heat by hard drive thrashing.
     
fisherKing
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: brooklyn ny
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 26, 2004, 11:12 AM
 
Originally posted by Musti:
More RAM, less hard drive thrashing, less heat.

The increase in heat by more RAM is much less than the increase in heat by hard drive thrashing.


all i can report is hearing my fan (on low) most of the time since bumping my ram to 1.25g; occasionally running high (dvd playing, etc)

a tradeoff, i guess, but envy the absolute quiet of my girlfriend's 15" pb...
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
shabbasuraj
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 29, 2004, 05:06 AM
 
My RevA 12" PB with 640 MB RAM, fan seems to be on all the time and it is on a stand which allows airflow beneath it. Even in a 'cold' room in the house. It is really annoying and quite loud compared to my RevC PB 12" with 768 MB RAM.

I am starting to think that the fan needs to be replaced. Maybe the fan bearings are just 'shot'.

Will my local Apple store sell me a replacement fan? Since the machine is no longer covered under warranty I am thinking of replacing the fan myself using the various take apart guides available on the net.

Has anyone here replaced their noisy 12" PB fan (maybe specifically a RevA fan) and was the difference (after replacemnt) in noise readily apparent?
blabba5555555555555555555555555555555555555
     
f1000
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 29, 2004, 06:57 AM
 
Originally posted by shabbasuraj:
I am starting to think that the fan needs to be replaced. Maybe the fan bearings are just 'shot'.
The PB fan is a tiny thing that has to spin at high speeds to produce decent airflow; hence, the noise.
     
shabbasuraj
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 29, 2004, 09:41 AM
 
Originally posted by f1000:
The PB fan is a tiny thing that has to spin at high speeds to produce decent airflow; hence, the noise.
Agreed. However, I remember how the PB fan used to sound when on 'high' and now it sounds much louder than from what I can remember.

Maybe it is just my imagination but I do remember it being quieter.

Regardless, anyone successfully swap out the fan?
blabba5555555555555555555555555555555555555
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:44 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,