Odd sound from VN7-792G

starstudio
starstudio Member Posts: 34 Enthusiast WiFi Icon

I bought the machine in June and it was silent, but now we're hearing a very low volume hum/buzz (kind of like a mosquito passng by your ear, except 3 octaves lower) more and more frequently. It emanates from the right side - approximately under the Enter Key vicinity and occurs intermittently for maybe 2 or 4 seconds as the machine is actively processing data or updating webpages. It's not correlated with the fan turning on/off. Any ideas?

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Answers

  • Elkino2003
    Elkino2003 Member Posts: 68 Troubleshooter

    This is rather unfortunate but I smell danger of bad purchase

     

    Kindly register your product information at Acer.com homepage

     To verify if the product is authentic

     

    Where you purchased the laptop, did they give you a warranty?

    Also find out if the product is labeled as refurbished

     

    Most refurbished machines are seriously ill.

  • philetus
    philetus ACE Posts: 4,759 Pathfinder

    You have two fans in the laptop. One is on the right side, upper right corner and the HDD, lower right corner.

    The noise could be either. If you could listen close, maybe you could pinpoint if it's upper or lower corner.

     I don't believe the right side fan comes on all the time and that could be why it's intermittant. 

    If the noise is from the fan, it may be something tiny was sucked in and is touching part of the rotating fan.

    There is not anything that could hang down from the upper cover to the fan there.

    If it's the HDD, they are mechanical and are known to humm. Is it loud and annoying?

    2016-10-20_1452.jpg

  • starstudio
    starstudio Member Posts: 34 Enthusiast WiFi Icon

    Hi - the machine was purchased on Amazon from AcerRecertified.com, which I assumed was Acer-rebuilt stuff.

    I have bought tons of Dell DIRECT refurbs, and some Apple DIRECT refurbs and literally never had a single problem! I only found when I received the PC that it's remanufactured from an "authorized" 3rd party. With only a 90 day warranty (which I'm past), I checked out the machine thoroughly and all seemed fine, except for a loose, noisy trackpad which seems to be common on Acers, that I planned to fix myself once the warranty ran out.

     

    NOW though, I just checked the fine print in the paperwork which says the PC was refurbed by PlanItRoi - which upon Googling I found is actually a PC/Tech Disposal/Recycling service - whose corporate slogan is:

     

            "Providing Confidence…that IT Assets have been properly retired, data security and environmental compliance have been met, and the maximum financial returns are delivered."
     

    YIKES!.... IMO if it's not refurbed or quality-checked by Acer, themselves, Acer should make these guys say in big print that AcerRecertified is NOT actually by Acer. I would have bought a brand new Acer had I known - it's only like $300 more! It's not the end of the world at the price of this machine, but I may have to resell it at a loss to someone who won't mind hearing the low volume " WHRRRR WHRRRRRRRRRR WHRRR" sounds. It's driving me crazy...  I do now believe it's the fan, though - see my reply to Philetus below on that.

     

     

     

  • starstudio
    starstudio Member Posts: 34 Enthusiast WiFi Icon

    Hi - thanks for taking the time to reply to my question. I do now believe, after some detailed experimentation, that it ISa fan noise. It is intermittent because the fan comes on and off, but here's why I didn't think it was fan noise before - the sound is a result of some internal resonance (or maybe out of spec bearing) as the fan first comes up to speed and also as it spins down after powering off. When the fan is on full, the noise stops. It persists for anywhere from 1 second to 2.5 seconds. The normal air sound of the fan is near silent. As you said - the right side fan is on and off a lot, when the processor is active, etc., so this noise happens a lot. It's quite low volume - yet still annoying even though you can only hear it in a quiet room. Unfortunately I work in a quiet room Smiley Happy

     

    This was a refurb and it only had a 3 month warranty, which expired about a month ago (see my reply to Elkino2003 for more whining about that)... I have tried reversing the fans with Dust Defender a number of times - no change. The sound also happens as the fan spins down from Dust Defender process completion. too.

     

    Any opinion on whether replacing the fan myself is a reasonable option? The other option is that the machine is new enough that I could still sell it at a bit of a loss to someone who isn't bothered by the sound. At the price, it's a great value.

     

    p.s. - is there somwehere to download service photos/instructions like the one you posted?

  • philetus
    philetus ACE Posts: 4,759 Pathfinder
    Answer ✓

    You have to disassemble the laptop to the point where you have the motherboard out. Remove the thermal unit from the motherboard, and replace the thermal paste before you reassemble with new thermal unit. Is it worth it for a tiny bit of fan noise?

    2016-10-21_0841.jpg

    Here's an example of the thermal unit,

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Acer-Aspire-V-Nitro-VN7-792-VN7-792G-Laptop-Cpu-Fan-Heatsink-/201598655901?hash=item2ef0375d9d:g:CBcAAOSwepJXVYbU

  • starstudio
    starstudio Member Posts: 34 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Hi - Thanks again for the detail. It looks like a pretty straightforward job - but at this point it's definitely not worth doing. I am already getting more numb to the sound Smiley Happy Just wondering in case it gets progressively louder.
  • philetus
    philetus ACE Posts: 4,759 Pathfinder

    When you get ready, if you're familiar with disassembling a laptop and how all the connectors release, you should be fine or just PM me and I'll help.

  • Elkino2003
    Elkino2003 Member Posts: 68 Troubleshooter

    I'm so sorry you're going through this mess but  I'm sure your eyes have been opened.

    In life sometimes, you have to suffer to gain experience.

    As you suggested selling to someone off and to purchase a new one will do

     

    On another second thought, don't sell and keep as an archive.

    It'll help you to become a hardware repairer one day.

     

    Try to play around with it and forget it, get a new machine

     

    That's how IT learning and debugging begin