Hot Powerbook!

No, I mean really hot. My 15-inch G4 1gig Powerbook has been running really hot, much more so than it ever has as far as I recall. The internal fan never used to come on; now it does regularly, even when I have the computer on a MacMice stand with dual cooling fans. The back is very hot to the touch. Is this a symptom of something wrong? Thanks for any input.

JMH said:

No, I mean really hot. My 15-inch G4 1gig Powerbook has been running really hot, much more so than it ever has as far as I recall. The internal fan never used to come on; now it does regularly, even when I have the computer on a MacMice stand with dual cooling fans. The back is very hot to the touch. Is this a symptom of something wrong? Thanks for any input.

Click to expand...

What programs are you running when you encounter this? And what is she wearing?

Don't mind the second question it is a joke just in case you wonder, hehe.

How hot? My iBook gets up to anywhere from 160 to 200. You just learn to cope with your computer's special needs. Haha.

Oh brother; I should have worded this question more carefully . . .

I don't run any power-intensive programs at all. I'm a writer, so mostly Word for Mac, Firefox, Acrobat, Mail. No spreadsheets or complicated graphics programs.

This could be just my imagination, but I don't think so.

JMH said:

Oh brother; I should have worded this question more carefully . . .

I don't run any power-intensive programs at all. I'm a writer, so mostly Word for Mac, Firefox, Acrobat, Mail. No spreadsheets or complicated graphics programs.

This could be just my imagination, but I don't think so.

Click to expand...

I don't live with him but my Dad has mentioned sometimes the PB gets a little hot. Not insanely hot though like you are saying. I would get that checked out. It shouldn't be getting that hot imo for the stuff you do, maybe a little warm but not scorching like that. Do you run Dashboard? I hear that uses a lot of resources so that might contribute to it some.

There are two fans. Are you sure both are working? The one on right runs first, if it gets real hot the one on the left turns on too. You can tell by feeling the air come out from behind. The left fan is located under the 2,3,W,E keys and the right one under the 0,-,P,[ keys.

ed724

I have a basic Dashboard in the background; does it use resources if it isn't up?

And I'll check on the internal fans--I didn't know there were two.

I suppose I should take it in and have it checked.

Thanks everyone for the ideas.

I do protein folds and my cpu never gets over like 140.

Here a are a number of threads from a search of the forums that may offer answers:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23308&highlight=powerbook+heat+hot

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17057&highlight=powerbook+heat+hot

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12772&highlight=powerbook+heat+hot

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12013&highlight=powerbook+heat+hot

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10067&highlight=powerbook+heat+hot

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8080&highlight=powerbook+heat+hot

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6265&highlight=powerbook+heat+hot

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1460&highlight=powerbook+heat+hot

Thank you. I found another forum where this problem is being discussed; apparently I'm not the only one who has noticed this. There is some hint that the problem begins after upgrading to Tiger.

Yeah I have the most recent PB 12", and since upgrading to 10.4.2 a fan is usually on, running at it's lowest speed. Before 10.4.2, sometimes there wouldn't be a fan at all which was nice.
Also consider the temperatire of the room- if it's summer where you are, this might have some bearing. It's winter here in Australia, I don't think I wanna know how mental my fans are gonna go in summer.

sorry for my lack of knowledge, i am a new user to the world of mac's. Does the powerbook have a built in system to check the internal tempretures?
Mine gets warm over prolonged intensive use, but not at all during normal usage.
Thanks
Mike

mikesnail said:

sorry for my lack of knowledge, i am a new user to the world of mac's. Does the powerbook have a built in system to check the internal tempretures?
Mine gets warm over prolonged intensive use, but not at all during normal usage.
Thanks
Mike

Click to expand...

there are several sensors inside the powerbook that can monitor the temperature of processor, battery, etc. there's a handy little app called, appropriately enough, Temperature Monitor, that you can set to run in the background and keep tabs on your book's inner workings. it can be found here:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994