MacBook runs hotter than normal

[Chris H.]

Normally, my MacBook CPU runs at 120-125 fahrenheit when nothing else is running. Lately though, it seems to be running rather warm, around 145-150. I have made no changes to the amount of background processes when I boot up the MacBook everyday. I went through Activity Monitor and see nothing too unusual, though the process "system_kernel" is eating 57 threads.

I have thus far disabled all login items and the computer still hits 140-150.

If I close nearly every open application (with exception to Finder), the temp does not drop.

I have dusted the fan out and it seems to be working.

Is there anything else I should look at? Things in the Dashboard? smcFanControl?


I have recently switched over from using Safari to Google Chrome, and have installed the Google Notifier, however, even after those were installed (nearly a week ago), the temperature increase didn't start happening until yesterday. I have also recently updated Flash (if that's any problem).

Could something be going bad here? If I play any flash or java content on the internet (whether in Safari or in Chrome), the temp skyrockets to 170, when normally it doesn't get over 140-150.

 

[robduckyworth]

Is there anything else I should look at? Things in the Dashboard? smcFanControl?

how warm is your environment, are you blocking the ports inadvertently (on a duvet or something).

background widgets running?

dont install smcfancontrol, unless you want to mash your fans.

another thing to do is try a cold boot. turn it off for a couple of hours to cool, then run again.

 

[chscag]

Anything "Flash" is going to drive the CPU temperature upward and the fan accordingly. I have an early 2008 MacBook Core 2 Duo which will run hotter than normal anytime Flash is used.

If you've opened up the machine and cleaned the fan and vents, that should help. It's possible your machine has a faulty thermal sensor which can cause the temps to go up before the fan kicks in and cools things down.

Monitor the RPM speed of your fan when the temperature appears to rise and let us know what it is. Normal idle fan speed for the MacBook should be around 1800 RPM with a temp of around 55 degrees C.

 

[TattooedMac]

Hey Chris have you had a look through The Official "My MacBook/Air/Pro is overheating, what do I do?" Guide.?? Some good info in there.

DashBoard ?? Do you use it ?? I disable DashBoard whenever i do a re-install . . . .

Open Terminal and copy and past this in and hit return

 defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

And then you you need to restart the dock

 killall Dock

Then Return again


As with smcFanControl i think it os ok as long as you know what is causing your fans to ** hard. If you dont as Rod stated it could do more damage to the fans themself.

HTH

Cheers

 

[pigoo3]

how warm is your environment...

This was my first thought as well. With Summertime just around the corner (for the Northern hemisphere)...higher environmental temps WILL increase computer temps.

- Nick

 

[Chris H.]

Yesterday it was 78 in the room, and I decided to shut it off and use another computer. I didn't turn it back on until this afternoon, and right now it's 73 in the room.

Within 5 minutes of turning the MB on today, the temp shot from 120 to 135...here we are an hour later and it's 154 with the fan running at 4100+/- RPM. (Temps in Fahrenheit).

I used to use dashboard for webclips, but now I just use the browser for anything. As for Flash content, before I updated it, the normal operating temp (such as when viewing YouTube videos) was about 145*F...if I view YouTube now, it hits 172*F. I'm highly suspecting the latest flash update is causing some issues with CPU usage. But even if I'm not using anything with flash, there still shouldn't be a reason why this computer is hitting even 150 with hardly anything running.

 

[Chris H.]

Hey Chris have you had a look through The Official "My MacBook/Air/Pro is overheating, what do I do?" Guide.?? Some good info in there.

DashBoard ?? Do you use it ?? I disable DashBoard whenever i do a re-install . . . .

Open Terminal and copy and past this in and hit return

 defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

And then you you need to restart the dock

 killall Dock

Then Return again


As with smcFanControl i think it os ok as long as you know what is causing your fans to ** hard. If you dont as Rod stated it could do more damage to the fans themself.

HTH

Cheers

I killed Dashboard, restarted the Dock. Hardly a dent in the fan speed or the temperature. If I reboot the computer, will that turn Dashboard back on? Or if I hit the Dashboard shortcut key (F4 on this MacBook) will that turn Dashboard back on?

 

[Chris H.]

I have reset the SMC (Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC))
and the fan kicked in extremely high upon boot up, but once I logged in, it still did not drop much. I'm letting the MacBook sit for awhile to cool and will see if it acts up again later tonight.

 

[Chris H.]

Okay...resetting the SMC did little...the system is reporting 135-140*F temperatures (and climbing) with a 3750 RPM speed (also climbing)...and it's only been on for five minutes.

So, what else could be causing this? There are no heavy tasks going on, Dashboard is disabled...could it really be that I'll have to spend money on a new logic board?

 

[pigoo3]

Okay...resetting the SMC did little...the system is reporting 135-140*F temperatures (and climbing) with a 3750 RPM speed (also climbing)...and it's only been on for five minutes.

So, what else could be causing this? There are no heavy tasks going on, Dashboard is disabled...could it really be that I'll have to spend money on a new logic board?

There is always the possibility that the fan is dirty...or some sort of "fuzz" is blocking the flow of cooling air. But folks have reported up to 90°C+ (194°F) with their MacBooks/MacBook Pros.

I saw that you mentioned 172°F when watching You Tube videos. This sounds very normal...considering that the room temp is 73-78°F, you're watching You-Tube videos (very demanding), and you're still well below 194°F which some other folks have reported.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[Chris H.]

There is always the possibility that the fan is dirty...or some sort of "fuzz" is blocking the flow of cooling air. But folks have reported up to 90°C+ (194°F) with their MacBooks/MacBook Pros.

I saw that you mentioned 172°F when watching You Tube videos. This sounds very normal...considering that the room temp is 73-78°F, you're watching You-Tube videos (very demanding), and you're still well below 194°F which some other folks have reported.

HTH,

- Nick

Yes but usually when I view YouTube, it runs at 145-150, not 170.

 

[pigoo3]

Yes but usually when I view YouTube, it runs at 145-150, not 170.

I know what you're talking about...and I've noticed the same thing with my MacBook Pro. With higher environmental temperatures...my MacBook Pro has been running hotter as well.

I know in the Winter where my room temp. may be 65-67°F & low humidity...my MacBook Pro runs cooler. Now that room temps are close to & sometimes above 80°F...my computer is running hotter. Which logically can be expected. Cooling air at 65-67°F is more effective than cooling air at 80°F.

And this doesn't necessarily mean that there's a "linear relationship" between cooling air temps. and computer temps. If cooling air temp. increases by 15°F...that doesn't necessarily mean that computer temp. should only go up by 15°F. Computer temps will probably increase at an increased rate relative to cooling air temps.

- Nick

p.s. As I mentioned...it cols also be a dirty computer...but I'm betting it's the room temperature.

 

[Chris H.]

I know what you're talking about...and I've noticed the same thing with my MacBook Pro. With higher environmental temperatures...my MacBook Pro has been running hotter as well.

I know in the Winter where my room temp. may be 65-67°F & low humidity...my MacBook Pro runs cooler. Now that room temps are close to & sometimes above 80°F...my computer is running hotter. Which logically can be expected. Cooling air at 65-67°F is more effective than cooling air at 80°F.

And this doesn't necessarily mean that there's a "linear relationship" between cooling air temps. and computer temps. If cooling air temp. increases by 15°F...that doesn't necessarily mean that computer temp. should only go up by 15°F. Computer temps will probably increase at an increased rate relative to cooling air temps.

- Nick

p.s. As I mentioned...it cols also be a dirty computer...but I'm betting it's the room temperature.

Hmm...I understand. Well, the normal temperature of the living room is 72...on a hot day, about 78-80 (seeing that we don't yet have the swamp cooler on). Monday was a hot day, yesterday not so much and today not really...but the computer temperature still hits 150 in about an hour...with little room temperature change.


I looked at smcFanControl, and saw:



Why would it say null?


EDIT: A reboot of the computer changed it from "null" to "Exhaust". - there's only one fan in a MacBook though, right?

 

[pigoo3]

Hmm...I understand. Well, the normal temperature of the living room is 72...on a hot day, about 78-80 (seeing that we don't yet have the swamp cooler on). Monday was a hot day, yesterday not so much and today not really...but the computer temperature still hits 150 in about an hour...with little room temperature change.

I looked at smcFanControl, and saw:

Why would it say null?

EDIT: A reboot of the computer changed it from "null" to "Exhaust". - there's only one fan in a MacBook though, right?

150°F is not bad at all. Why SMC fan control says "null/exhaust"...I'm not sure. Maybe uninstalling SMCfancontrol could be tried (I don't use it). But I still say 150°F is not that bad.

- Nick

 

[iWhat]

This thread was featured on Mac-forums Twitter!

 

[Chris H.]

The problem hasn't resolved itself - basically, the computer hits 140-150 after 3-5 minutes of booting up. Even with the room temp sitting at 70*F (now that the A/C system is on)...before it only hit 120-125 unless I was tasking the CPU with things like YouTube, iPhoto, iTunes etc. Which tells me the thermal sensor is going or something. But, as long as the computer still runs and the fan kicks in like it should, I don't have a huge issue. I have a laptop cooling stand, but since MacBook and MBP's don't have vents on the bottom, and the one I have blocks the bottom where the fan blows air out (below the hinge)...it's kind of pointless. I just put the MB on a lap board with a handle slot and have the bottom of the hinge sitting above that slot.

And I really don't know if reinstalling OS X will fix it, but I am going to test the hardware. Can I use any OS X SL disc or does it have to be the disc that came with my MacBook?

 

[Chris H.]

I looked on Intel's website and found a utility that runs in the browser, but I found it only works in Windows. Since I don't dual boot Windows...how can I find out what the minimum temperature the Intel Core 2 Duo (2.26GHz, 3MB L2, 1.07 FSB) is supposed to run at? I plan to open the computer up and put in new thermal paste when I get the new bottom cover...but my Dad wants to know the CPU information first.

 

[crazypotatos]

Ive had the same problem. I don't know if it is because of the summertime. But i;ve recently switched to google chrome as well..

 

[pigoo3]

The problem hasn't resolved itself - basically, the computer hits 140-150 after 3-5 minutes of booting up.

Ideas:

1. Any chance your computer could be dirty (fuzz/dirt clogging things up)? I do remember a couple members having unusual cooling problems with their laptop...and after cleaning...everything was fine (BIG difference). Of course getting to the inside of a laptop is not always easy.

2. Is the darn fan operating? If it is...with those temps. you're certainly hearing it "wailing" away!

3. Have you checked "Activity Monitor" to see if there's some sort of application running that is using up a lot of resources? Something that may be an autoloading "background" app.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[Chris H.]

Ideas:

1. Any chance your computer could be dirty (fuzz/dirt clogging things up)? I do remember a couple members having unusual cooling problems with their laptop...and after cleaning...everything was fine (BIG difference). Of course getting to the inside of a laptop is not always easy.

2. Is the darn fan operating? If it is...with those temps. you're certainly hearing it "wailing" away!

3. Have you checked "Activity Monitor" to see if there's some sort of application running that is using up a lot of resources? Something that may be an autoloading "background" app.

HTH,

- Nick

1) Bottom cover replaced, fan blown out with canned air. Rebooted computer and fan is hitting 4200 RPM at 145-50*F. Seems to be blowing hard.

2) (See above).

3) Activity Monitor still shows nothing out of place. I went through my applications folder and weeded out the apps I no longer need or haven't really ever used. Computer seems to be running just a hair cooler than it has been, even in a 75*F room. (See #1).


The system seems to heat up about +/- 5 every ten-twenty minutes, peaking at +/- 155*F...with increase if I run iTunes, iPhoto, a YouTube video, a Java game on the internet, a local game off the hard drive (the game is called 4x4 Evo 2)...for the last year though, the running temperature, even in a 75*F room was only about 120-130*F if I left the computer to idle. Seeing that when I started college in August last year, I got into the (rather bad) habit of leaving the computer on with the lid open 24/7 - only to reboot if necessary. Whoops! That's probably why I'm having issues now.