Why Does My Fridge Make My Mac Pro Click?

[andym172]

Not entirely true, it's the speakers which 'click', not the computer itself.

My home office is in the room next to the kitchen. Since buying my Mac Pro last week I've notice interference coming through the speakers every 30 mins or so. Something which never happened with my dual 2.5 G5.

I've now noticed that it happens when I hear the fridge turning itself on. As though there is a spike of electricity sent through the electrical system.

My computer is attached to a surge protector unit so I'm confused why this may be happening?!

 

[floam]

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[andym172]

A surge protector will only protect you from a surge. If you buy a UPS, your power will be conditioned and this won't happen.

Pardon me for being a bit simple, but UPS?

 

[aussiemac86]

Pardon me for being a bit simple, but UPS?

Uninterruptible Power Supply, pretty much a big battery which sits between the wall socket and your computer, if there is a power outage it keeps giving you power, until the battery runs dead.

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

Does it also work as a surge protector?

 

[aussiemac86]

Does it also work as a surge protector?

yeh i think most would probably have some kind of surge protection circuit built in,

they arent especially cheap though

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

yeh i think most would probably have some kind of surge protection circuit built in,

they arent especially cheap though

Well I am currently looking at a APC Back-UPS CS 325 which I have no idea will work on a Mac Pro (I know nothing of what to look for) and that is only DK 325,- (US $ 60,-), which I think is pretty cheap. Of course other products go as high as 230$,-

 

[adamfilip]

well for the Mac pro.. I believe it has a 1000w Power Supply
so you will need a UPS that can handel atleast 1000 watts
if you get a UPS that is under the power supply there is a good chance it
will just shut down from an overload until you reset it

I was trying to get a UPS for my Dual 2.0 G5 Powermac.. I tried several 650wat UPS's but none worked as the power drain was too high..

 

[Transeau]

Look at the Belkin 1500va units.
They are quite nice. I have a total of 9 of them in service, and I've never had a problem with any of them. and they are fairly cheap at $122
http://www.provantage.com/belkin-f6c1500-tw-rk~7BELZ036.htm

 

[floam]

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[monke]

Maybe you have been thinking the wrong way andym172, your Mac Pro is making the 'fridge' clicking noise.

 

[trainguy77]

The Mac Pro does not have a kilowatt power supply, I promise you. The old G5s might have, but testing has shown an idle Mac Pro to use 200, and it can approach 300 when it is busy. It is a fairly efficient machine.

Sorry to break to you but its true they have a 1000 watt power supply. However one guy here on macrumors worked it out, you really will use a max of 500 watts. And when just idling or under minimal use it uses much less. So really you should only need a 500-750 watt UPS. No if you filled up all the pci slots and all the hard drive bays had both CPU's maxed had all the PCI slots maxed. You can pass the 500 watt range but who does that? Ok maybe I don't want to ask........

 

[frankblundt]

It may also be nothing to do with the power supply, just the expanding field from the fridge compressor switching on is inducing a current in the speaker cabling. If you move the Mac Pro temporarily further away from the fridge, but still on the same power circuit, and the noise diminishes or disappears then it's a shielding issue.