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The FAN is driving me bonkers

M

MTLady

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 5, 2015
3
1
Ever since upgrading to Yosemite the dang thing either runs just a little loud, or it sounds like it's getting ready to take flight. I have no clue what's causing this. I went to the activity monitor, and there is nothing using enough power from the CPU to make it overheat.

I opened it to see if air flow was a problem, and all the vents are wide open.

Please help.
 
MTLady said:
Ever since upgrading to Yosemite the dang thing either runs just a little loud, or it sounds like it's getting ready to take flight. I have no clue what's causing this. I went to the activity monitor, and there is nothing using enough power from the CPU to make it overheat.

I opened it to see if air flow was a problem, and all the vents are wide open.

Please help.
Click to expand...

My thought is perhaps there's a bad connection somewhere. Either a temp sensor or fan speed sensor isn't connected properly, has malfunctioned, or perhaps has a weak / damaged connection.
 
A shot in the dark

Here's a shot in the dark for you.

My MP 3,1 would not show a screen and the fan was screaming mad.

I took out the boot drive to test it on another MP 3,1 and everything was fine with it. Then I put it back, plugged it back it to the original surge suppressor, and same problem.

So I remembered something in physics about running a really high current through one outlet causing an increased voltage.

So I moved the computer to a less crowded suppressor, and voila, problem solved.

To be fair, my MP 3,1 is a power hog because I stuck 10 SSD's in it, plus a RAID box with 8 3TB HDs connected to it, plus a GTX Titan powered by an extra power supply I shoehorned into optical bay 2. I would say that beastie was consuming close to 300-500 watts minimum at all times, so yeah, I was overloading that wall plug. Try it, it might work. I think the MPs are quite sensitive to constant higher voltages and will do anything necessary to protect themselves from burning out.
 
stjames70 said:
To be fair, my MP 3,1 is a power hog because I stuck 10 SSD's in it, plus a RAID box with 8 3TB HDs connected to it, plus a GTX Titan powered by an extra power supply I shoehorned into optical bay 2.
Click to expand...

:eek: That's one FF-Class Mac Pro.

OP, have you tried an SMC and PRAM/NVRAM reset on the machine? These can sometimes fix small issues regarding fan speed and power voltages.
 
tom vilsack said:
My money is on a SMC reset!
Click to expand...

I usually think suggesting this is a red herring, and it is advice that is way overused on this forum. However, here, I agree. Since the behavior started after an OS X upgrade, I bet an SMC reset would help.
 
I should have mentioned I already did the SMC reset, and thank you to those who recommended it, but that does not seem to be the problem.

About 45 minutes after I posted about the fan it went quiet. I almost thought it died out, but when I listened closely I could hear the quiet hum I was used to with it. After shutting down again, and restarting the LOUD sound is back. So it seems to be something that happens on start up, then after awhile goes away.

All that is connected to the circuit it is on is my monitor (with internal speakers), desk lamp, router and printer. Even my phone is on a different circuit in another room as I have 1 cordless and drag it around the house with me, it charges as I sleep.
 
MTLady said:
About 45 minutes after I posted about the fan it went quiet. I almost thought it died out, but when I listened closely I could hear the quiet hum I was used to with it. After shutting down again, and restarting the LOUD sound is back. So it seems to be something that happens on start up, then after awhile goes away.
Click to expand...

It's possible that there is a component inside the Mac that is overheating and causing the fans to kick up quickly and to full speed. You can always try out the TG Pro trial for free. I'd be curious to see the temperatures of the different sensors.
 
what mac mini do you have? did you go from lets say like snow leopard to yosemite and now your mac mini isn't good enough, how much ram do you have?
 
Don't Shoot! Test... Its the Only Way To Be Sure

stjames70 said:
Here's a shot in the dark for you.

...So I remembered something in physics about running a really high current through one outlet causing an increased voltage.
...
Click to expand...

Naw stjames, you probably remember that lecture backwards. Think about it... If you overload a power source the voltage drops. That is why lights sometimes dim when a big motor starts. You could have truly overloaded that socket and there may have been other issues with your wiring but I doubt that "increased voltage" was the cause of your problem.

MTLady said:
...All that is connected to the circuit it is on is my monitor (with internal speakers), desk lamp, router and printer. Even my phone is on a different circuit in another room as I have 1 cordless and drag it around the house with me, it charges as I sleep.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about that circuit MTLady. It is not likely that the power needs of that old Mac Pro have anything to do with your fan problem. I don't know which mini you own (2012? 2014?) but stjames's Mac Pro uses more power idling (155W) than the most energy thirsty mini (2006) did running at its maximum (110W).

Perhaps the fan is blasting because something inside of your mini is hot. It would be great to know what is really happening before you attempt to solve the problem.
 
Celerondon said:
Naw stjames, you probably remember that lecture backwards. Think about it... If you overload a power source the voltage drops. That is why lights sometimes dim when a big motor starts. You could have truly overloaded that socket and there may have been other issues with your wiring but I doubt that "increased voltage" was the cause of your problem.



Don't worry about that circuit MTLady. It is not likely that the power needs of that old Mac Pro have anything to do with your fan problem. I don't know which mini you own (2012? 2014?) but stjames's Mac Pro uses more power idling (155W) than the most energy thirsty mini (2006) did running at its maximum (110W).

Perhaps the fan is blasting because something inside of your mini is hot. It would be great to know what is really happening before you attempt to solve the problem.
Click to expand...

Sorry it's taken so long to get back.

A friend told me it might just be dusty in there. So, I opened the machine, gave it a blast of air, and now, no noise.

Thank you everybody for trying to help :)
 
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