faint stuttering / clicking sound from 13" air

Question

Level 1

10 points

faint stuttering / clicking sound from 13" air

Hi,

Just received a replacement for an air with the screen issues but I noticed there is a faint stuttering/clicking sound...Not sure where it is coming from but it's around the top left area of the keyboard. It is always on so it's definitely not the fan and it is pretty faint.

Just wondering if this is normal...Basically just curious if your fan is not on, how quiet is your air? Do you hear anything?

thanks!

Macbook Air 13.3 Late 2010, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 4GB RAM, 256GB Drive C2D 2.13 GHz

Posted on Nov 9, 2010 3:38 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 10, 2010 3:37 PM in response to Hobokendippy

lots of reviews that i read said that the MBA was especially quiet.(sorry can;t find a link for that. i just remember having read it) so i'm not sure if its normal. don't mean to worry you. good luck.

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Answer 2

Hawk9858

Level 1

0 points

Nov 14, 2010 5:14 PM in response to Hobokendippy

2010 Air?

I have a new 13" and I'm hearing the same "clicking" sound, even as I type this. At first I thought it was only happening when I was closing a window in Safari, but it happens fairly frequently every couple of minutes or so and always from the same place; top left of the keyboard.

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Answer 3

Nov 14, 2010 8:52 PM in response to Hobokendippy

I'm not sure about a clicking sound, but the fan is alway on. It's normal running at 2000rpm and would be silent unless you are in a very quiet room and your head is near the computer.

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Answer 4

clivo360

Level 1

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Dec 3, 2010 10:19 PM in response to Hobokendippy

I just got the 13' air a few days ago and I notice the noise on mine too. I don't know what it can be since it doesn't have a hard drive. Its quite annoying when you're in a silent room.

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Answer 5

Dec 4, 2010 6:31 AM in response to Hobokendippy

I had a similar problem with my 13" MBA. There are two diagnostics you can run. First is the onboard Apple diagnostics. All you need to do is to shut down your MBA and then boot while holding the D key down. Be very patient! It takes a long time to boot the diagnostic software. Once it is running, select your language and run the shorter of the diagnostic tests. It will still take a long time to run, so be patient!

The other test you could run is to add iStat to your Dashboard widgets. Check the fan RPM. If it is zero, look no further.

The clicking sound is the fan trying to start up (and failing).

I had to take my MBA to the Apple Store (Genius Bar) where they verified the fan failure and replaced my MBA with another unit. Repair would have taken several days.

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Answer 6

morganhk

Level 1

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Dec 2, 2011 4:52 PM in response to Hobokendippy

just hit the bottom of the computer with your fist, not too gently or too hard. No seriously this works, the fan is hitting something and just tap it and it starts up again and no clicking!!

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Answer 7

ikarles

Level 1

0 points

Feb 16, 2012 4:38 PM in response to morganhk

morganhk wrote:

just hit the bottom of the computer with your fist, not too gently or too hard. No seriously this works, the fan is hitting something and just tap it and it starts up again and no clicking!!

Thanks! This worked!!!

My relatively new 11" MBA was having this faint clicking sound and iStat Pro reported Exhaust Fan at 0 rpm. The CPU temp got up to 82C!

I applied one moderate upwards slap with the palm of my hand toward the middle of the upper left (warm side) of my MBA and the fan started right up. It is now working fine!

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Answer 8

tcarrol6

Level 1

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Sep 13, 2012 5:33 AM in response to morganhk

Just worked on my mba 2010, and I just canceled my $90 rush-ordered fan replacement from ifixit because of this! Thanks so much!!

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Answer 9

Teedus

Level 1

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Nov 20, 2012 8:56 AM in response to morganhk

morganhk wrote:

just hit the bottom of the computer with your fist, not too gently or too hard. No seriously this works, the fan is hitting something and just tap it and it starts up again and no clicking!!

That was amazing, it worked perfectly! Thank you so much!!

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Answer 10

RonPait

Level 1

8 points

Jun 4, 2013 12:15 PM in response to Hobokendippy

I had the same thing.

An earlier thread explained it; it's the fan trying to start. I could see this in my iStatPro where it showed zero RPM. I tapped my 11-inch MacAir on the underside, just under the "Q" key with a moderate knuckle rap. I immed heard the fan start up and the iStatPro shows 2000 RPM.

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