MBP, heat and whine FIXED?!

[TWEO]

When I plug in the AC adapter, it blinks a light orange. Anyone know what that means? It's very faint.

Sorry to say, but I have no idea what that means. Are you sure that the chips are making good contact with the copper heatsinks ? And are you sure the power connector is fully plugged in ?

 

[dailo]

I am positive, looks like there is a power problem . I was really careful when I was taking everything out, but it looks like I may have damaged something with the power supply or something. Even with just the AC plugged in I can't get the power to come on at all. Feel like such an idiot!!

 

[TWEO]

Really sorry to hear that. What happens if you put the battery in but don't connect the AC ?

 

[dailo]

Same thing, but if I push on the connector that goes from the battery to the boad the HD and fans start to move. Which is the reason why I believe the connector to the board is fine, but somewhere before that is goofed up.

 

[generik]

I offer to buy that busted machine off your hands as parts for a princely $100

 

[TWEO]

I'm out of suggestions for now and am gonna get some sleep (1 AM here). Hope somebody drops by here with a solution or suggestion in the meantime. Hope your MBP will be fine when I get back tomorrow and if it's not, I hope you manage to get some pictures online.

Best of luck.

 

[MaTiCeK]

I'm no expert, but I suggest you try taking it apart once again, look at all the contacts carefully if something is damaged, then if nothing seems wrong, put it together once again.


To my question:

How many of have done this mode? I have a 3 days old w8613 MBP. And man is it hot. I'm thinkig of taking it back to the apple reseller and give him printouts of this thread with the pictures from ifixit and the one recoilfx made, give them a tube of AC5 and tell them to fix it for me, so that my warranty doesn't void.

 

[generik]

I'm no expert, but I suggest you try taking it apart once again, look at all the contacts carefully if something is damaged, then if nothing seems wrong, put it together once again.

I strongly recommend against this. What if he bungles up the job and ruins his Macbook Pro? I'd return the laptop under the claim of false advertising, after all Pro grade products are not supposed to hiss and whinge!

(Heck, for cameras Pro equipment are even weather sealed, but that's another matter altogether)

 

[Harryc]

Same thing, but if I push on the connector that goes from the battery to the boad the HD and fans start to move. Which is the reason why I believe the connector to the board is fine, but somewhere before that is goofed up.

I have been building my own PC's for many years, with both Intel and AMD processors, so I speak from experience. If you did not torque down the T6 Torx screws on the Logic board before powering up, there is a very good chance that you fried your Intel Duo processor. As a previous poster mentioned, there is a thermal diode built into the cores that is supposed to shut the power down if the heat gets too high, but my experience shows that often it is not quick enough to avoid permanent heat damage to the core/s. By not torquing down these important screws, you negated the contact between the CPU/s and the heatpipe. One way to check for this problem, is to measure the temperature as close to the core/s as you can get a probe. If it is cool after being on for a few moments, they are dead. In addition, I would warn anyone attempting this 'fix' , not to do it if you do not have any computer building experience.

 

[dailo]

I've been building/taking apart computers for quite some time as well. I put pressure on the board before doing this, and I know that there was definately contact to the heatsink. Also the system never powered on, the fans never moved. I think it's still a power supply problem as when I hook it up to the AC I get the led to light, but it's very fait and doesn't charge the battery. Something there is still messed up. First time I've ever had a problem putting something back togeather, but I guess I picked a bad time to mess up.

I was quite suprised how poor the thermal application was when I took it out, so I would recommend this fix to anyone else, just be careful!

 

[excalibur313]

So what has happened in the meantime? I'm waiting on pins and needles!

 

[jimmie]

dailo, I'm joining up to the same camp you're in! Damn it. faint orange blinking..
I think I have to take appart all over again and need to make sure some plugs are secure... man, it's gonna take some time

 

[jimmie]

ok, finally it's in the order again. Let's see if it improves now..

 

[Krevnik]

I did the work on my own MBP... and it can still get pretty warm... BUT, it does properly turn on the fans when under heavy load (compiling/gaming). So overall, it is quite a bit cooler than before under load. Not so much when under a light/idle load though, as it seems that tripping the temp sensors drives down the temp to a point lower than idle. My guess is that the turn-off magic temp is much lower than the turn-on magic temp.

 

[Mojo67821]

So it is not an issue of the brand of paste.
The main problem being discussed at the Apple site is that the paste was improperly applied at the factory, and that removing and reapplying a thin, even layer of (any brand of) paste results in greater conduction of heat from the CPU to the heatsink.

Is this issue being raised with Apple? Because personally there is no way in hell that I'm opening up my 2,500 dollar computer and doing this procedure. I give anyone credit who has the balls to do this, even if it is "simple."

My question is, if this is becoming a documented problem, isn't it possible to take this up with Apple and have them fix it themselves?

I would really like to contact them and send them some of this evidence so that they can fix mine. What do you guys think?

 

[excalibur313]

Is this issue being raised with Apple? Because personally there is no way in hell that I'm opening up my 2,500 dollar computer and doing this procedure. I give anyone credit who has the balls to do this, even if it is "simple."

My question is, if this is becoming a documented problem, isn't it possible to take this up with Apple and have them fix it themselves?

I would really like to contact them and send them some of this evidence so that they can fix mine. What do you guys think?

The problem a forum member on the offical macbook forums ran into is that the repair person didn't want to follow instructions off the internet because it could be used to "frame apple" if anything went wrong. Maybe the guy was in a grouchy mood but I don't know how many geniuses would just crack open a mbp just to remove some thermal paste. Although I sure hope they do soon!

 

[Mojo67821]

The problem a forum member on the offical macbook forums ran into is that the repair person didn't want to follow instructions off the internet because it could be used to "frame apple" if anything went wrong. Maybe the guy was in a grouchy mood but I don't know how many geniuses would just crack open a mbp just to remove some thermal paste. Although I sure hope they do soon!

Well I understand that. But if the support people (who work directly for Apple, not the "geniuses") know how to fix the computers, they should know enough to reapply the paste right without instructions from the internet?

I wouldn't take it to my local store, but it would stand to reason that this wouldn't be beyond the comprehension of someone FIXING MACS directly for Apple.

Can you give me a link to that forum? I'd like to get in on this conversation.

 

[Mojo67821]

nevermind...I found it. I'm just lazy sometimes

Here's the MacBookPro support forums if anyone else is interested:

http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=190

 

[Mojo67821]

Alright, after doing even MORE reading on this topic, I'm convinced that having the paste reapplied will help my temperature issue, and help protect the inside of my MBP.

Apparently Apple has lawyers trying to pressure people into taking down pictures of the mis-applied thermal paste.

I want to find a computer store, and just have them do it to me. They recommend the local "Apple Service Provider". Does anyone know how I can find mine? (NOT my local apple store)

Also, do you think CompUSA will do something like this for me?

 

[Krevnik]

Alright, after doing even MORE reading on this topic, I'm convinced that having the paste reapplied will help my temperature issue, and help protect the inside of my MBP.

Apparently Apple has lawyers trying to pressure people into taking down pictures of the mis-applied thermal paste.

I want to find a computer store, and just have them do it to me. They recommend the local "Apple Service Provider". Does anyone know how I can find mine? (NOT my local apple store)

Also, do you think CompUSA will do something like this for me?

Apple Service Providers will also likely say no. I tried to talk to a couple and got turned down as something like this is just sent into Apple anyways. CompUSA /might/... but they might be in the same boat as any other Apple Service Provider.

 

[dailo]

Even if you brought it in they'd probably look at the technician manual and the manual tells them to just glob it on so that might not help. I'd suggest waiting it out as it seems to be getting some attention from apple so maybe they will do something about it.

I've done it myself and it does in fact keep it cooler so I don't see why Apple would ignore this fact and not keep its customers happy. It's a simple fix for them.

 

[Soisauce001]

I Did It! Omg!!!

My MACBOOK was hot... BURNING hot when I placed it on my lap.. I took it in a couple of times and the Apple people said that it was normal. I said BS.. But they weren't much help.. Especially since I couldn't get a reading for HOW hot it exactly was internally..

Then my friend recommended two things.. Temperture monitor.. and speedit.kext. I rand them this morning and my MBP was running at a 48C ... THAT'S FREAKING HOT.. that's 118 F..

Prior to taking the temperture reading my MBP was on a cooling pad with fans.. But I took it off and ran various apps for about half an hour... i took the reading and my HDD was 48C and my CPU was at 66C (according to speedit.kext). HOT..

I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.. I came across that article that talked about thermal grease.. I followed the instructions.. openned up my MBP... AND SURE ENOUGH there was GLOBS of that stuff all over the three chips.. I MEAN A LOT.. I cleaned it up.. re-applied thermal grease and used a razor blade to spread it out evenly.. Put everything back together..

Ran all the apps for half an hour and i'm sitting pretty at 37C... that's an 11degree C drop! .. that's insane.. it's warm.. BUT not burning hot.. I can leave it on my lap and not fear burns..

For those of you are attempting to open up your MBP, remember BE CAREFUL.. this is not for the faint of heart. especially with at 2k machine.

 

[dailo]

What CPU do you have, where is your laptop sitting in, how is the temperature in the room where your MBP is. 37 is pretty low, mine idles around 45C, I was wondering if I could get it any lower hehe. I am using AS5 and I have a 2.16.

 

[Soisauce001]

What CPU do you have, where is your laptop sitting in, how is the temperature in the room where your MBP is. 37 is pretty low, mine idles around 45C, I was wondering if I could get it any lower hehe. I am using AS5 and I have a 2.16.

I have a 1.83... 1gig ram... 80 gig HDD.. my laptop was sitting on my desktop... I live in S. California.. it's about 62 F... It's been on since i last posted it.. I've been watching tv on it and it's now at 39 C.. and I used AS5... I think spreading it evenly might have helped dissipate the heat evenly... I dunno..

 

[TWEO]

dailo, good to hear you got your MBP working again after all.

My MBP (1.83) is running idle on AC at around 50 degrees celsius according to speedit.kext (kextstat reports it as being version 1.0.0d1). Ambient temperature is around 20 degrees celsius (68 degrees fahrenheit).