battery charger and whining noise

I have a second power adapter for my MacBook and both make this noise. Seems a bit odd...

The power adapter should only be making the hissing noise when it's actually recharging your battery. After your macbook has been fully charged and you see a green light on your magsafe - they noise should be minimal.
The CPU whine may be in some way related to the power adapter - since if you remove the power adapter the CPU whine decreases as well - although not always eliminated.

The CPU whine DOES NOT indicate faulty hardware. Don't worry. I've seen a few MacBooks and most of them, if not all, had the CPU whine to some degree. I say most of them - because some of the stores were very loud and I coudn't say for sure that the macbooks on display were dead silent.

I've been trying to get this worked out for a long time - and finally I gave up. If I need to use the computer in a silent room - I will open photobooth, force quit it, put my computer to sleep for few seconds and wake it up. That will elimintate the CPU whine until the next time you restart your computer. Also I got Windows XP installed on my HD partition, and with Windows XP the cpu doesn't whine at all. So I do most of my web browsing there.

My advice is: The sooner you accept the CPU whine, the sooner you will be happy with your macbook. It isn't so bad that it will keep you from enjoying it.

I just noticed the same thing with my MacBook and the sound coming from the ower adapter is almost like its boiling or steaming on the inside, plus the brick itself is super hot. I have used this computer daily for the last couple of months but this is the first time I have heard this noise.

Now that the charge is back up to 80% the noise has dropped-and heat seems less than before. This can not be good.

Anone else having this issue?

G4 1.6 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Segmac,

Check out Apple's page on batteries:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

Of interest is the following line:

"Most Lithium-ion batteries use a fast charge to charge your device to 80% battery capacity, then switch to trickle charging."

From reading that, I would guess that the noise and heat would be more intense in "fast charge" mode as the charger is sending power into the battery at a more rapid pace. Whether or not the noise / heat is significant enough to be out of spec would probably have to be judged by your local Apple Store or that wonderful repair center you have in Memphis (my MacBook is on its way back from there). 🙂

Good luck!
Fahrwahr

Just got off the phone with Apple, they were not happy with that noise at all. I was able to let them hear it over the phone. 2 min later they had shipped out a new ac adapter.

While they didn't say it was dangerous they did say lets not take any chances with it. Based on what they said the noise is NOT normal.

Segmac,

I'm glad that Apple was prompt to send out a new adapter. I received a new adapter for my MacBook (for an unrelated problem that required additional work to be solved -- I'll update another thread on that), and now that I have a good battery and adapter, things seem to be charging well with no excessive heat or sound.

Fahrwahr

Fahrwahr or Segmac,

I also just noticed the same problem with my power adapter. I had my Macbook on listening to iTunes when I noticed the problem. I was in a room with fluorescent lights and thought I was hearing them humm, it turned out to be my adapter. I put it to my ear and heard the same hum almost bubbling sound like it was ready to burst, it was also extrememly hot. I have not yet had my laptop for a year, what steps do you recommend I take?

Skiman23

When battery is being recharged, the power adapter will get warm (very warm) - but never HOT!! If your power adapter gets so hot that you can't hold it comfortably in you hand - get it replaced. Call Applecare or go to the store where you bought your macbook. You had your macbook for less than a year - so you're still under warranty.