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I have a Macbook Air that keeps shutting down when doing anything even the slightest bit taxing. I’ve reset the SMS, I’ve taking the bottom off and cleaned out any dust around the fan and heat sink it still shuts down. My next step is to replace the fan and heat sink. Any Thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Look at each end of the heat sink. Look underneath it and see if you see any evidence of a slightly greasy looking stain. If so this is where the liquid inside the heat sink has escaped. If so, replace the heat sink.
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Thanks Mayer! I will definitely check this out. I appreciate the help.
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4 Comments
Is the fan working? Have you actually seen the fan spin up and push air?
by Steve
Yes but it seems weak
by Dave Jones
Download and install smcFanControl, and use it to check your temperatures. Report back when you know what temperature your computer was running at when it shut down. Then turn up the fan speed and see if that solves the problem.
https://github.com/hholtmann/smcFanContr...
If speeding up the fan DOES NOT make the problem go away (even at maximum speed), you may have either a thermal break (e.g., clogged heat sink, degraded thermal paste between processor and heat sink, or a damaged heat tube) or a larger hardware issue (e.g., a CPU that may need to be reflowed).
If speeding up the fan DOES make the problem go away, then you may still have a thermal break or your fan might be wearing out. Fortunately they're cheap on ebay and reasonably easy to replace.
by Steve
Thanks Steve! I will try this tomorrow and let you know what I find out. I appreciate the help.
by Dave Jones