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iMac Dripping Sound Mystery

IA64 said:
If you know how to do it. Remove the screen magnetic cover of your iMac and trace the sound. That would tell you where it's coming from.

1- I am not sure if Apple guys really replaced everything
2- It could be faulty RAM ? ( Although I doubt )
3- You haven't confirmed if the sound was reproducible when Apple guys checked it
4- If you have bootcam, boot under Windows and check if it's happening
5- DVD drive ? But you said it's coming from the left side
6- Check your electricity voltage; Mine on UPS starts buzzing ( sound from LCD panel )
Click to expand...

I don't really know how to do that - and I'd be pretty nervous of breaking something.

1. Neither am I.
2. Not sure... diagnostic test at apple store said everything was ok.
3. They said they couldn't hear it - but it doesn't happen immediately from 'cold'
4. Don't have Windows, but pretty sure it would happen here too - due to it happening before OSX reboots.
5. It seems to be coming from the left side - lower part below screen (to me)
6. I will try different power and let you know.

Thanks,
 
I've read through this entire thread and simply cannot believe this is happening. Totally insane... I think you should talk to Apple again. Show them the recording of the sound and wait in the store until they also hear it. Even if you are outside of Applecare, this problem has persisted throughout the time the machine was covered, so it's technically an issue that was initiated while under warranty. They should still try to fix.

Good luck and I'm sorry you're having trouble. Don't retire the machine just yet. It's nearly brand new, considering everything Apple already replaced.
 
B1ueB1aze said:
You can test the fans out, it's a built in test. First shutdown and unplug the power cord from the Mac, then hold down the power button and plug the power cable back in while still holding the power button. The Mac will run the fans at 100%. A small warning however, this will blow a ton of dust out lol. Tell us if the sound changes during this test.

Here are instructions on how to return the Mac to normal after the test. http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1433?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Click to expand...

Did this but couldn't hear the sound as the fans were that loud. I don't know if it stopped or was just masked by loud 'white noise' :)

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MikeChicago said:
I've read through this entire thread and simply cannot believe this is happening. Totally insane... I think you should talk to Apple again. Show them the recording of the sound and wait in the store until they also hear it. Even if you are outside of Applecare, this problem has persisted throughout the time the machine was covered, so it's technically an issue that was initiated while under warranty. They should still try to fix.

Good luck and I'm sorry you're having trouble. Don't retire the machine just yet. It's nearly brand new, considering everything Apple already replaced.
Click to expand...

Thank you. :)

I thought I was going insane!!
 
I've contacted an independent Mac specialist about this and although he sounded confident - he claims that he can't hear anything in the audio clip I sent him?! Bit worrying as it's the same one I posted on here and the sound is pretty obvious?!

We'll see. I'll let you know what it was if I ever find out! :)
 
I heard it plain as day at the 5, 12, 19, and 27 second marks. Obviously it happens about every 7 seconds.
 
Thank you.

To be fair, the iPhone doesn't really pick up the sound that well. But in real life, it is actually quite loud. Loud enough to hear it from the other side of the room, but unfortunately, not loud enough to hear it in the Apple Store! ;)
 
I had an electrical crackling that could be described as dripping.

It happened at low screen brightness and primarily with black or dark backgrounds.

Trying light background and screen brightness > 50% stopped the annoying noise.

It was the screen panel and I replaced it
 
It's all good

I don't know if this will be good news or bad to you, and I'm amazed that no one has weighed-in on this, but the noise you are hearing is "normal". I have a 2010
i7 iMac at work and a brand new i7 Mac Mini that I bought about a month ago. Both make exactly the same noise you speak of. Yeah, it's a little annoying, but I would listen to that noise any day before I would trade my Macs for PCs. Before you smash the thing to bits and bankrupt yourself, at least be comfortable knowing that your Mac is perfectly fine.
 
bmoflaz said:
I don't know if this will be good news or bad to you, and I'm amazed that no one has weighed-in on this, but the noise you are hearing is "normal". I have a 2010
i7 iMac at work and a brand new i7 Mac Mini that I bought about a month ago. Both make exactly the same noise you speak of. Yeah, it's a little annoying, but I would listen to that noise any day before I would trade my Macs for PCs. Before you smash the thing to bits and bankrupt yourself, at least be comfortable knowing that your Mac is perfectly fine.
Click to expand...

Surely that can't be right?! Sometimes the noise is so bad I have to leave my iMac and start working on my Macbook because it's too annoying!

Now don't all fall out with me over this, but if I punch the iMac (only softly... not knocking it into wall or anything) to the left of the Apple logo on the front... the clicking stops. Did that about 10 minutes ago and not heard a click/drip since. It will come back though. Always does.
 
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RedElectro said:
Now don't all fall out with me over this, but if I punch the iMac (only softly... not knocking it into wall or anything) to the left of the Apple logo on the front... the clicking stops. Did that about 10 minutes ago and not heard a click/drip since. It will come back though. Always does.
Click to expand...

I wonder if its some sort of heat expansion thing ?
 
The fact that it only occurs when the iMac is warm, and after a reboot before system loading, along with it's location on the left side, indicates it could be coming from the power supply. Its highly unlikely to be a fan, as a fan would tick once for each revolution, or around 2000 times a minute at idle.

A PSU does contain components, such as coils, that are capable of producing sound. The coils are usually epoxied to the PSU circuit board, but with repeated hot/cool cycles the epoxy can crack allowing a coil to separate slightly when heated. The PSU operates at high frequencies, but changes in current load could cause slight mechanical movements. There could be a hardware related cyclical change in load, also the iMac case makes a good sounding board.
 
This worked for me

Not sure if this is the same sound, as your audio file has expired, but this worked for me: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2804111?start=0&tstart=0

Specifically, it is: If Skype-->Preferences-->Notifications-->Play Sound (contacts available,) you can change to something less annoying like play sound when you sign-in.

You also have to uncheck "when a contact becomes unavailable"

Dan
 
charmedlife said:
Not sure if this is the same sound, as your audio file has expired, but this worked for me: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2804111?start=0&tstart=0

Specifically, it is: If Skype-->Preferences-->Notifications-->Play Sound (contacts available,) you can change to something less annoying like play sound when you sign-in.

You also have to uncheck "when a contact becomes unavailable"

Dan
Click to expand...

When I saw this thread, this was my first thought as to what it would be! It also took me a while to figure out where the drip-drop sound was coming from.
 
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