my monitors makeing a whistleing noise...

Dark Lord

topic basicly says it all. its got a high pitched whistle thats comeing from someplace in the back of the monitor, just started last night. whent on for about 3 hours last night before i turned my comp off. then this morning the whistleing has been comeing and going, its finaly stoped for now. any ideas what might be causeing it, or what it could mean about the monitors health? i know this monitor isnt new by any means, but i hope i dont have to buy a new one any time soon.

NEC MultiSync 6FGp 21" ive had it for the last 5-6 years with about 8 hours of use each day, and i got this thing used. i have no idea how much time was spent on it before i got it.

Zardon

it doesnt sound too good to be honest, the monitor might be nearing the end of its life.

I suggest you drop "swimtech" a PM or email, a user on this forum, he is a monitor technican, might be able to help you out in more detail.

Logla

Yeah definately sounds like new monitor time.

My monitor is only a year old and makes these noises as does my television.

Its not normally a problem but due to the age of your monitor it may pose a problem.

Geminiwave

one of our monitors did that for awhile...the trick is to change the refresh rate. Some monitors have refresh rates that they "support" but the monitor doesnt agree with. since its old, you cant exactly RMA it but its not as if the poor thing is dead yet.

Vampyromaniac

I agree

GutterPunk

Aight man, i once had a whistling monitor, Did you try to move it around or give it a little tap. At school i sat next to a whistler and it would require changing its position a little bit, mine at home required a little tap on the top. i suggest moving it before you abuse your monitor

Judas

what's the word? flyback?

what refresh you running at .... usually the lower the longer the wavelengths and they generally will cause "whistling"... also it's not hard to repair if it's doing it off and on even at higher refresh rates (some monitors whistle out of the box at 59/60hz....and 70)

the monitor has had a good life.... but i have my doubts that it's packing it in.....

BTW, try a different power source.. move it to another room and plug it in quick and see what happens.... sometimes interference can effect it oddly...

pr0digal jenius

FEEDback

swimtech

Flyback is actually right...as usual Judas...

It's the transformer that makes the high voltage for the picture tube, and can vibrate if the coils of wire inside loosen a little. What you're hearing is a harmonic of the output frequency from a coil of wire that has loosened just a bit or the harmonic of the body (usually made of plastic) of the transformer vibrating.

The fix requires stopping the vibration. A lot of the transformers (and some capacitors too) are not just soldered to the circuit board, but glued down as well. That's why, if you look closely, you can see this goop looking stuff on capacitors, transformers, and coils in a monitor - they're glued down to prevent vibration which can cause microfine cracks to occur in the solder connections of the device on the circuit board.

There are a bunch of transformers and coils in a monitor that handle the horizontal deflection component of the signal inside - any of them can be causing the noise. Other than removing the back of the monitor to expose the guts, and physically touching/pressing on (DON'T DO IT THOUGH - you can get harmfully or fatally shocked if you don't know how and where to touch!) each transformer while the whining noise is happening to find the offending transformer (which is what I would do in finding the transformer to replace it), you can just move the unit, change the refresh rate, or tilt the monitor a little on folded paper placed beneath the base on one corner to change the position of the internal components - any of which change how the transformer or coil will mechanically vibrate. What you are hearing is a mechanical vibration - like a speaker does - but it sure ain't music is it?

Other than those suggestions, if it still is just too annoying, take it to a shop...

Judas

....so i am correct about the refresh rate though?... i mean, the lower the refresh rate.... the longer the wave lengths in the vibrations... making it low enough to make noticeable vibrations for us humans to hear (some monitors i've played around with would drive either the cats or the dogs nutz depending on the refresh rate ... quite interesting)

I knew it was flyback.. but i kept thinking to myself that "gaud... what an odd word"

GutterPunk

and i was right about repositioning the monitor woot! judas we are smart

Judas

smrt?

Geminiwave

w00t

we all rock.

pr0digal jenius

except me who got the wrong word....:cries:

GutterPunk

Then i spelt the smart wrong by putting smrt

im so dumb

swimtech

Indeed, all y'all do (IMHO)!

pr0digal jenius, if the flyback didn't have a feedback circuit it would fly apart!

another-user, the reason for your whining (or singing, or squealing, insert another annoying noise here.....) is the signal going through the wires in the transformers or coils inducing a vibration in the material the transformer or coil is made of, or the coil of wire itself.

The plastic or metal that the transformer or coil is made of will only vibrate audibly at certain frequencies - so changing the frequency of the signal that induces the vibration should (theoretically) cause a change in the amount of audible vibration of the transformer or coil. Thats why changing the refresh rate of the video signal, or moving or changing the position of the monitor (which may change the mechanical forces acting on the material the transformer or coil is made of) may reduce the noise.

Let us know - OK? We like feedback

Geminiwave

indeed. feedback=good

Vampyromaniac

swimtech, you're the man

Dark Lord

well, you where right about the refresh rate. it was set at 75 so i bumped it up to 85 and the whistleing whent away right away. except now ive got a new problem.... at 85 hertz the screen shrinks by about 2/3 inches on each side, and i cant stretch out the display any further then what its at right now. so now ive got these 2 huge gaps on each side of my moniter, but if i set it back to 75 the gaps go away, but that damn whistleing comes back.
you guys where able to fix my first problem, now im hopeing youll be able to do something about this one.
while im at it, i think ill throw one more problem at you guys. ill try to explain this as best as i can, but ive also included a picture of whats happening.
the lines that you see on the picture, tahts whats displaying on my moniter, the lines are very very faint but also very noticable on some sites, like this site. its kind of a redish black rainbow effect happening, comeing from all 4 sides of the moniter and the arch is comeing towards the center of the moniter. it happens at all times, donst matter what im doing but its always there. any one know what could be causing this one?
ill try to get a better picture then what ive got included, hope it gives you some idea of what it looks like though. *scratch that better picture off the list, it looks like complete crap useing MS paint, which is hte only thing i have.*

http://www.photodump.com/direct/anot...er/moniter.jpg

GutterPunk

In monitors particles tend to build up due to external magnetism (natural or by a magnet). It can cause picture distortions, miscolor, lack of color etc. It can really pick on the image. Most monitors automatically Degauss when it is turned on, but if you have an older monitor it may not. Also the manual degauss button does a more thorough job. This may not fix it, but its worth an easy try, Use the Degauss feature on your monitor menu

Dark Lord

ive used and abused that button. it helps, but not much.

GutterPunk

Okay from there ill leave it to swim, as sometimes an external degausser does a better job. @ 75hz where it makes the lovely sound, did you try tilting the monitor in a different position?

Dark Lord

ya i did, i dont really have much room to move this beast though. it barely fits on this tiny little desk as it is. i wasnt able to move it enough to get rid of the sound though.