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internal SSD is overheating, how to fix

pierino23

pierino23

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 28, 2018
3
0
Hi all! This is my first post here.

I'm on my 50s and I have been playing with hardware since .. 1987, my first mac was the SE.
Now I'm on the software side of IT for living and even if I can still do some hacking I can not keep pace with hdw, that's why I'm asking some help here.

I replaced my Man Mini 2011 with an internal SSD. It works fine but it overheats and the mac freezes after a while. Which solution do you suggest?
I 'm considering:
1. externalize the SSD but I do not want to loose speed and still being able to boot. My first idea was to extend the SATA connector .. is it doable? Alternatively to connect it to USB port or Thunderbolt ot Firewire, but how? I'm lost here with adapters, cables, cases ... it blows my mind.
2. cooling it

thanks if you can give me an advice

all the best
Pierfranco
 
When did you last open up to clean the fan?
Feet underneath. About 3/4", that'll improve airflow.
I had a mini that ran hot no matter what I did.
Slapped a 6X6X0.5" chunk of aluminum under it, a far better heat sink than air.
Runs nice and cool now.
Likely have to buy the metal online.
 
I've good experience with Macs Fan Control on my mid 2010 Mac mini + EVO 1TB SSD. This utility/app provides you with an overview on the various temperature sensors, and enables you to switch the control of the fan speed from "automatic" to "Custom ...", i.e. triggered by one of the temperature sensors (like, e.g., CPU diode), and to select a faster speed. In my experience, a few 100 rpm higher fan speed already significantly reduces internal temperatures w/o a significant increase in noise level.

In your case it might be that the internal temperature sensor originally attached to the HD is not thermally connected to the SSD, and thus does not report the correct temperature.

Download is free, but of course the developers appreciate any financial support.
https://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control
https://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control/download
 
I burned out a Mac Mini because I kept it on its belly in a cabinet. Since then, I've kept my Mini vertical with an aluminum stand made for that purpose and haven't had an issue since.
 
P.S.: Also never fill up your SSD to more than 85% to 90% of its capacity. Mac OS creates lots of temporary files (logs, swap, etc.). Once only 10% to 15% of available disk space remain, the amount of disk I/O seems to pick up noticeable.
 
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chrfr said:
How did you come to the diagnosis that the SSD is overheating? This isn't a typical problem for a Mac Mini.
Click to expand...
Is slows down, it becomes non responsive, mouse cursor lags ... it is so hot that I can barely hold it my hand
[doublepost=1535580021][/doublepost]
Fozziebear40 said:
Isn't their a thermo sensor you have to make sure to stick back on when you replace the HDD? I vaguely remember it was a step you had to do with a 2010 Mini.
Click to expand...
mm, I do not remember .. k, tks, I will check
[doublepost=1535580598][/doublepost]
wol said:
I've good experience with Macs Fan Control on my mid 2010 Mac mini + EVO 1TB SSD. This utility/app provides you with an overview on the various temperature sensors, and enables you to switch the control of the fan speed from "automatic" to "Custom ...", i.e. triggered by one of the temperature sensors (like, e.g., CPU diode), and to select a faster speed. In my experience, a few 100 rpm higher fan speed already significantly reduces internal temperatures w/o a significant increase in noise level.
Click to expand...
Great thanks! I gave my contribution!
[doublepost=1535580648][/doublepost]
LorenK said:
I burned out a Mac Mini because I kept it on its belly in a cabinet. Since then, I've kept my Mini vertical with an aluminum stand made for that purpose and haven't had an issue since.
Click to expand...
it's vertically already! ;)
 
pierino23 said:
Is slows down, it becomes non responsive, mouse cursor lags ... it is so hot that I can barely hold it my hand
Click to expand...

If it's physically that hot, then it's not a temperature sensor or anything like that. Even fan failure won't make it go that hot if you're not doing much with it. SSDs never normally get even close to that hot. Most likely it's either really gummed up inside (but you just opened it to add the SSD...) or it's got some sort of electrical issue, maybe even inside the SSD
 
pierino23 said:
Is slows down, it becomes non responsive, mouse cursor lags ... it is so hot that I can barely hold it my hand
Click to expand...
Did you enable TRIM support for the 3rd party SSD? After a long while of running an SSD without TRIM it can experience the symptoms you describe.

Open Terminal and type this:
Code: 
sudo trimforce enable
After you do that and reboot, the TRIM commands will start doing their thing and cleaning up the SSD. It won't take too long before your computer starts acting normal again.
 
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SandboxGeneral said:
Did you enable TRIM support for the 3rd party SSD? After a long while of running an SSD without TRIM it can experience the symptoms you describe.
Click to expand...

I ran a 2011 Mini for 3 years before turning on TRIM with it. No heat problems. Quite a few others on macrumors have done the same. Also, a typical sata SSD only burns about 5-6W when active, which isn't even close to enough power to make a Mini so hot "that I can barely hold it my hand"

Something is either keeping in the heat or else pulling on the power supply to a max level
 
twalk said:
(...) Also, a typical sata SSD only burns about 5-6W when active, which isn't even close to enough power to make a Mini so hot "that I can barely hold it my hand"

Something is either keeping in the heat or else pulling on the power supply to a max level
Click to expand...

Some of the older (2010 vintage) Transcend SSDs actually were drawing considerable more power, and became quite hot during write operations. My first Mac mini SSD upgrade was a 120 (128?) GB SATA2 Transcend SSD. Compared to the stock HD it did speed up booting and responsiveness of the mid 2007 Mac mini quite a bit. The downside was the increased thermal load, causing the fan to spool up, and thus a noticeable increase in the noise level.
 
I’ve never come across an overheating SSD before, certainly not in a MAC.

Have you tried using third party software to measure the temperatures?

I know if you replace the HDD with an SSD in an iMac, it can throw the thermal sensor off, causing the fans to ramp up to 100%
 
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