So I bought a new monitor, a Samsung Syncmaster 2493HM, and it’s fantastic. The only problem is, it makes a weird sound sometimes. So I opened it up, and found the culprit. See the video below.
It’s one of the components on this PCB. This is the PCB with the audio and video connections, not the power supply PCB.
I can’t figure out what it is that’s making the sound. It sounds like a very very small metal ball in a slightly larger convex area, it keeps rolling for a bit when you stop moving. When listening it sounds like the sound originates somewhere in the middle of the PCB, but I’m not sure. It’s definitely not one of the connectors.
My limited knowledge of electronic components tells me none of them have moving parts and I doubt the monitor is supposed to make this sound.
Is it possible that this is an orientation device? Even if the monitor per se doesn’t support ‘tilt’ or rotation, the circuitry might still be built into the board. Earlier this would have been done with mercury switches but today they avoid using such materials, and might very well involve a bearing or something.
I think Brihar got it right. From the sound the object and the space it’s trapped in is just too perfect to be loose solder. You can hear it roll and keep rolling at a very constant frequency when you stop moving it. Also, my monitor does support automatic rotation so it makes sense.
Anyway, it doesn’t really matter because I solved the problem. When putting the monitor back together and shaking it a bit I couldn’t hear the noise again. So it must’ve been something else. I disconnected the internal speakers and lo and behold: It couldn’t be quiter in use :p.
I guess the amp/speakers picked up some weird interference from another component that resulted in a funny noise. Problem solved because I didn’t exactly need those speakers with my Alesis M1’s right next to the monitor
Hah that reminds me of a case we had at the company I used to work for. They were doing high voltage transmission tests and couldn’t figure out what was causing a high pitched buzzing sound - after days of checking it finally turned out to be a dead fly on one of the insulators.
About 150 posts ago, I had issues with odd sounds coming out of my monitors that reacted to certain movements of the mouse. I’d suspected something in the SSD drives causing it but it was really just a simple isolation of the 110V circuit. Thank goodness…given the other real possibilities, try using a different plug outlet. Even if it needs a 50’ extension just to see if it helps
that reminds me of a case we had at the company I used to work for. They were doing high voltage transmission tests and couldn’t figure out what was causing a high pitched buzzing sound - after days of checking it finally turned out to be a dead fly on one of the insulators. 