17" Fan Weirdness

[LCARS]

The fans in my original (1Ghz) 17" PB have been acting strangely. I have been using it in hot locations recently, but now in the AC with very low processor usage and average bottomside temps of 122F graphics and 130F processor, the fans come on for a long time. Even with no apps open and the processor 90% idle. With little to no activity, the processor seems like it is hotter than it should be. Could the thermal paste be breaking down? I keep the computer elevated for airflow. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[Strimkind]

I did a bit of googling and came up with a few solutions:

1. Install G4FanControl

2. Upgrade to 10.5 (if you have not already)

Unless you are experiencing frequent crashing and/or graphical issues then I would not worry about the thermal paste.

 

[Christopher]

G4FanControl is now shareware. Older versions(if you can find them) were free.

I had a copy, but external drive where i stored my whole life crapped 6 months ago.

 

[LCARS]

Strimkind- Thank you for the information. Sounds like a good program to have. The machine is not crashing and has no graphical errors, so I'm glad it is not the thermal paste. Today seems to be a better day, but for a while it seemed like I could use the computer to boil water. I'm curious why you would mention upgrading to 10.5. Is it less resources intensive for a G4 than 10.4.11?

Christopher- Sorry to hear about your external drive. I've started using ATA PC cards to back up data because I'm afraid to use HDs as a sole backup. I'll take a look for older versions to test out the software. I just remembered that when the 12" PowerBooks were released, they had serious heat issues. If they still work, then I guess I can worry less about my 17.

 

[Franklinstein]

The thermal paste in the AlBooks is reminiscent of concrete sludge: it's thick and gray and kind of grainy. If you start having problems (crashes, etc) with your machine, you might want to see if it's dried out or not. The AlBooks have tighter tolerances than the TiBooks with their thick thermal pads, so you might just be able to replace the sludge with Arctic Silver or something similar. While you're in there, blow out the dust and stuff with canned air.

If new heat compound doesn't help, maybe see if a good PC shop has some thermal pads to help bridge whatever gap may be between the processor/GPU and the heat sink. Also, make sure that the screws on the logic board are snug: time and heat can loosen them, especially if they weren't put in right to begin with.

 

[LCARS]

Thanks, Franklinstein. I cleaned out the innards and tightened the screws. Everything seems fine now. It was very strange when it was happening, though. I always have Activity Monitor open and the processor always seemed to be spiking, even with no programs open. Unfortunately, Word 2003 seems to be spiking the processor with documents over 150 pages. I downloaded istatpro, which reports CPU temps around 120F. I think the hot and humid summer air was causing the unusual temperatures. I never had any crashes, but boy did the PowerBook get hot.