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Strange noise (fan or hdd crackle?)

D

d82k

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 24, 2011
52
0
Dear all,

Since a couple of days my iMac (27" i7 mid 2011) makes a strange noise coming from the top of the screen.
It seems like a fan with something stuck in it. I have tried to clean the split behind the monitor on the top where the air comes out, but the noise is still there.. I'm afraid it can be the harddisk crackle...

Any ideas or suggestions?

Where is the harddisk positioned exactly?

thank you for your help,
dk
 
d82k said:
Dear all,

Since a couple of days my iMac (27" i7 mid 2011) makes a strange noise coming from the top of the screen.
It seems like a fan with something stuck in it. I have tried to clean the split behind the monitor on the top where the air comes out, but the noise is still there.. I'm afraid it can be the harddisk crackle...

Any ideas or suggestions?

Where is the harddisk positioned exactly?

thank you for your help,
dk
Click to expand...

It could be just be the fan hitting some internal cables and i know a couple of other imac users having the same issue. have you got the applecare protection plan for you iMac? if yes, an applecare technician should be able to fix that for you with no charge, it does involves tearing apart the imac.

it could also be the HDD, have you check the SMART status of your hard drive?
Apple launched a recall program for a 1TB seagate harddrives used in imac, see if yours is affected. Quickly do a backup while u still can.

iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program
 
d82k said:
Dear all,

Since a couple of days my iMac (27" i7 mid 2011) makes a strange noise coming from the top of the screen.
It seems like a fan with something stuck in it. I have tried to clean the split behind the monitor on the top where the air comes out, but the noise is still there.. I'm afraid it can be the harddisk crackle...

Any ideas or suggestions?

Where is the harddisk positioned exactly?

thank you for your help,
dk
Click to expand...

Here is a shot of the internals. The hard disk is just about right in the middle. There is a small fan for the HDD and then a fan on the lower left and lower right of the machine. The top left of the machine is the PSU and the LCD Inverter. Top right is the GPU heatsink (depending upon what GPU is in your machine):

TLfSqZEZWnTwKylR


Hope this helps!
 
Thank you both for your reply.

asriznet said:
It could be just be the fan hitting some internal cables and i know a couple of other imac users having the same issue. have you got the applecare protection plan for you iMac? if yes, an applecare technician should be able to fix that for you with no charge, it does involves tearing apart the imac.

it could also be the HDD, have you check the SMART status of your hard drive?
Apple launched a recall program for a 1TB seagate harddrives used in imac, see if yours is affected. Quickly do a backup while u still can.

iMac 1TB Seagate Hard Drive Replacement Program
Click to expand...

Yes, I did bought the apple care protection plan.. but it expired 3 weeks ago... so it is useless :(
I think is the HDD, when I open a big file the noise increses. I will complete the backup and than run the verification of the hdd from disk utilities.

Thanks for the link, I checked it and mine based on the serial is not affected.

Johnf1285 said:
Here is a shot of the internals. The hard disk is just about right in the middle. There is a small fan for the HDD and then a fan on the lower left and lower right of the machine. The top left of the machine is the PSU and the LCD Inverter. Top right is the GPU heatsink (depending upon what GPU is in your machine):

Image

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Well, based from the noise location it seems to be the HDD or eventually the HDD fan..


Anyway, I'm considering buying a new HDD and bring it to an apple authorized service provider to for the change.. do you have an idea on how much they can charge for the substiturion?

Any particular thing I should consider in buying the new HDD?
What about adding an SSD as well? Should it have special characteristic?

Thank you again for your help
dk
 
d82k said:
Thank you both for your reply.



Yes, I did bought the apple care protection plan.. but it expired 3 weeks ago... so it is useless :(
I think is the HDD, when I open a big file the noise increses. I will complete the backup and than run the verification of the hdd from disk utilities.

Thanks for the link, I checked it and mine based on the serial is not affected.



Well, based from the noise location it seems to be the HDD or eventually the HDD fan..


Anyway, I'm considering buying a new HDD and bring it to an apple authorized service provider to for the change.. do you have an idea on how much they can charge for the substiturion?

Any particular thing I should consider in buying the new HDD?
What about adding an SSD as well? Should it have special characteristic?

Thank you again for your help
dk
Click to expand...

3 weeks is not that far off, give the AppleCare team a call and I'm sure they can grant an exception for you.
 
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