Advice from an Apple tech: Battle the dust bunnies
The prevailing logic is that the cooler it is inside your computer, the better it will run, and a cooler system also lessens the chance of overheating and damaging components. While there are no guaranteed means of keeping your Mac cool, one of the best things you can do is ensure that it’s as dust-free as possible, thereby allowing for a better air flow within your computer.
About a month ago, my 2006 Mac Pro had gone from one of the most reliable Macs I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning to an unreliable nightmare. If I turned the Mac on and keep it running with a steady task (such as importing and converting video), and it was fine. But if I put my Mac Pro in a situation where it could fall asleep or go into any kind of power-saving mode, I’d be unable to wake it up by typing on the keyboard or moving the mouse.
IMAGE: CHRIS BARYLICKDust and hairballs have invaded this seven-year-old Mac Pro.
After I performed a clean installation of OS X 10.7.5 and saw the same problem recur, I gritted my teeth and thought, “Look, I’ve been running this thing practically nonstop for seven years now—it may be time to retire and replace the power supply.”
One $270 eBay-purchased power supply later, I was ready to dissect my Mac Pro. Upon opening the case, the first thing I noticed was a coating of dust over everything, especially around the Mac Pro’s fans. This, combined with half a feline’s worth of hairballs scattered throughout, made me wonder about the air flowing through the machine and how the internal temperature was affected. Did my Mac Pro get to the point where the hardware and its sensors detected that it was dangerously overheating and decided to shut things down as a safety protocol? The idea began to make a bit more sense, even if it meant not tearing my Mac Pro down to its core components, installing the new power supply, and reassembling everything from there.
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