Clicking/Ticking noise when iMac is sleeping or turned off?!

[rmwebs]

Hi,

I've had my iMac since last april and its always had this ticking or clicking noise when its sleeping or powered off, but still plugged in. I've also noticed that if I leave a firewire or USB hard drive attached (but turned off) it makes a very quiet electrical noise, almost like morse code (again, only when its in sleep or off).

I usually put the iMac into deep sleep at the end of the day, to preserve power (we all have to do our bit ).

Its always worked fine, no problems...but I really wanted to know if:

A) Its a known "issue"
B) If it will damage the system
C) Why does it happen
D) What causes it?

Anyone care to shed any light on this?

Thanks

Rick

 

[gehrbox]

Hi,

I've had my iMac since last april and its always had this ticking or clicking noise when its sleeping or powered off, but still plugged in. I've also noticed that if I leave a firewire or USB hard drive attached (but turned off) it makes a very quiet electrical noise, almost like morse code (again, only when its in sleep or off).

I usually put the iMac into deep sleep at the end of the day, to preserve power (we all have to do our bit ).

Its always worked fine, no problems...but I really wanted to know if:

A) Its a known "issue"
B) If it will damage the system
C) Why does it happen
D) What causes it?

Anyone care to shed any light on this?

Thanks

Rick

I have a 3.06 24". I've only had it a few days. No ticking or clicking noise at all. I've heard the fan purr quietly once or twice while making it do a bunch of heavy processing, but most of the time the only way I know it is on is the display being lit. I never shut it off, but it does go into sleep mode on its own after an hour. I have 2 MyBook drives plugged into it. One USB and the other firewire.

Found the following links to ticks, clicks and hums (Google is your friend):

http://www.ehmac.ca/mac-ipod-help-troubleshooting/61303-near-silent-ticky-aluminum-imac.html

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/408912/

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1184326

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7196630&#7196630

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7185080&#7185080

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7187072&#7187072

 

[rmwebs]

Mines deffinently only when sleeping/off. If I leave the firewire drive plugged in, it goes mental and I get a (very quiet) morse code squeeling. The second I unplug the drive, it stops and the clicking resumes. If I pull the power lead out of the wall, it stops alltogether, put it back in and it starts again!

Everyone who is having a clicking noise seems to not have it when in sleep/off.

 

[talkingfuture]

Did this ever get sorted. Mine does something similar. It clicks when I put it to sleep after extended use where it has got quite hot. The clicking stops after 5 mins when it has cooled a bit.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Mine sounds as if it's trying to turn back on! Haven't found the issue yet.

 

[MacHamster68]

the clicking when sleep or off after use is just a natural thing , caused by the alloy , when alluminium gets hot it expands a lot and when its cooling down its shrinking again ,which is causing the noise , ping ping click , you can hear it best on a motorcycle engine , nothing to worry about

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

My case is worrisome at best.

 

[MacHamster68]

the imac made of different metals aluminium outside and very likely a other metal inside somewhere . where there is contact of aluminium and other metals the aluminium is shrinking 3 times that of steel for example when it's cooling down , they didnt chose alloy only on design criteria alloy is a good metal to cool things down fast ,so it tends to creep over the other metal , that's what causes the sound.
Don't worry it's normal.

 

[knowpeace]

the imac made of different metals aluminium outside and very likely a other metal inside somewhere . where there is contact of aluminium and other metals the aluminium is shrinking 3 times that of steel for example when it's cooling down , they didnt chose alloy only on design criteria alloy is a good metal to cool things down fast ,so it tends to creep over the other metal , that's what causes the sound.
Don't worry it's normal.

Mine makes that click noise or tick noise only when it is sleeping, and I noticed in the dark, that there's a tiny spark of light from under my imac every time there's that noise. it's annoying and it only stops when I wake it up. I don't think it's the aluminum shrinking which causes the spark!

 

[MacHamster68]

SPARKS , then keep it off , unplug it from mains ,dont touch it any more and bring it to apple ....i hope you had bought apple care

there should be no sparks never ever from a computer , its not a engine , there are no spark plugs fitted inside the iMac

 

[rmwebs]

Just noticed this was still active

It never got sorted. Even after a logic board replacement for a faulty USB bus.

Also, this was on a white (plastic) mac, not an alu one - so unlikely to be metals making the noize. Plus, if you unplugged it at the wall it stopped.

It's been replaced with a Mac Pro now however so I never did find out the cause!

Although, I've now got the MagSafe power box for my MBP making whining sounds...it seems all Apple products I own have some form of defect