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    Tentative assertion: classic macbook pro fans will fail

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by pufftissue, Jun 30, 2009.

  1. pufftissue

    pufftissue Notebook Evangelist

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    I've had four of them.
    After ~ 6 months but definitely 1 year (based on the age of each machine that I bought), esp. the right fan will start to fail.

    I can't define fail as stop spinning, but there will be a buzz-saw, grinding like the blades are hitting something, or a sound that resembles an approaching airplane (this WWII diving airplanes) that will continue to grow. It is audible at around 3000 rpm, and when you tilt the laptop at 45 degrees it seems worse. It's not a healthy sound. To hear it the best, run your fans at 6000 rpm and then slow them down to 2000 rpm. At 2000 rpm the fans continue to be inaudible. Unfortunately, it is this audible/inaudible combo that seems to make the problem more annoying b/c I can clearly hear the contrasts. If it was always there, I might be able to tune it out.

    This is not an isolated complaint about the classic mbp, but I've had so many of them over the last few years and all of them eventually exhibit this behavior. Every time I have taken it into Apple (about 3 different classic mbps) they have replaced the fan and said it was faulty. Whether they just wanted to make me happy or not is unknown, but a new fan did seem to help...until a few months later.

    I have never noticed this problem in my other laptop brands.

    I have taken apart the right fan and put some wd-40 on the shaft as others have suggested, and the sound still exists. It might be marginally improved, however.

    Do the unibodies exhibit this behavior and has this been a common complaint? I have seen the fans in the new unibodies and they are different than the ones in the classic mbp.
     
    pufftissue, Jun 30, 2009
    #1
  2. cdnalsi

    cdnalsi Food for the funky people

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    I've had my old Macbook Pro (non-unibody) for more than two years now and fans are working perfectly :D
     
    cdnalsi, Jun 30, 2009
    #2
  3. pufftissue

    pufftissue Notebook Evangelist

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    Interesting, so if you ramp up your fans with smc fancontrol to 4000 or 6000 rpms, you don't hear an unbalanced sound coming from the right side? The blades don't sound like their hitting something?
     
    pufftissue, Jun 30, 2009
    #3
  4. cdnalsi

    cdnalsi Food for the funky people

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    Just tried it, nothing sounds unbalanced at 4000RPM.

    I even tilted the machine. Everything is great.
     
    cdnalsi, Jun 30, 2009
    #4
  5. applebook

    applebook Notebook Evangelist

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    I've had many older MBPs over the years and have never had a single fan fail. Replacement fans, BTW, are cheap and not that difficult to install either.
     
    applebook, Jun 30, 2009
    #5
  6. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    Not to say that there isn't an issue, but I (despite having a variety of other issues) have not had any problems with unbalanced fans. My macbook pro is 2 years old.

    I did have an issue where the fans would jump to 6000 rpm's on a clean install of leopard regardless of the internal temperature. that was the most fan-related issue i have had. the actual spinning of the fan was fine, and is still fine, at any RPM i can set with smcfancontrol.
     
    masterchef341, Jun 30, 2009
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  7. talin

    talin Notebook Prophet

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    It's not a macbook pro, but my former macbook had the fan die after just a couple months. So far the fan in my new macbook seems to be holding up. :D
     
    talin, Jun 30, 2009
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  8. mmoy

    mmoy Notebook Deity

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    We have three older MacBook Pros. Two are 1.5 year and the other is 2 years old. No fan problems whatsoever.
     
    mmoy, Jun 30, 2009
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  9. NgCir

    NgCir Notebook Consultant

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    Dunno about the fan problems...just wanted to let people know that putting wd40 on a laptop fan is NOT a good idea or any computer component for that matter.
     
    NgCir, Jul 1, 2009
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  10. steve p

    steve p Notebook Evangelist

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    No problem on 1 year old MBP or 7 month old MB alu. The fans on both are fine.
     
    steve p, Jul 2, 2009
    #10
  11. pacmandelight

    pacmandelight Notebook Deity

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    WD40 destroys the oil lubrication in the bearings. Never use WD40 for any bearings lubricated by oil.
     
    pacmandelight, Jul 3, 2009
    #11
  12. Tinderbox (UK)

    Tinderbox (UK) BAKED BEAN KING

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    Tinderbox (UK), Jul 3, 2009
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