white macbook overheating?

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I have a white 13" macbook and while it's always run hot as it were, it's now getting to what I would consider to be worrying temperatures on a regular basis from "normal" use.

I installed smcfancontrol when it first started feeling really hot and lately it seems to be running at around 71-73 degrees(celcius) most of the time(the lowest temperature when in use is maybe 64 if it hasn't been on long). It's got up to 83+ before now and as soon as I noticed that I switched it off and let it cool down for a couple of hours before using it again. Also, the bit of the hinge that's closest to the fans has yellowed in the last couple of months :(

Any ideas on what could be causing it to be getting to such temperatures and if I can do anything to help? "Normal" use for me is having skype, adium and firefox open(sometimes colloquy and/or textedit too). I'm not doing anything exciting on firefox either, just browsing forums and occasionally checking facebook, but facebook apps make it worse so I've been avoiding that. A couple of times I've left preview open after viewing an image or something and when I've noticed and closed out of it things seem less laggy and maybe a couple of degrees cooler, but firefox seems to be the biggest cause. It never used to run this hot and I've always used those three apps. Using it on a flat surface doesn't seem to make any difference, I'm wondering if maybe something's up with the fans? I can't remember the last time they weren't whirring away, but it was months ago(they sound pretty normal though), but there's not a lot of air coming out :s and touching the hinge just now it's actually much hotter to the touch than the bottom of the laptop.

The actual laptop itself is in good condition, although it has a few hairline cracks on the base near the hinge(they look like scratches) and it does sometimes click when I open it up which I think is the cause of those, it's as if thehinge is connected too close to the base or something.

Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated! I know apple laptops are notorious for overheating, but even my ibook never got this hot. I'm pretty worried about it reaching temps over 80 even it was only a couple of times so far.

Probably just co-incidence, but it's been doing it since just after I got back from NY where I used it with the charger plugged in via a cheap plug adapter a couple of times(I'm from the UK and so are my macbook and charger).

edit: Is "coolbook" worth a try or is it likely to cause other problems?
 
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I know it's a bit of a wall of text, but:
...

I installed smcfancontrol when it first started feeling really hot ...
I have smcfancontrol, but the running temperature is constantly that high. I was hoping for some kind of solution/to find out what might be up with it rather than just to constantly run the fans at the maximum speed for the rest of my macbook's life ;p
 
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Sounds like maybe you have a fan that's not working quite correctly. Are you browsing sites that have a lot of flash content? That will increase the CPU usage considerably...
 
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Sounds like maybe you have a fan that's not working quite correctly. Are you browsing sites that have a lot of flash content? That will increase the CPU usage considerably...
Nope, just forums like this one mostly. Some of the sites I visit do have flash content, but I don't use it unless I have to as it increases the heat/fan activity even more and lags my browser.

Is there anything that will check if my fans are working right?
 

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Is there anything that will check if my fans are working right?/QUOTE]

Are you adept at taking your machine apart? If you think you can, you might want to take a look at a couple of things:

1. The fan itself. It may be clogged with dirt. (Also check the vents behind the hinges on your MacBook)

2. The CPU heat sink assembly. Look for any heat sink compound bleeding. There have been reported cases of users who were able to remove the heat sink assembly, clean it and apply new compound. Dramatic temperature difference afterward.

Do some Googling about the above. You'll probably come across quite a few instances of the same.

Instructions on how to take your white MacBook apart can be found at the
iFixit: Apple Mac, MacBook, iPod, and iPhone Repair Parts website. Look for your model year MacBook.

Regards.
 
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Is there anything that will check if my fans are working right?

Are you adept at taking your machine apart? If you think you can, you might want to take a look at a couple of things:

1. The fan itself. It may be clogged with dirt. (Also check the vents behind the hinges on your MacBook)

2. The CPU heat sink assembly. Look for any heat sink compound bleeding. There have been reported cases of users who were able to remove the heat sink assembly, clean it and apply new compound. Dramatic temperature difference afterward.

Do some Googling about the above. You'll probably come across quite a few instances of the same.

Instructions on how to take your white MacBook apart can be found at the
iFixit: Apple Mac, MacBook, iPod, and iPhone Repair Parts website. Look for your model year MacBook.

Regards.

Thank you! That's exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, I will try it :3

hairybottle123/sammax12: The nearest Apple store is hours away, I don't drive and I'm broke. If it was a serious issue and/or there was no way of trying to fix it with contacting Apple then of course I would take it to an Apple store, but at this stage it's more of a performance issue imho and personally I prefer to try and solve issues at home first where possible which is why I asked here. Often when posting on forums you find someone who has had the same problem or just knows more than you, try it yourselves next time, you might save a few quid ;)
 

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