Why is iMac Overheating?

I have a little over three year old iMac Intel 24 inch. Lately, I have noticed it overheats. I don't do any rigours activities on the Mac just home stuff such as internet browsing, iPhoto and iMovie. Any idea what might be worng?

How are you judging that it is running hot? I use ONYX (free download) to monitor temps and fan speeds on my 24" rather than depend upon touch as the top of the display will get quite warm. Lostmyshoe has a good suggestion re vacuuming. I've also seen a suggestion to remove the RAM cover when vacuuming to be sure dust accumulation is removed from that area. Be careful when vacuuming the bottom of the case as you don't want to apply so much suction that you risk damaging the speakers. Hope this is helpful.

Similar Messages

Why my iMac 27 2010 turn off by itself?

Why my iMac 27 mid 2010 turn off by itself?
I already replaced the Power Supply part number 661-5972. The next thing is replace all the thermal sensors and then the logic board. I do not have any other way to find out what it 's wrong with it.
Last the same time that the old power Supply. Let it sit for a few hours. Turn back on and works fora few more days or weeks ans suddenly turn off again.
I am 66, started out with Apple around 87 as an independant service provider here in PR and have never had so much problem with any other mac's than this one.
Apple support provider here in PR have no expertise what so ever in giving us solutions to problems. Even thought I still doing some support to some of the old customer I am handicap with new technical tools to solve problems within new products. I wish Apple would have consideration on the old ones that help and support apple products without their help.
Thank you for reading my note!
Jose A Marrero

I can relate Jose
Have you looked under the hood of a newer car, worked on a new toaster or coffee maker..? Most all of them have sealed components that are no longer repairable, you throw the old part away and replace it with a new part or just replace the whole thing.
Heck' for the most part even the Geniuses at the bar are unable to fix or do anything about most hardware problems. So instead of trying to fix a product that is under warranty, they either send it out or replace it with a new Mac, Pad, Pod or Phone on the spot.
As another Apple user like yourself with some hands in experience and some time here in ASC, it sounds more like either a overheating graphic's chip or bad SMC chip than a temperature sensor problem. Both of which the normal Hardware Test will not catch.
So on that note: I would probably closely monitor all the temperature sensors (especially the GPU temperature) with iStat Pro or Temp Monitor to see if you can catch an overheating component that is causing the shutdown.
It also might help to post the Consol Message for the shutdown here in the ASC forum.
Dennis

Why does imac G5 eject leopard install disk

Why does imac G5 eject leopard install disk? I'm trying to help my father get online to read the newspaper using an iMac G5 1.8 GHz 17". I've installed a new hard drive and reinstalled software and rus software updates until I've reached 10.4.11 and the lovely "your software is up to date" message. When I put in the Leopard 10.5.1 Install DVD, it auto ejects within 15 seconds and never gets mounted and never shows on desktop. When I place the same DVD in my Intel MacBook Pro running 10.6.8, the disk mounts and the install window opens as usual. Any suggestions on what i'm missing here? thanks

If you doing the internet, you can get by with Tiger. Get TenFourFox.
Safari 4.1.3 for Tiger
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1069
iCab - The Taxi for the Internet
http://www.icab.de/
for PPC -- works for me on 10.4. Supports 10.5
tenfourfox -- It's a port of the latest FireFox to run on older hardware and software.
"World's most advanced web browser. Finely tuned for the Power PC."
http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/
alternative download site:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/37761/tenfourfox

Any ideas why my iMac recently started to randomly restart? Could it be in its death throes?

Any ideas why my iMac recently started to randomly restart? Could it be in its death throes?

Hard for us to answer when you don't even tell us which model your have. If these are kernel panics you need to post a recent log: Mac OS X- How to log a kernel panic.

Why is iMac being dropped as a shared volume?

I have a 21.5" iMac 2.5GHz mid 2011, 12GB ram running Lion 10.7.4.
It is connected via ethernet to a gen 5 Airport Extreme, so Airport on the iMac is off. I am also running a MBP .
Both are on iCloud Back-to-My-Mac. When the iMac is awake, it shows up on the MBP as a shared volume. After it goes to sleep, it disappears as a shared volume. Wake for network activity is checked on the iMac.
I don't remember having this problem before. The only thing I have changed is that I had been using a 1st gen Airport Extreme and upgraded to this 5th gen.
I've checked everything I can think of but the problem persists.
Anyone have any thoughts as to why the iMac keeps disappearing?

I figured it out- it must be the printer.
OK, here's another question. Ever since I installed Lion, Flash Player doesn't work at all. I've reinstalled it, de-installed it, changed settings, reinstalled again, numerous times. Nothing works. What am I doing wrong?

Why my iMac still can't run smoother after reboot?

Why my iMac still can't run smoother after reboot??
And when I'm open Firefox, other apps I'm opened will not responding.

Why my iMac still can't run smoother after reboot??
And when I'm open Firefox, other apps I'm opened will not responding.

Why my imac not installing new lion

why my imac not installing new lion

Given the lack of information there is no way anyone here will be able to help you.

Can someone tell me why my iMac lighting element is flickering?

Can someone tell me why my iMac lighting element is flickering and going to sleep mode too quickly? The guys at Austin MacWorks (official Mac reps) said they could not duplicate the problem in the shop, but I have a feeling thery did not give it a thorough look. I don't know to whom I should turn on this.

What model iMac? Do "About the Mac" and report what it says for processor type. That's a good start to figuring out to which of the four families of iMac yours belongs.
Also, check the OS version in the same window. Only 2002 iMacs with backlit displays can run the ancient 10.1 OS shown in your profile.
If you are in Auston Tx, I'm pretty sure it has a real Apple Store. That;s an option if you are still under warranty.

24" imac overheating problem

This 24" Apple imac computer is fantastic in all ways that I've used it, yet my 24" imac has been recently overheating and shutting down without notice. As a mechanical engineer looking over the design of this flat screen PC at the back I note the cooling fins are the wrong way round for maximum cooling, so assume this is a manufacturing defect because heat rises upwards not downwards.
So do Apple management accept the flaw in the design of the imac 24" with the direction of the cooling ducts and rectify the problem as soon as possible, or do they ignore this problem in the cooling system of many imacs distributed around the world?
The imac 24" is a fantastic machine to use, and by Apple tech turning around the cooling vents by 180 degrees the venting problem will probably disappear.
Sometimes the simplest of solutions are blindingly obvious!!!
Message was edited by: richvid

i get what u mean about the vent, i was thinking the same thing BUT;
i was reading something on wiki a while ago about the OLD apples, i mean real old like the SE (i think)...
- they initially didn't have fans and they used to overheat (more so when people rested papers on top blocking the vents) - but their design was to allow the heated components situated towards the top to actually draw cold air through the bottom of the machine and up inside - past other components and out the top and hence cool it effectively, then apple started using fans...
- i think apple still use a combination of fans and the radiated heat to cool the imacs of today, the components that get hot are situated at the top of the aluminum macs and the aluminum itself heats up allot which makes it radiate the heat outwards like a heatsink and then fan kicks up to help it along when needed, maybe the design of the vent helps this process? i.e. the vent causes the aluminum to heat up more and radiate more heat than if it were the opposite way - perhaps if it were the other way, the fans would have to run a tiny bit higher and possibly over time suck more dust in and create more problems?
couldn't find the article on the apple computers to what im trying to communicate here - dont remember the right terminology to explain it all properly but try researching heatsinks on wiki - heatsinks work on the same sort of process

Imac Overheating

I have a major overheating problem in my 24" imac.
When the problem began I suspected the hard disk, but I have ruled it out. The behavior of my machine had become sluggish and sporadic over the last month. This week it became nearly useless. It would "pinwheel" for no reason. A right-click would result in a five-minute "pinwheel" before the menu would pop up. It would be completely unresponsive. It would freeze during burning or just copying files and then start again. Open a folder and view the items inside and have no ability to scroll. Oddly, while doing that, it would slowly report the sizes in the file size column. (one about every second)
I've run a handful of utilities on the Hard Disk like Disk Utility and OnyX. All things say "OK." I did repair the disk a week ago and many corrections were made then but not now.
I ran AHT and get the following errors at different times:
4MOT/1/40000003: HDD-1333
4MOT/2/40000004: HDD-1350
4HDD/11/40000002: SATA (0,0)
Most of what I have read in various forums suggested the fans and temperatures. So, I ran "temp monitor" and noticed some alarming temperatures. The HDD in particular was reading 176F^. So I concluded that I lost a fan. Thus I ran smcFanControl and ramped up the fans one at a time. They all sound good and I can detect wind around the machine.
Now it was "crunchy" and very frustrating to get the apps to start even after shutting the machine down to let it cool. However, once the fans started to run, temp monitor reported significant cooling and the machines behavior straightened up IMMEDIATELY.
Something has been degrading over a longer period of time. Actions by the machine were more crisp and more responsive than they had been in a much longer period. I ran photoshop and tried to force a crash. Nope. Like new.
OK, so what is the issue? If I drop out fan control, the machine gets sick and dies? What is the apple failing to do on its own to regulate temperature?

jamesholden wrote:
If you search through previous posts you'll find it's quite normal. The aluminium chassis forms part of the heat sink of the iMac, if it gets too warm it'll increase the fan speed, and as a safety measure would eventually turn off, but it's safe and normal for temperatures to reach 85+ degrees Celsius.
I think you have a hardware failure not induced by heat, as you say the fans are working and the temp's are not really that excessive that your getting.
If he's getting error messages running AHT, it probably is a temperature sensor or fan failure of some type. It's difficult to know, because we're relying on the accuracy of a 3rd party utility to tell us if all of the fans inside the machine are working, and often these change via model.

Imac overheating while watching videos

Recently i purchased a late 2011 IMac with a 21.5inch screen, 4gb of ram, 2.7ghz intel i5 proccessor. I use my imac really often for browsing webs,videos,etc.
I realized it often overheated at the top edge of the screen(above the camera) when i was watching videos. I thought if i continued watching videos it would get too overheated so i would put it to sleep and let it cool down b4 using it again and it get quite annoying. If any1 has any suggestions or tips with this please answer this question it will be gladly appreciated. Is their anyway to stop the imac from getting overheated so easily?

The fan is speeding up to cool the GPU. The GPU (graphic's chip) heats up because video's and game's work the GPU much harder than normal desktop activities.
When was the last time you checked and cleaned the air intake grill on the bottom of your iMac?
I shutdown (stopping the fans), disconnect the power and vigorously vacuum out the bottom grill work on my Mac's a couple of times a year to keep them running cool.

Why does iMac (Mid 2012) not support Jumbo Frames?

Why is it not possible to change MTU size to more than 1500? Buying such a high quality product, I would expect that it supports jumbo frames!
My NAS supports jumbo frames, the Air Port Extreme does but a brand new iMac doesn't???
Is there any patch or somethin to fix this?
Thanks!!!

Hi Marcus,
I find conflicting info on this...
The Ethernet port supports the configuration of Ethernet frames larger than 1,500 MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit).
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4619
Can anyone confirm if the new 2011 imacs already support jumbo frames? I heard it now uses a new broadcom ethernet chip that now supports jumbo frames on the 21 inch model. They removed jumbo frames support in the previous i5 and i7 models...
Hmm, I remember that the iFix tear down revealed that the 2011 iMacs had a Broadcom BCM57765B0KMLG Eithernet chip. (just go to the page and if you are using safari/firefox press command + F and type "Broadcom" to jump to that particular)
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-...eardown/5485/2
so I did a little googling and found out that:
http://www.broadcom.com/products/Eth...lient/BCM57765
Integrated 10/100/1000BASE-T transceiver with:
- 10/100/1000BASE-T triple-speed MAC
- Compliant with IEEE standards
- Compliant with IEEE 802.3az draft standard for Energy Efficient Ethernet™ (EEE)
- State-of-the-art physical layer interface that exceeds IEEE requirements
- Jumbo frame support with up to 9.6 KB frame size
- EthernetAV protocols with IEEE 802.1AS, 1588-2008, IEEE P802.1Qat and IEEE P802.1Qav support
So it should support Jumbo Frames.
http://www.philmug.ph/forum/f23/new-imac-early-2011-sandy-bridge-processors-7106 4/index8.html
Originally Posted by mpe
At least mine doesn't
Weird. My 27" 3.1GHz iMac that was delivered yesterday supports jumbo frames fine. I was quite concerned that it wouldn't because I rely on them for good performance with my NAS
I set it using System Preferences -> Ethernet -> Advanced -> Ethernet -> Configure Manually.
I've confirmed the setting by checking the output of ifconfig. It shows an mtu value of 9000.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1148176
Some of the 2010 iMacs did not I read.

IMac overheating problem? This may help in some cases!

My daughters iMac frequently suffered of a kernel panic after about 2 hours of use. Symptoms lead to suspect overheating of some component. How I fixed the economical way:
http://www.tervis.fidisk.fi/saveimac.html

496/2942
Hi Topias,
Tervetuloa!
Thank you for this excellent page and the useful links.
Glad to know such good contributors like you are around...
A very good work indeed.
Axl
P.S.
The air is meant to be sucked from bottom, through the computer, to the top.
But have you by chance tested the reverse: blowing air from top, through computer, to the bottom?
I mean, with such an external, noisy installation, you can allow yourself pure efficiency (and a more powerful fan), since you don't care anymore about design and noise?

24in, 2.8ghz imac overheating?

Hi,
Since installing Snow Leopard, I've started noticing that my imac is running noticeably hotter. Using iStatpro I recorded 63 degrees C on the HD the other day, and the fan noise was pretty noticeable (normally they're very quiet). Tonight, for example, I powered the mac on and shortly thereafter the HD temp was 30 degrees. Then, half an hour later following minor Safari usage, the temp was 53 degrees!
I tried resetting the SMC and PRAM, but the 'issue' persists.
Any ideas?
CHeers,
Kev.

I am having a problem that seems like overheating as well. have always noticed that the back of my imac runs very hot. Then a few days ago I got the spinning beach ball after the computer was on for a couple of hours. When I restarted I got the flashing folder with a question mark in it. So I used the install disk, got to disk utility and it was unable to see my hard drive. In lieu of freaking out immediately I decided to chill out a while and freak out later. A few hours later the computer started up normally. So I ran disk utility again off the startup disk, it saw the drive and found nothing to repair. Hmmm, I says. Ok. So I am happily computering away for a couple of hours then comes the freeze-up and beach ball again. Then the flashing question mark folder on attempted startup. Rinse and repeat. So now I get a couple of hours before freeze-up. I'm trying to backup my important stuff in chunks while I have access to the hard drive. A couple of more sessions and I should have all essential personnel evacuated. Then I guess I wait for the ship to go down..
I don't see a third-party application that overdrives the fan as being an acceptable long-term solution. Any other ideas would be much appreciated.
Thanks much.

Suspected imac overheating- help!

Im wondering if my imac is overheating. My sims 3 game keeps shutting down and when i leave it for half hour it will play again for a couple of hours then shuts down. Its summer here so temps up to 100 deg (35 celcius). The imac affter sims shuts is so hot at the back i cant put my hand on it. It was purchased last may 2012. Whole computer has been slow and a bit non-responsive all day. I have apple care but i cant figure out how to actually contact them!
Specs-
Processor 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63b)

Also, see about installing smcFan Control. This will allow you to manually set the fan speeds higher.
http://www.eidac.de/
When needed I also run a small fan at the back of the computer. This will help remove heat from the case.
Some threads where you can see my posts about using smcFan Control.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3219643?start=0&tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3617828?start=0&tstart=0
EDIT: you won't find iStat Pro at BDAqua's link any longer. (No longer supported by the developer, and not completely compatible with Mountain Lion, but most of its features should still be working.) It's here
https://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html
Message was edited by: WZZZ

Why is iMac Overheating?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for