Vibrating Metal Case causing Noise?

Question

For some days now, I noticed that when I start my PC in the morning, it is sometimes quite loud for some minutes and then quite again, but it gets better vey fast and completely disappears when it´s running for some time, half an hour or so Today I found out that it´s the left side of the metal case which is vibrating that causes this noise. When I slightly push it or even touch it, the sound disappears. I guess it just needs some time to warm up before it doesnt vibrate anymore. has anybody of you experienced something like this?

fireberd · Answer

My E510 will sometimes 'hum' from vibration.  A 'love tap' on the case usually stops it.

TobiM · Answer

A tap wont stop my E520. When I touch the case without any pressure, the humming and vibrating stops. But when released, it starts again. But it just appears from time to time and never comes back when the computer is running for 30mins or more, so it´s okay. Just wondered because that noise started all of a sudden in the last days.

fredvanc · Answer

The noise is probely coming from you,r harddrive,s Open case and see if you be able to press some piece of cardboard between the drive,s and the bay

tommyo1954 · Answer

Personally, I wouldn't advise diddly-boppin' inside the tower yet, unless you know exactly what you're doing. But if you do, make sure to discharge any static electricity off your hand & fingers before probing around. You can fry a component inside if you have a static charge on your hand.   My E-510 had a annoying rattle & hum too, but I solved it by taking off the side cover then simply reinstalled it.  I also gave the tower a good rocking back & forth; shake it up a bit...Whatever was the source of vibration was corrected by this removing / reinstalling / rocking.  If you don't wish to take off the cover, then give it a few more love taps.... tap on that side panel a bit harder too....

x_lab rat · Answer

The 'toaster' chassis does have a tendency to vibrate.   It's like a rattle in a car dashboard, harmless but annoying.  Removing and slightly bowing the cover can fix it.  So can a sliver of matchbook cover wedged under the cover.   I'd suggest not rocking or 'nudging' it when it's running, that induces gyroscopic forces in the harddrive (why laptops seem to eat drives).

TobiM · Answer

Yes, it really tends to vibrate. I have the PC standing on my desk and already put the PC onto some sheets of paper, as it sometimes made some kind of vibrating noise with the desk from the beginning.

tommyo1954 · Answer

I forgot to mention this earlier.....   I had an irritating rattle right on the upper-front of the tower; up top.... where it says ' Dimension E-510 '.  I stuffed a little bit of foam in there; and it stopped it...

tommyo1954 · Answer

Wow, the tech guy is bringing  quite a lot of stuff...  I guess he's coming well prepared !:smileyhappy:

djearl81 · Answer

I also have a rattle in my case. Apparently the blue HD enclosure is not very secure on these models. I chatted with Dell Support about a month ago and they are finally sending a tech this week to replace it. (They are also bringing a new HD, Fan, HD eclosure, and optical drives just to be sure.) It's funny that a lot of e510's are having this issue.   When I first got the PC (about a year ago) I noticed that a lot of the components were loose inside the case. It might be a good idea to head to the hardware store, spend about $5.00 on rubber washers, and then methodically secure the loose parts of the case.

TonyRony77 · Answer

Did you know that Dimension E521's can fly? Fly right out the darn window is what'll happen to MINE if that rattling problem is not resolved.

I can see that others have the identical problem, but I think I've figured out a fix that's safe and effective. Let me tell you about my rattle, though.

In my situation, the rattle sound is metallic and coming from the left side of the case, which seems to not be removable. As I looked inside, I confirmed the motherboard is firmly seated to the internal chassis, so it must be something between the case's left panel and the internal chassis that the mother board is secured to. I can make the rattle completely stop by pressing my finger lightly against the left side of the case, but I can't be doing that all day, of course.

But I think I've figured a fix. As I looked inside the case, look straight in just below the mounting brackets for the 5¼ and the 3½ inch drive bays. I have a round hole in my chassis and when I stick a plastic pen through that hole and apply a tiny, tiny amount of pressure, the rattle is completely gone. I'm certain that I'm pressing against the inside of the case's left panel, thus preventing the rattle.

If they think I'm gonna pack up my system for this, they're mistaken. If they don't show me a way to get the case's left panel off, I'm just going to get a balsa wood dowel and cut it to a perfect length so that when I put the right removable case panel back on, the pressure against the dowel will keep the left panel from rattling.

You think so? Don't like that plan? Your comments are welcome.

Tony ... The one with the E521 that's gonna fly out the window if I can't make that rattle stop!

P.S.: I have not tested my low-tech "fix" with the system on. The wooden dowel WILL stop the rattling coming from the front of the case's left panel, but if the vibration affects the back, my fix won't work; I don't have a similar way to apply pressure to the back part of the case's left panel.

Wish me luck, though.

Message Edited by TonyRony77 on 05-04-2007 01:11 PM

Message Edited by TonyRony77 on 05-06-2007 01:18 PM

TonyRony77 · Answer

My unauthorized fix works fine.

In another post on this subject, I had mentioned that my BRAND NEW Dimension E521 computer case's left panel was rattling like a cymbal; it was making me nuts. It was especially bad whenever the hard drive was being accessed.

I tried my fix and it worked, but I bet Dell wouldn't approve; they probably would either ask me to live with it or make me send the system back, but I'm not doing either!

Here's what I learned about it and what I did: As I looked inside, I confirmed the motherboard is firmly seated to the internal chassis, so it must be something between the case's left panel and the internal chassis that the mother board is secured to. I can make the rattle completely stop by pressing my finger lightly against the left side of the case, but I can't be doing that all day, of course.

As I looked inside the case, if you look straight in just below the internal mounting brackets for the 5¼ and the 3½ inch drive bays, you'll see a round hole in the mother board's chassis. Using a dowel of balsa wood, I cut a length of it that was just a bit longer than the width of the case and placed the length of wooden dowel into this hole and let the dowel rest on a conveniently located structure that happens to hold the dowel in just the right position. Then I put the removable right panel back on to test for whether the dowel was too long. I trimmed the dowel slightly so it would not bend/warp the panels too much, but would apply just the right amount of pressure to the inside of both panels: my noisy left panel and the removable right panel.

I cut it just right, closed the right panel, and the rattle is COMPLETELY gone!

As I said, Dell would have probably preferred that I send it back. Nope, me too lazy for that.

They obviously have a design flaw or an assembly problem that results in the mother board chassis and the left panel being too close, thus allowing this terribly loud rattling to occur.

Good luck and I hope all you folks with a rattle problem can fix it as I did. Good luck, folks.

Tony

Message Edited by TonyRony77 on 05-06-2007 01:13 PM

Message Edited by TonyRony77 on 05-06-2007 01:23 PM

andreychuk · Answer

My E521 hums sometimes too. But the more devices I have in my machine the lesser the noise happens.

firefox91 · Answer

I got a Dim9200 a couple of months ago and has been doing the vibration thing since day 1. I normally give it a love tap on the side to stop but it has been aggrivating me. I finally opened the case and checked out all the moving components for the culprit. I found it is the large intake fan in the front of the case doing it.   I confirmed this is a common problem as I just helped someone buy a DimE521. I pulled it out of the box, plugged it in and the vibration started right away. I never opened the case or anything.   I may try some of the fixes mentioned here on my system because it gets to be that annoying.

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Vibrating Metal Case causing Noise?

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