[MBP 2010 15"] How long is it appropriate to use the Macbook fan without a case?

[VillalobosChamp]

Hey, you see, this week I ran into a problem with my MacBook. From a few days to here I noticed that one of the fans was behaving erratically. It made a strange noise, like a buzzing sound or a car at the start, and the revolutions dropped abruptly and then went up, as if trying to return to its normal speed.

After cleaning the fan twice, restarting the SMC, and seeing that this was still happening, with the least amount of time between each event, I decided to take action.

Yesterday, I decided to experiment to see the symptoms, after my "exhaustive" investigation I noticed that the casing and the ventilator were bumping into each other, putting light pressure with my finger "fixed" it. But as soon as I moved the machine, it broke down again, so as my makeshift solution I decided to leave that fan without a casing for the time being, attaching it to the base with tape.

In retrospect, this was already happening to me, because just by moving my computer slightly up and down in bed, it sounded like a fan was "stuck" as if something was bumping into it.

My question is, is it safe to use the fan this way? for how long? can I fix this other way than replacing it? It's not that I'm not interested in changing it, if there's no alternative, but if there's a way to extend the life of the gadget as much as possible, better to be that way.

 

[leman]

I don’t think that it’s unsafe, but I am not sure whether there is much point to running a fan like this - after all, the case guides the airflow and makes sure that the hot air is extracted from the laptop. Without a case the fan will probably just spread the hot air around.

Is there maybe a way fir you to bend the plastic so that it no longer rubs on the fan? Or even better, maybe you can find a replacement part somewhere?

 

[ScreenSavers]

That case directs the airflow. I’d use it or replace the whole thing.

 

[smbu2000]

Those fans are probably 7-8 years old now, so it may just be their time. I’d be worried about something happening and that fan coming off/moving to the side and possibly damaging your logic board which would be a much more costly fix.
Since you seem adept at navigating through the internals of your MBP, then your best bet would be to swap it out. You can get a set of L/R fans for the Unibody MBP for only $20 from Amazon. Personally, I’d swap out the fans if I were you as it’s not worth the risk and they are relatively cheap.

 

[Painter2002]

Hey, you see, this week I ran into a problem with my MacBook. From a few days to here I noticed that one of the fans was behaving erratically. It made a strange noise, like a buzzing sound or a car at the start, and the revolutions dropped abruptly and then went up, as if trying to return to its normal speed.

After cleaning the fan twice, restarting the SMC, and seeing that this was still happening, with the least amount of time between each event, I decided to take action.

Yesterday, I decided to experiment to see the symptoms, after my "exhaustive" investigation I noticed that the casing and the ventilator were bumping into each other, putting light pressure with my finger "fixed" it. But as soon as I moved the machine, it broke down again, so as my makeshift solution I decided to leave that fan without a casing for the time being, attaching it to the base with tape.

In retrospect, this was already happening to me, because just by moving my computer slightly up and down in bed, it sounded like a fan was "stuck" as if something was bumping into it.

My question is, is it safe to use the fan this way? for how long? can I fix this other way than replacing it? It's not that I'm not interested in changing it, if there's no alternative, but if there's a way to extend the life of the gadget as much as possible, better to be that way.



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I'd vote no, it's not safe for long term use... reason being as other members have said, that the fan guards direct the air flow a particular way that may best cools the proper components. Having no guard on the fan could possible result in uneven heat management which cause some components to overheat unnecessarily, not to mention just cover the logic board and other components with dust.

I'd go online and order the replacement fans... they should be pretty easy to replace on that gen MacBook.