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Jamooche

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
204
55
Is anyone else getting vibrations and noise from their 2011 Mac Mini Servers?

Mine is usually quiet on startup, but develops a vibration / fluorescent light bulb type noise after about 15min. Sometimes it goes away, but usually stays constant. Putting a small amount of finger pressure on the apple logo makes it go away. Turning the computer on it's side or upside down also makes it go away. I have some rubber feet on the corners of the metal base to keep the Mini from sliding on the desk, but that didn't help. To make it stop, a light tap / knock on the apple logo makes it go away.

It seems this is just the fan movement vibrations transferring to the aluminum casing due to space under the top panel. It could also be from a loose apple logo insert. A strip of scotch tape across the logo also seemed to dampen the vibration. I've taken off the bottom cover and checked for anything loose in and around the fan. All looked well, and I don't want to disassemble the entire Mini for this.

As a result I have placed a heavy metal statue that was already on my desk on the corner of the Mini. This slightly weighs down the base and prevents any vibration and noise. A quick fix for a very annoying issue!
 

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Vermifuge

macrumors 68020
Mar 7, 2009
2,067
1,589
I had the same problem before. My 2010 mini server would make a pulsating hum. it could be pretty distracting as i was sitting right next to it. The solution came from my nearby Dollar Store. These rubberized pads are used to open jars, but they solve two problems

1) The rubber absorbs any vibrations rendering my mini silent.
2) The rubberized texture keeps the mini from sliding around the desk

Gripper%20Pads%20-%20Blue.JPG
 

Jamooche

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 23, 2011
204
55
I had the same problem before. My 2010 mini server would make a pulsating hum. it could be pretty distracting as i was sitting right next to it. The solution came from my nearby Dollar Store. These rubberized pads are used to open jars, but they solve two problems

1) The rubber absorbs any vibrations rendering my mini silent.
2) The rubberized texture keeps the mini from sliding around the desk

Image

Thanks, I'll have to try that. I have several rolls of that stuff in the garage I can cut to fit. The rubber bumper feet I"m using don't cut the vibration, but I notice that when I pick it up and hold it with my finger tips only on the black plastic bottom cover it does stop. Even the (very heavy sold metal) statue placement in the photo above doesn't cut it all the time...I need to move it to the center over the Apple logo.
 
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