Whirring Noise from my Imac

silvine

There's a faint whirring noise coming from the top left corner of my 2010 27 inch iMac. There's no fan up there and I am certain it's not the HDD. What could cause this issue?

Hootanany

Could be a dust build up in the vents behind the stand.

silvine

That's what I thought but I opened the imac and dusted it. The noise only comes from the top left, everywhere else sounds okay.

silvine

I think the HDD fan might need replacing. Any idea how to do this or where to buy one?

acous

Do you have the stock HDD or did you install your own?

silvine

I have the stock hdd and an SSD. I think the stock HDD is on its way out. I ran disk utility on it and found no errors but it's making unusual noises.

Sad Professor

Probably the HDD, then. Is it slow to copy and write to?

silvine

Seems to be copying at normal speeds but I notice a faint increase in the buzzing/whirring sound when I do. Can you recommend a replacement? i have a WD Caviar Green I was going to use for something else.

Janedoe10

Does noise happe when the screen brightness is decreased

Check the site http://www.apple.com/support/imac-harddrive/ -If u check with the serial number of computer u will be able to see if the HD is covered or not .

Check also if this happens without anything plugged in .If it happens booted from install disk ?
Does noise happen when the HD is been accessed a lot . or when the unit is idle ? Were you able to run to Apple HW test

brav

That program is only for the Mid 2011 iMacs, not the 2010s.

If copying speeds etc are still OK sometimes HDDs do get a bit more noisy and some more vibrations but could keep going for another few years, however If it was mine I probably would have lost trust in it now so obviously make sure you have a backup.

Is the sound def in the top left? I thought the HDD was in the center and extra one behind the optical drive? but maybe thats the 2011 model

silvine

Hi,

The noise rises and falls when I adjust the brightness. It's less audible when the brightness is all the way down. Does that mean it's the display?

I thought the noise was from the top left but I think that's just an echo.

I'll run the hardware test in a bit. I removed my optical drive and replaced it with an SSD so I need to find a workaround to run this test.

Sad Professor

Yeah it could be the display. My 24 inch ACD makes a clickIng noise.

silvine

Is there a fix?

brav

You could try basics like SMC or PRAM reset.
(SMC is leaving power cord disconnected from back of iMac for 30seconds, PRAM reset is holding Cmd+Alt+P+R at startup until second chime)

Could be display alright*, I think the LED driver board is on left hand area and power supply beside that, so the extra draw of power could be the causing the issue.

I think when these normally go you can loose the back light for the display etc.

Sad Professor

If it is the display it's possibly due to electrical interference. I haven't noticed any ticking from my ACD in a while, but I tend to keep the brightness down low anyway. I'll check it later.

I have all sorts of problems with my ACD tbh. In addition to the ticking/buzzing, it also "blinks". And the vent has somehow sucked in dust and blown it all over the backlight. Pretty ridiculous given what it what cost. I have AppleCare so I'm going to get after Apple about it before it runs out. It still works fine though.

silvine

I tried the PRAM reset and disconnected all the peripherals and other items on the circuit but it still didn't stop the issue.

I'll learn to live with it I suppose. It's not that loud, it's just annoying that the machine was once dead quiet and now makes a noise. I kind of regret not getting Applecare now.

silvine

Sad Professor wrote: »

If it is the display it's possibly due to electrical interference. I haven't noticed any ticking from my ACD in a while, but I tend to keep the brightness down low anyway. I'll check it later.

I have all sorts of problems with my ACD tbh. In addition to the ticking/buzzing, it also "blinks". And the vent has somehow sucked in dust and blown it all over the backlight. Pretty ridiculous given what it what cost. I have AppleCare so I'm going to get after Apple about it before it runs out. It still works fine though.

Would you recommend the ACD or would you recommend a similar monitor from another manufacturer?

Sad Professor

I probably wouldn't get one again, no. But mostly because I think the iMac (which is basically the same thing plus a computer) is better value.

silvine

Except when they make strange noises. Thanks for the help guys.