Mac laptops forum: Macbook, OS 10.6.2, fan runs almost continuously

The first thing I would do is install iStat (its a widget you can find on the apple website). Using this app, look at the temperatures of the components in your computer. If anything jumps out as being out of the ordinary then you should take your computer the the apple store and explain the issue.

Another thing to remember is that the fan will usually stay on for the entire time, although it should not be spinning at a high rate unless the computer is getting very hot. As such, if the fan is spinning at a moderate rate then there is no problem at hand. If indeed the fan is spinning at a high rate continuously, even when the computer is cool (or as soon as it starts up) then there may be a problem with your fan.

More details would help me to analyze the problem a little better. Does the fan spin violently loud? Are there any clicking noises coming from the fan? Does it stay at one continuous spinning rate, or does it change? And one of the biggest tests is, let the computer sit with the power off for several hours. Ensure the computer is cool and in an area at normal room temp. Power up the computer and look at how fast the fans are spinning. If they are spinning at a high rate (above 10,000 rpm) and they consistently stay at that rate, then there may be a problem with the hardware...

Well considerably below 10k rpm is the normal operational speed of these fans. I have seen my fan jump to 11-12000 rpms under a heavy load. I would not be too concerned with that.

What is interesting is that you can hear your fan. In all of the macs that I work with, you need to be in a completely silent room to even begin to notice that the fan is spinning... Just a thought.

Depending on the model year of the laptops apple would have changed the cooling (and inherently the fan) architecture. And so you will likely notice a difference in the fan speed between the two. The newer macbooks, while still running hot, are designed to run cooler than their predecessors. Hope this clears things up...

I would not be too concerned about the noise as long as the computer components are registering as being cool enough for operation. What you can do is take a can of compressed air and blow any residual dust from the grill in the back of the computer. it may just be that the computer is a bit dusty on the inside...

I have so many questions that get no responses and I know how frustrating it is, so i often just come on to see if there are any posts that have not been looked at. Its truly no problem at all. Good luck!