Macbook Pro fan suddenly turned off?

[bobjohnson457]

I have a 2012 13-inch MBP w/ OSX 10.12.6, 2.5 i5 and 4GB ram

I was running some cpu intensive applications, so the fan was spinning very fast and loudly.

Suddenly, my mac made a loud clicking noise (I could feel it in the laptop as my hands were on the keyboard, it felt/sounded like something broke), and the fan turned off completely. I then closed most of my applications to avoid overheating. After a while, the mac made the clicking noise again (this time quieter) and the fan turned on and started to run at max speed, then slowed down to normal.

Now, everything seems to be fine. Any ideas about what happened?

 

[dear.leader]

Sounds like some kind of debris might have got caught in the fan. With a 2012 MBP, it wouldn't be unusual for there to be quite a bit of dust, and potentially other misc debris caught in the dust at this point. The debris dislodged and clogged the fan. Either that or your fan is on the way out

Best case scenario you just need to open up the bottom case, remove the fan, and vacuum. Worse case scenario you need to replace the CPU fan (part number 661-4946) which would cost ~$5.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Don’t vacuum! Use canned air and blow the dust out! Vacuuming can create static discharge which kills RAM chips.

 

[jerryk]

Remove the back and clean out the fans. Inspect the fans for damage and ducts for debris.

 

[dear.leader]

Don’t vacuum! Use canned air and blow the dust out! Vacuuming can create static discharge which kills RAM chips.

Very good point!

I use one of these ESD safe Metrovac vacuums and totally forgot to bring that up.
https://www.metrovacworld.com/product/DataVac_2_ESD_Safe_Maintenance_System/overview

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Very good point!

I use one of these ESD safe Metrovac vacuums and totally forgot to bring that up.
https://www.metrovacworld.com/product/DataVac_2_ESD_Safe_Maintenance_System/overview

I’m thinking canned air may be slightly more economical in this instance.

 

[dear.leader]

I’m thinking canned air may be slightly more economical in this instance.

Just a bit more economical.

If you're ever gonna be in the position of working on hundreds or thousands of computers though, it's a dream to work with!

 

[Greene]

Before you do this, lookup some more info on how to clean fans. Compressed air will work, but iirc, many manufactures recommend stabilizing the fan blades to keep them from spinning around while you're using the air. Sometimes the direction and speed the fan blades will spin can damage the motor.

Pencil wouldn't be a bad stabilizer, but I would do a bit of research before attempting to clean them.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Before you do this, lookup some more info on how to clean fans. Compressed air will work, but iirc, many manufactures recommend stabilizing the fan blades to keep them from spinning around while you're using the air. Sometimes the direction and speed the fan blades will spin can damage the motor.

Pencil wouldn't be a bad stabilizer, but I would do a bit of research before attempting to clean them.

I would hope they were brushless with electronic speed controls but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fan tear down? Now I’m curious, gotta fire up the search engine.

That’s was quick LOL. Stamped brushless on the module shown here

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/Ma...y-and-MacBook-13-Inch-Unibody-Fan/IF163-022-1