24" iMac - noisy fan

Early 2009-model iMac 24" - previously fan was silent, replaced screen/HDD under Applecare and suddenly the fan is making a very obvious whirring noise which gets extremely high pitched at high fan speeds. Sent to AASP twice (two different stores), they say they can't hear it and will therefore do nothing- what can I do? This noise is driving me crazy, as I work in a silent room. SMC reset does nothing.

For the first one, they took it into their tech workshop and tried it - second one was in another country! Ambient temperatures are around the same too.
Fans make a noise from boot is the problem (even before the Apple logo appears) - temperature readings are normal, fan speed too (~ 38C/800rpm ODD). When I use SMCFanControl to increase fan speed, the noise increases proportionally - that's how I figured it was the fan (previously, I had no idea what was making the noise). Great idea though.
I only have access to one AASP in my city, and have to travel for 2-3 hours to get to my nearest Apple Store (and I don't drive...). I'm sure if I were there and *made* them hear it (ambient noise tends to eradicate any noise made by my iMac) I'd get my iMac back to its perfect state. Gah.

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Trouble running hardware test on 07 iMac with noisy fan

Hello
I have an 07 iMac with a noisy fan- I've tried vacuuming out dust from the back but want to avoid taking it apart if possible...
I read online I should run the hardware test, but since I am running Mavericks the Apple support advice is to run the original OS X install disc and restart (holding down D or Option+D)...
Long story short I got a replacement disc from Apple (I'd lost the original) but the iMac ejects it when I restart following the process above... could it be my bluetooth keyboard? Hopefully not since I no longer have the original hardwired one... or does anyone have any other ideas for either how to get to the hardware test... or fix the fan (without a third party app just stopping it)
Thanks!

Try holding down the Option key to get the one time boot manager screen then select the AHT. Not sure as Apple moved it around on different install discs but it might be on the Applications discs and not the OS X discs.

Noisy fans on iMac 24. Help

Noisy fans in iMac 24
Posted: Aug 2, 2008 1:47 AM
Reply Email
Hi Guys
I need your help on this. My 3 months old iMac (iMac 24inch 2.8GHZ Core 2 Duo Extreme) fans started making so much noise that is unbearable. They came on suddenly (you could see the wave of air) and even though I switched off the iMac for the 24 hours, when I turned it on, they noise is still on. The iMac works fine, but the noise is very very loud. The computer is in well ventilated room, so I dont know what is happening.
I bought it from apple.com and I dont want to go through all the drama of sending it for repair if there is a quick fix.
Thank you for your time.
Message was edited by: Radek

Hello Radek
You need to reset the iMac's SMC (System Management Controller) carefully follow the instructions in the link below!
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1543
Dennis

Noisy fans, AHT error 4SNS/1/40000001:tgod-1.000

Hello, i run an AHT cause my old imac 24' fans came suddenly noisy. (snow leopard)
(I previously tried reset PRAM..., shut down/wait/unplug..., check apps proc%) ...
AHT returns this error : 4SNS/1/40000001:tgod-1.000 What does that mean? What should i do ?
Thanks for your help !

Means you have a defective sensor. I think it may be for the optical drive. That's what makes the fans run at top speed. Please make a Genius Appointment and take it in for service.

Would a noisy fan be covered by the warrenty? Can the fan be turned off?

My iMac's fan has become worryingly noisey, can it be turned off, if so is that a danger?
Will it be covered by the warranty, it still presumably works, just very very noisy.

Hi, if the computer is under warranty or has AppleCare so is the fan.
You would be best served to do the SMC reset first if that fails to cure the noisy fan call AppleHelp or visit the local Genius Bar or Apple Approved Service Agent..
http://macosx.com/forums/howto-faqs/302002-reset-system-management-controller-sm c.html
I would also make sure you have everything backed up..before any service work is carried out..L

Has a noisy fan

What has caused my iMac to develop a noisy fan. It runs at full speed now, this has just started.

this sounds like its overheating. when it does this can you tell what graphics processor is in operation, you can do that by either using gfxCardStatus (a app that sits in the menu bar that tells you which gpu is in operation) or by going into the more info section of About This Mac and under display it should say which processor is in use at that time, either the AMD discrete GPU or the Intel Integrated one

Hot GPU diode and noisy fan - 3600rpm

After an hour my iMAC's GPU diode is running at 88° and the CPU fan is noisy at 3600rpm. I have taken it to an Apple certified reseller and they couldn't find anything wrong. Can anyone help suggest a reason why it is running hot and noisy?

Hello davemo73 I have the right the same problem, I have taken to an Apple certified support and they told me that is everything all right with my iMac, when I arrived in my home an surprise! the same issue... noisy fan and rpms too fast. Im really worried about, I dont wanna to change the logical board (60% of imac, too much expensive in my country, like a $1100,00 half cost of new machine.).
Can someone from Apple help us? PLS I'm going crazy!!!

IMac G5 fan always at maximum speed after booting into si...

IMac G5 fan always at maximum speed after booting into single-user mode in 10.4.3
Model: 1.6GHz iMac G5 with 10.4.3
I updated my iMac to 10.4.3, then booted into single-user mode to do some cleaning at the command-line level. I know, as others have discovered, that in single-user mode, the thermal control is off, so the fan gradually increases up to maximum speed and stays there until you reboot or go into multi-user mode. Well, I have never experienced this one before, and I'm freaking out about it... I went into single-user mood one reboot after upgrading to 10.4.3, and after all the println white text lines ended, the [1] fan shot up to maximum speed in 0.35 seconds (it sounded like a high-pitched DJ record scratch during the time interval), [2] the fan stayed at maximum speed when I left single-user mode, and [3] I cannot get the fan to slow itself! I rebooted, shut down, and even tried booting off the Tiger CD, but the instant I hit the power button to turn on the iMac, the fans blast up to maximum speed. They shut down when I put the iMac to Sleep, but then they blast up again in full when it wakes up. I checked my settings in the Energy Saver preference pane, and I have the performance set to "Reduced," which is the lowest possible.
I searched to see if anyone else had this problem or if the KBase had any info, but I didn't see any. I'm thinking about erasing and installing my stuff on the iMac, even though I just did that today.
Again, this maximum speed fan problem is freaking me out. It just started when I booted into single-user mode in OS X 10.4.3. I have booted into single-user mode before (10.4.2) and have not experienced this fan issue. I repeat, the fans blast up to maximum speed after pressing the power switch to turn on the computer, so they do not even wait for the Apple logo to show up on the screen before blasting away. How can I get these fans to not do this anymore?!

for the last few months my 20" 1.8GHz Imac has been very noisy - fans seem to run constantly and noisily. It might have been when updating to Tiger but I was never sure. Today, on the advice of a chat tech, I opened the case and reset the SMU to hopefully cure another problem. I noticed that all the air vents, intake and expel ones, were all quite heavily clogged up - not blocked but clogged with dust and fluff. I cleared it away mainly by blowing but also with a hand held hoover held close by. The exposed fan still as a lot of muck on it but greatly reduced and all the vents are completely clear. Having put everything back together again the iMac has been runnning quietly all day. May have been the SMU reset but equally might just be that the computer couldn'tdraw in cool air, circulate it or expel it properly and the fans had to work overtime to cope. Worth checking if you have noisy fans running at speed constantly.

Why Hp does not find any solution for Noisy Fan systems ?

I got DV6t core i5 6gb ram + 1gb Ati Radeon Graphic Card (6490m) + bluetooth + Bluray
I have to return it because of that noisy fan ; i was a new member of Hp family and i never investigate about that product for Laptop. After it got that gorgeous Laptop , i got this fan issue ; and i research that fan is working normal/anormal ; what i find out is Hp has a Noisy Fan Issue on all of the Video clips , Forum Websites even its own website ; I realy didnt know till i got it. If that is a common issue , Why that big brand HP doesnt solve that problem since many years ? I sincerely doesnt want to return this item because of fan ; because there is no comparative product in others company has .... (Bluetooth + Bluray + Finger print + 1gb (Integrated Graphic) and $749 ; i can not find any brand or product which includes that options in this price ..... So UNFORTUNATELY i am returning that Beautiful Laptop Because of ridiculous fan noise ; is that really hard to install a fan which is really silence ??? I have a Toshiba brand laptop , even the fan is working hard there is no bothering noise at all (Even its 4 years old) . I was thinking that Hp product has high performance equipment thats why this fan works hard or noisy because it could be stronger than my Toshiba which has core 2 duo technology 256 mb graphic card ; But i was wrong because of this video clip ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yLEXZGRGPY

I got DV6t core i5 6gb ram + 1gb Ati Radeon Graphic Card (6490m) + bluetooth + Bluray
I have to return it because of that noisy fan ; i was a new member of Hp family and i never investigate about that product for Laptop. After it got that gorgeous Laptop , i got this fan issue ; and i research that fan is working normal/anormal ; what i find out is Hp has a Noisy Fan Issue on all of the Video clips , Forum Websites even its own website ; I realy didnt know till i got it. If that is a common issue , Why that big brand HP doesnt solve that problem since many years ? I sincerely doesnt want to return this item because of fan ; because there is no comparative product in others company has .... (Bluetooth + Bluray + Finger print + 1gb (Integrated Graphic) and $749 ; i can not find any brand or product which includes that options in this price ..... So UNFORTUNATELY i am returning that Beautiful Laptop Because of ridiculous fan noise ; is that really hard to install a fan which is really silence ??? I have a Toshiba brand laptop , even the fan is working hard there is no bothering noise at all (Even its 4 years old) . I was thinking that Hp product has high performance equipment thats why this fan works hard or noisy because it could be stronger than my Toshiba which has core 2 duo technology 256 mb graphic card ; But i was wrong because of this video clip ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yLEXZGRGPY

IMac G5 fan noise

Hi MGW,
Baby Boomer recommended that I check with you about our iMac G5 fan noise since you used to have the same model. For a reference as to what all has been suggested and done go to: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9810894&#9810894
I've done some internet searches and come across some other ideas on what may be the problem and if it is not too much trouble I would be very interested in your thoughts about the suggestions by DeathStalker13 --- please scroll down to #19 at this link:
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=50158
Here is another link that I've found information about iMac G5 fan noise. I'd also like your impression about the methods that these people have done to solve the issue:
http://scienceman.com/legacypgs/00imacG5fanforum.html
I've also contacted a local AASP store and from just our telephone conversation they think just cleaning the fans and inspecting the computer which would take 1-1/2 hours at $95/hour should take care of the problem.
We'd really appreciate you opinion. Thanks!!!

Thank you so much for answering so quickly. I apologize for not being able to do the same. We had unexpected house guests and everything else was set aside while they were here.
This morning I have been researching trying to figure out how to disable Flash but so far I've been unsuccessful. We have a Power PC Mac OS X 10.4.11, Safari version 3.2.1.
Under the Safari "Help" it says, "Safari works with the plug-ins that are installed with Mac OS X. To see a list of installed plug-ins, open Safari and choose Help > Installed Plug-ins."
I checked and the Installed Plug-Ins list only has one "FLASH" listed - Shockwave Flash. I didn't know how to disable it or if I should.
You suggested changing to Firefox or Camino. We already swap between Safari & Firefox (version 3.0.12) for other reasons. Unfortunately, the fan noise is the same whether we use Firefox or Safari.
It was interesting that under Firefox "Help" they recommended disabling Adobe Flash plugin: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Usingthe+Flash+Plugin+withFirefox?style_mode=inproduct
They said something about, "vulnerable to an extremely malicious exploit" and that until Adobe has an update, you can disable Flash. I followed the instructions but the only plug-ins I found were the following:
Default Plug-In
Netscape Navigator Default Plug-In
Java Embedding Plugin 0.9.6.4
Runs Java applets using the latest installed version of Java. For more information: Java Embedding Plugin. Run version test: Java information.
Java Plug-in
Java 1.3.1 Plug-in
Java Plug-In (CFM)
Java 1.3.1 Plug-in (CFM)
QuickTime Plug-in 7.6.2
The QuickTime Plugin allows you to view a wide variety of multimedia content in web pages. For more information, visit the QuickTime web site.
Shockwave Flash
Shockwave Flash 9.0 r159
Shockwave for Director
Macromedia Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in, version 10.1.1
I haven't changed anything yet, as I'm not sure what I should disable. We have considered putting up with the fan noise since it isn't as bad since we cleaned the fans but if there is an easy fix we'd really appreciate your advice. Thanks!

G5 Dual 2.7Ghz Constant Noisy Fans

Hi there,
I'm really annoyed with this whole situation since Apple don't appear to have publicly acknowledged the noisy fans/chirping noise problems G5 users (with varying spec hardware) have been experiencing and posting about for over a year.
Anyway, here's the deal:-
My main spec is as follows: G5 Dual 2.7Ghz/4.5GB RAM/Mac OS X 10.4.6 installed on the shipped Western Digital 250GB SATA, 2nd internal 250GB SATA (Maxtor DiamondMax), 20" aluminium Apple Studio Display.
Since I performed the upgrade to 10.4.4 back in early May 2006 the fans have been constantly on as soon as the login window appears and remain at full pelt all the while the machine is on - clearly unacceptable and unusable. Fortunately for me it's not my only Mac although this is besides the point as I have now had an unusable machine for over a month and not been able to do any work with it - it is a production machine used for making music with Logic.
The bottom line is that I've not been able to make any music!
None of the suggested resolution methods that have been written about in the forums or elsewhere on the 'net (eg. installing CHUD tools etc) have made a blind bit of difference.
Furthermore, I have always had the chirping sounds since I purchased the machine in person from the Apple Store in July 2005.
For the past few weeks I was convinced that the fan problems were caused by the 10.4.4 update (when it started) and that the subsequent 10.4.6 update hadn't cured the problem.
Prior to this, I hadn't run a software update since December 2005 purely because I had heard horror stories from friends and other G5 users posting to forums etc. - if it ain't broke, don't fix it right?
I haven't really had the time to devote to trying to sort the problem out but I decided earlier today that tonight was the night to have a look at it.
Having spent all evening trying various things I am now convinced it is a hardware problem as opposed to being software related.
Here's what I tried earlier with the machine spec as above:-
1. Booted the G5 with Disk Warrior 3.0.3 boot CD
2. Ran all Disk Warrior tasks on both drives - eg, 0% fragmentation
3. Re-booted, fan noise still there from login window
4. Manually ran daily, weekly and monthly CRON jobs from Terminal - OK
5. Ran Disk Utility on main HD, repaired permissions - OK
6. Ran Disk Utility on secondary HD, verified disk - OK
7. Powered down
8. Removed all leads incl. power, monitor, all USB and Firewire
9. Removed 4GB RAM leaving 500MB stock RAM, reset the PMU
10.Ensured the removable fans (covering the RAM) were re-seated firmly
11.Replaced plastic 'door', attached monitor (DVI only) and keyboard USB
12.Re-booted, same problem, fan noise still there from login window
13.Attached Firewire HD with Mac OS X 10.3.8 installed
14.Selected Firewire HD in the Startup Disk system pref
15.Rebooted into Panther, same problem, fan noise still there from login window
AAAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
The last time I booted my G5 from the Panther Firewire HD (which incidentally hasn't been used since) was prior to me doing the 10.4.4 update on my G5's main boot drive and there was NO fan noise whatsoever!!!!!
Clearly I need to call and speak to someone at Apple tomorrow as the G5 is nearly one year old and I need to get this problem sorted out before it's out of warranty.
It just seems an odd coincidence that the problem started when it did!
Anyway, if any Apple techs or other G5 owners with a similar setup (specifically the dual 2.7) are reading this I'd appreciate a response or some advice for other things to try.
I'm just really frustrated and a little annoyed that having been a very content Mac user for years this is the first and only time I've ever had a problem with a piece of Apple kit.
Like I said at the top of the post, I can't believe the lack of acknowledgement on Apple's part as it would appear to be a known/common issue.
Just my £0.02.
Thanks for reading/listening.

Ok, take a look on your plastic shield, one of the bottom "tabs" should have a shiny metal coating of some sort, if it's gone or moved, then this could be the reason your fans are going "turbo".
If your fans are just at a high speed all the time, consider lowering your room temps to about 75ºF and see how it goes after a few hours/days.
It's most likely a wise decision to have the G-folks take a look at it anyway before it gets out of warranty. you might need a fan calibration or firmware change.
You still have a chance to buy AppleCare and get it registered before the 1 year warranty expires.
The Dual 2.7 is the hottest PM of the bunch, overclocked I would think.
You said the WD drive was OEM correct? Came with the PM stock?
Because the newer WD drives now have a new SATA spec that requires a SATA PCI card to function correctly in PM's.
Have you tried a complete reinstall of the OS?
Did you upgrade Tiger over Panther? (not good, less secure, previous exploits)
Do a backup, a clone of your boot drive to a external using Carbon Copy Cloner (check in the forums for their advice!) would be better.
the c boot off of Tiger install disk (not upgrade version) and from the installer menu Disk utility Erase w/Zero the boot drive (takes longer but writes are more reliable) and then reinstall Tiger, software update till clear, reinstall iLife '06 and all apps from fresh sources, avoid Migration Assistant (too blind, no app DRM copies) install files and see if your fan problems return.
Sometimes if Mac OS X is not operating correctly it won't tell the hardware to turn the fans down.
Don't install any OS/root level/admin password type programs or hacks until you've had a chance to clone that pristine puppy to a external drive (preferably 2) and keep it disconnected for safekeeping.
It's takes practically no time to option boot off a clone to recover, repair or reverse clone to the original drive. If your exploited, first c boot and Zero the infected drive before hooking up and option booting off the clone of course.

Noisy fans on all the time

I have come over from the dark side today (PC to Mac switcher). I got a second hand Mac Pro 2.66 quad with four HDD and 4GB ram and i seem to have very noisy fans. I did find this article
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/intel/fan/
which mentions that extra drives cause more noise due to extra heat and less airflow but this is just silly, they sound like they are on full ALL the time.
I have alread tried resetting the smc_rst button on the logic board but that did nothing. I also tried restarting the machine with command, option, p, and r down before the grey screen on startup and that did nothing.
Is this normal. is it just down to lots of HDDs/RAM or should i be worried?

Mac Pro most likely for "MP" shorthand.
Considering how the drives are placed, can't see that they block air, though they may not get direct ventilation.
FBDIMM memory needs to be kept cool and the top memory Riser and higher density DIMMs do tend to be as much as 10C higher (with 2GB DIMMs running the hotest).
I wonder if you got it with a system already installed? or did a full 'wipe' of the system drive and started fresh. There is a little program most people now use smcFanControl which can force the fans to run at a minimum rpm (though not the PSU fan, either software defect, or the logicboard won't allow forcing it if the sensor doesn't register a higher temp).
SFC would put a little menu item on the menu bar and to acces the program preferences. There would also be a log-in] in user accounts, and a startupitems in the top level Library/Startupitems usually.
Also, look on the Dock for items that can be controlled from there to "open at login" or disabled without having to open any control panels.
If it was me, and I bought a used system, other than direct from Apple Store (Specials, great deals on refurd equip.) I would start over with installing the system.

Noisy fan (or fan-like) sound coming from machine. Thoughts?

My macbook pro is from 2008 to start. I had the computer completely refurbished back in August 2011, though.
However, in the last two days, it has twice produced this impossible-to-miss noisy whirring/rattling sounds that sounds a lot like a very noisy fan. The first time, it last for about 5 seconds just as the computer was starting up after I'd left it closed and off all night (leaning against the wall). The second time, however, the computer had already been on for several hours, always upright, and just for some random reason started making the same noise. This time it lasted for a good 15-20 seconds.
Any thoughts on what could be causing this sudden noisiness? Whatever it is doesn't appear so far to be affecting the actual functions of the computer itself.
Thanks!

HI,
Probably a good idea to run the Apple Hardware Test just in case and make sure you have all your important files backed up to an external source.
Carolyn

Portg Z30-B-117 noisy fan

Hi,
I have a problem with my new notebook Portg Z30-B-117,
It has realy noisy fan, I was forced to use baterry saving mode, without that I can not work on this machine.
The fan speed is absurdly designed.
It has much more speed even when it does not heat up.
Please make a new bios with clever fan speed, then it will be the best notebook on the market!
Thanks in advance.

Hi, I bought Portg Z30-B-119 a few days ago and I agree this would*be the best laptop/ultrabook on the market, if not for two annoying problems that can easily be fixed by Toshiba.
1/
The fan indeed turns on and off very often, and really unnecessarily. It is not related to running any highly demanding process. It is enough to watch a video clip on youtube for 2 minutes and the fan turns on for few seconds, and then switches off because the laptop cools down enough. Then after another minute the temperature rises again so the fan is on again, and so on, back and fourth. This is quite annoying. This happens also when you just read something, just less often. And I know why this happens. Here is the explanation.
This is simply because of a very bad choice of Toshiba.* I used a tool that monitors the temperature of the cpu core (under Linux) and I saw that the fan is turned on already at 49 degrees Celsius (the core temperature, not the laptop case! The laptop is really cool outside when the cpu has 49 degrees inside!)*
How stupid is that! This laptop has i5-5200U installed so the maximum cpu core temperature is 100 degrees, so why not turning it on at 65 or 70?* On my Dell laptop, the fan is switched on at 65 degrees even though it is a lot less noisy than on Toshiba.
I use "balanced" mode for cooling, so the fan is less noisy than in "high performance" mode but it is still much more audible than on my Dell laptop.
The "power saving" mode is useless, because when the laptop reaches 48 deg the cpu frequency goes down to 400 MHz permanently (yes, because it will never cool off without the fan) and the laptop is useless at 400 MHz.
2/
The battery charging. The battery lifetime will be very bad on Tosbiba Z30. This is because the laptop charges the battery every time you plug in the power supply even if you used your laptop on battery for two minutes and it still shows 100%. Moreover this cannot be switch it off. I measured it simply by monitoring the current when switching the power cord with the laptop switched off so this is a fact not just a hypothesis.
On my old Dell laptop, the battery will never start charging until it goes below 90%. On my friend's Lenovo there is even an option in the Bios so he can decide to charge the battery only when it is below 70%.
It is a well-known fact, that the battery life is much shorter if you keep charging it when it is nearly full.
On my Dell laptop, I can even disable charging the battery completely using Fn+F2. So I can decide myself when to switch in on.
I do not expect Toshiba to have such a sophisticated tool, but at least they could disable charging the battery until it is discharged for example 80%.
Both problems can be easily fixed. The question is, do they care about their customers enough to do it? And how do you request such feature? Do the read the forum?

My Imac 's fan goes haywire when screensaver and/ or shutdown takes place

My 14 month old apple Imac's fan goes crazy when the screensaver and /or shutdown takes place.. otherwise it works beautifully and does not normaly make any noise at all.
Thank you..

Hi Gillal,
If your the fans in your iMac fans are running frequently it may be that your computer is overheating for any number of reasons. This article should help you understand how they work -
Learn about the fans in your Mac
If the iMac seems to be using the fans when it should not be, you may want to reset your iMac's System Management Controller. See this article for the steps to do so -
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L

24" iMac - noisy fan

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