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MP 1,1-5,1 Cleaning Mac Pro 2010 CPU heatsink and i see this

Y

yakult121

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 15, 2011
85
15
Hey Chaps,

A. I'm helping a friend clean up his dual proc Macpro 5,1 and i see discoloration on the cpu block to the heatsink pipes. Is this leakage of sorts? Should i be concerned?

a.png


B. The dual CPU board was littered with dust bunnies and had some gooey stuff on the SMD chips surrounding the CPUs. Removed them using 99% IPA.

C. How should i clean the heat sink fins? They have dust which is not really reachable unless using cotton buds. Should i dip the cotton buds in 99% IPA before cleaning? Any ideas?

D. Any one encountered the fan in the heatsink, stop working?
 
Hi,

A: Copper oxidates easily and heat has it's influence on the color too, looks normal to me...

B: this is a statement, not a question I suppose...

C: The fins are very thin and easy to bend etc. I'd use canned air or a compressor to blow all dust out.
Might be most effective to blow in the opposite direction the air passes during use.

D: The fan might be completely blocked with dust, so I'd remove it and clean it completely.
You could test the fan by connecting 3 pins: ground (pin4) , +12v(pin 3) and another Voltage somewhere between +5 and +12 V on pin 1

For the pinout check post # 171:
forums.macrumors.com

Mac Pro (4.1/5.1) aftermarket fans WITH automatic SMC control

I have replaced intake and exhaust fans and the difference is ... audible. The pin swapping wasnt that easy but it was a success in the end. next up is the psu fan with rerouting of the cable. Then I’ll see where I stand. But I’m happy already. Thanks for your support and hard work put into this...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
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Thanks mate!

About Cleaning heatsink fins - Would you know if there is/are any non-stick spray or liquid coating that can stop dust bunnies from crowding in-between fins?

KeesMacPro said:
Hi,

A: Copper oxidates easily and heat has it's influence on the color too, looks normal to me...

B: this is a statement, not a question I suppose...

C: The fins are very thin and easy to bend etc. I'd use canned air or a compressor to blow all dust out.
Might be most effective to blow in the opposite direction the air passes during use.

D: The fan might be completely blocked with dust, so I'd remove it and clean it completely.
You could test the fan by connecting 3 pins: ground (pin4) , +12v(pin 3) and another Voltage somewhere between +5 and +12 V on pin 1

For the pinout check post # 171:
forums.macrumors.com

Mac Pro (4.1/5.1) aftermarket fans WITH automatic SMC control

I have replaced intake and exhaust fans and the difference is ... audible. The pin swapping wasnt that easy but it was a success in the end. next up is the psu fan with rerouting of the cable. Then I’ll see where I stand. But I’m happy already. Thanks for your support and hard work put into this...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Click to expand...
 
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yakult121 said:
…liquid coating that can stop dust bunnies from crowding in-between fins?
Click to expand...
…not Yakult anyway!

I think you are overthinking things.

While, there’s some clear evidence that removing the dust on cooling elements results in lower temperatures, bear in mind that this might be the first time in a decade this dual cMP has been cleaned out.

Clean it out once every 24 months and you’ll be fine. Unless you are planning on taxing a pair of 5690s very very hard over prolonged periods in a hot climate you can be assured that the cooling works as is.
 
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yakult121 said:
Thanks mate!

About Cleaning heatsink fins - Would you know if there is/are any non-stick spray or liquid coating that can stop dust bunnies from crowding in-between fins?
Click to expand...
I don't know if anything like that exist, but I won't recommend that anyway.

1) It's so easy to blow the dust away. I do that about every 2 weeks, just a 5 min job, no need to make it too complicated.

2) Any coating may reduce the heat transfer efficiency

3) There is no need to make it 100% dust free, just clean it regularly (frequency depends on how dusty your place is). Blow most dust away in few minutes, then the heatsink will work as expected. Spend much more time and effort to make it "more dust free" isn't that time / cost effective.

4) No matter what you coat. The dust can attach onto the heatsink eventually. Which makes it meaningless (in long run).

N.B. I live in a dusty city, therefore, need to clean it every 2 weeks. Otherwise, I can clearly see the fans need to work harder to keep the same temperature. That's usually a sign for me to do the cleaning. But as I said, that's just a 5min job. So, no big deal.
 
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14UG said:
…not Yakult anyway!

I think you are overthinking things.

While, there’s some clear evidence that removing the dust on cooling elements results in lower temperatures, bear in mind that this might be the first time in a decade this dual cMP has been cleaned out.

Clean it out once every 24 months and you’ll be fine. Unless you are planning on taxing a pair of 5690s very very hard over prolonged periods in a hot climate you can be assured that the cooling works as is.
Click to expand...
Probiotics don't go well with CPUs! Hah!
You're right - This is the first time the case was opened, since 2011. Imagine all that non-covid tainted dust!
 
h9826790 said:
I don't know if anything like that exist, but I won't recommend that anyway.

1) It's so easy to blow the dust away. I do that about every 2 weeks, just a 5 min job, no need to make it too complicated.

2) Any coating may reduce the heat transfer efficiency

3) There is no need to make it 100% dust free, just clean it regularly (frequency depends on how dusty your place is). Blow most dust away in few minutes, then the heatsink will work as expected. Spend much more time and effort to make it "more dust free" isn't that time / cost effective.

4) No matter what you coat. The dust can attach onto the heatsink eventually. Which makes it meaningless (in long run).

N.B. I live in a dusty city, therefore, need to clean it every 2 weeks. Otherwise, I can clearly see the fans need to work harder to keep the same temperature. That's usually a sign for me to do the cleaning. But as I said, that's just a 5min job. So, no big deal.
Click to expand...
Got you! I'll stick with the air blower!
 
I hope no one minds me adding on to this thread.

I've flipped the dual CPU logic board over and saw this oil-like sheen patch. I've tried cleaning with 99% IPA but it's not removed. Any ideas?

b.png
 
yakult121 said:
I hope no one minds me adding on to this thread.

I've flipped the dual CPU logic board over and saw this oil-like sheen patch. I've tried cleaning with 99% IPA but it's not removed. Any ideas?

View attachment 1775995
Click to expand...
I doubt that this is oil residue from the degradation of the thermal pads between the heatsink/PWM, seems more no-clean solder flux residue, maybe this board was re-worked/re-furbished.
 
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tsialex said:
I doubt that this is oil residue from the degradation of the thermal pads between the heatsink/PWM, seems more no-clean solder flux residue, maybe this board was re-worked/re-furbished.
Click to expand...
You are right, @tsialex. I found tiny warranty stickers on the logic board too.

Probably unlinked to the reworked logic board, this Mac Pro stopped working after repasting with new Artic MX4. :(

1. OVTMP CPUA and OVTMP CPUB blinked red briefly when plugged into power.
2. Pressing the DIAG button illuminated the 5V STBY LED in amber.
3. Jumpered SYS_PWR solder pads but nothing happened. EFI_DONE led did not illuminate.

Looks like bricked logic board after reading all related "Mac Pro unable to boot threads" here.

Wish there were schematics available to help diagnose the logic board problems...
 
yakult121 said:
You are right, @tsialex. I found tiny warranty stickers on the logic board too.

Probably unlinked to the reworked logic board, this Mac Pro stopped working after repasting with new Artic MX4. :(

1. OVTMP CPUA and OVTMP CPUB blinked red briefly when plugged into power.
2. Pressing the DIAG button illuminated the 5V STBY LED in amber.
3. Jumpered SYS_PWR solder pads but nothing happened. EFI_DONE led did not illuminate.

Looks like bricked logic board after reading all related "Mac Pro unable to boot threads" here.

Wish there were schematics available to help diagnose the logic board problems...
Click to expand...
Buy a brand new Macronix MX25L3206E, program it with 10.14.6 144.0.0.0.0 MP51.fd Install\ macOS\ Mojave/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/Firmware/MP51.fd then replace the SPI flash memory of the backplane. If it's a SPI flash memory failure, it will boot again.
 
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Ahh I saw your advice on replacing the flash chip in the earlier threads!

I guess there is no harm or risk extracting existing flash memory from a non-working Mac PRo just to poke around. Though, would it make sense to extract the flash memory from a working Mac Pro, in case the flash memory dies, for future reflash (So i can regain iMessage access, etc)?

I'm on my way to digikey! Thanks again @tsialex!
 
yakult121 said:
I'm on my way to digikey! Thanks again @tsialex!
Click to expand...
Btw, if it's SPI flash failure, MP51.fd is enough to boot (MP51.fd it's the non-serialised/no hardware-IDs generic firmware upgrade image), but not to access iCloud/Messages/FaceTime and the Mac Pro will need a BootROM reconstruction.
 
Uhm maybe i am not explaining myself or i am not that good at understanding my beloved cMP. Here a pic from the OP. All i tried to say was that it coule happen that the fan connectors don’t sit in properly after screwing and don’t make proper connection. If real 5,1 don’t run this risk at all, then that’s good to know.
 

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Stex said:
Uhm maybe i am not explaining myself or i am not that good at understanding my beloved cMP. Here a pic from the OP. All i tried to say was that it coule happen that the fan connectors don’t sit in properly after screwing and don’t make proper connection. If real 5,1 don’t run this risk at all, then that’s good to know.
Click to expand...
Only happens with early-2009 dual-CPU heatsinks.

Early-2009 single CPU and all mid-2010/mid-2012 models have a different heatsink that don't have the problem you had, since the heatsink is made for the lidded Xeons.
 
tsialex said:
Exactly, only a early-2009 dual CPU need this when you change to a lidded Xeon.
Click to expand...
Got it. I understand. But just in case, I swapped my original delidded CPUs with delidded xeons… and not lidded ones. So I did not hav extra space or anything like that, which i am aware happens if you swap with lidded ones on 4,1.
 
tsialex said:
Buy a brand new Macronix MX25L3206E, program it with 10.14.6 144.0.0.0.0 MP51.fd Install\ macOS\ Mojave/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/Firmware/MP51.fd then replace the SPI flash memory of the backplane. If it's a SPI flash memory failure, it will boot again.
Click to expand...
Hey @tsialex! If I use this MP51.fd update from Mojave, does this mean I’ll need to install Mojave or can I install High Sierra instead?
 
yakult121 said:
Hey @tsialex! If I use this MP51.fd update from Mojave, does this mean I’ll need to install Mojave or can I install High Sierra instead?
Click to expand...
forums.macrumors.com

MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
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yakult121 said:
Hey Chaps,

A. I'm helping a friend clean up his dual proc Macpro 5,1 and i see discoloration on the cpu block to the heatsink pipes. Is this leakage of sorts? Should i be concerned?

View attachment 1775855

B. The dual CPU board was littered with dust bunnies and had some gooey stuff on the SMD chips surrounding the CPUs. Removed them using 99% IPA.

C. How should i clean the heat sink fins? They have dust which is not really reachable unless using cotton buds. Should i dip the cotton buds in 99% IPA before cleaning? Any ideas?

D. Any one encountered the fan in the heatsink, stop working?
Click to expand...
silver solder from hard soldering to bring the heat pipe and the cpu plate together?


E6236751-505E-40DF-9329-041BA4E72F9B.jpeg
 
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