buzzing sound in my G4 tower...

[burritos]

Got a G4 400 tower, and I've recently been hearing a low pitch buzzing sound coming from my mac. Computer works fine and all. Could this be the fan? Is there any basic steps I should do, or should I just take it in to a store to get it checked?

[Dont Hurt Me]

Fan or transformer, hope you dont let to many dust bunnies accumulate in there!

[rainman::|:|]

is it... a bee?

hehe, ab fab fans will get that...

i'd also guess power supply, can you open it up to help isolate the location of the sound?

pnw

[burritos]

nm

[MrMacMan]

Originally posted by burritos
nm

Is that a nevermind 'I fixed it' or is that a 'It doesn't matter nothing much' ?

[burritos]

no message, that my question was in the subject line, and I had no further additonal comment. I opened my tower and removed the dust bunnies, but it's still buzzing. It was suggested that I open the tower to locate the buzzing, but is it okay to open the tower while the computer is on?

[topicolo]

Of course. As long as you're not disconnecting cables and shaking the hard drives like crazy, you should be fine. A lot of people on the PC side run their computers without a case at all! they just have the motherboard sitting on a table with the cd roms and hard drives stacked up beside it.

[rainman::|:|]

Static, etc etc, don't touch anything on the board... should be obvious... the case was designed to be opened during usage, for what purpose is still unclear (to me at least)... can be handy in this situation...

don't hit the reset button with your nose while you're putting your ear to different parts!

:)
pnw

[burritos]

Looks like the sound is coming from the transformer(that's the device where the power plug connects to right?) Any other suggestions? Do I need to get this replaced? The buzzing is really annoying and it fluctuates between loud and louder.

[topicolo]

That's the power supply. It contains a transformer, but a frequent problem with power supplies is the fan. Put your hand near the fan intake when it starts making buzzing noises, does the it feel like there's no air current there? if there isn't it's your fan that's acting up.

[burritos]

the computer starts quietly, but after a few minutes it starts buzzing. I don't feel much air. Any suggestions?

[topicolo]

You basically have two options:

1) replace the power supply but that'll cost you unless you're still on some kind of warranty. I would guess $40-100 for a new one. At least that's how much a decent ATX power supply costs for PCs

2) buy a system fan for $5 and install it yourself. It's a little bit more difficult, but you can always get someone else who knows what their doing to do it for you.

[MacBandit]

There's also a good chance that the powersupply fan is loaded with dust. It's a very common problem and few people realize that the powersupply is the most important part of the computer to clean the dust out of. Dust on a fan will cause it to work harder due to increased air resistance also it adds weight to the blades and can also be on the blades unevenly causing it to be unbalanced.

[burritos]

I took my tower to the Apple Store in Northridge, CA. The fan on the power supply was busted and the whole system had to be replaced. The part was 200 bucks, plus 85 for labor. The guy told me it would definitely be cheaper for me to go to a reseller, but I didn't feel like driving around all day to see if I could save 50 bucks. It was nice that they could fix it in less than 2 hours(I was worried that I was gonna have to leave it there for a week or so). They finished the repair as I watched 'Shanghai Knights'(not as good as 'Shanghai Noon'btw). I know that I probably got ripped, but I feel that if it supports Apple, it can't be all that bad. Thanks for all the help.

[topicolo]

ouch! you really DID get ripped. The last time I had that problem, I just replaced the whole powersupply for $60CAN (about $40US). It took about 15 minutes to install too. Well, at least Apple got very good profit margins on your transaction ;)

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by burritos
I took my tower to the Apple Store in Northridge, CA. The fan on the power supply was busted and the whole system had to be replaced. The part was 200 bucks, plus 85 for labor. The guy told me it would definitely be cheaper for me to go to a reseller, but I didn't feel like driving around all day to see if I could save 50 bucks. It was nice that they could fix it in less than 2 hours(I was worried that I was gonna have to leave it there for a week or so). They finished the repair as I watched 'Shanghai Knights'(not as good as 'Shanghai Noon'btw). I know that I probably got ripped, but I feel that if it supports Apple, it can't be all that bad. Thanks for all the help.


Holy florking shnit! You found something that is marked up higher than Apple's RAM! ;)

Hey, but it's fixed and that's what counts.


Lethal

[couch potato]

just some advice. next time you open your case while its on, be sure to put your finger in anything thats moving, such as a fan:D its an interesting experience