Dimension 9200, it's awesome except for rattle noise

Hi,
I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
small business store.

However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
can probably fix this myself.)

Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
to stop it would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John

<> wrote in message
news: ups.com...
> Hi,
> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
> small business store.
>
> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
> can probably fix this myself.)
>
> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
> to stop it would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> John
>
-----------------------------------------------------
Hi John,

It sounds like it's probably either/both:
1. The contact point of the case fan(s) to the wall of the case
2. The contact point of the hard drive(s) to the hard drive bay

You could open up your case, then add some sort of rubber/plastic cushioning
between the points where the screws are holding the fan or hard drive to the
metal walls of the case and/or drive bay. You could temporarily unscrew
these, then use something like a standard plumber's O-ring or a specialized
rubberized grommet available from a computer parts outlet. The fan and/or
drive vibration when spinning is likely causing just enough movement in
order to cause this irritating noise. Also, just check fan blades for a
possible wire brushing against them while the fan is spinning.

Hope this is helpful.
Russell
http://tastycomputers.com

<> wrote in message
news: ups.com...
> Hi,
> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
> small business store.
>
> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
> can probably fix this myself.)
>
> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
> to stop it would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> John
>

John -

Have a look at the bezel/face (black) around the optical (CD/DVD) drives.
It's a swing-away part and snaps in and out (with the case open) very
easily. So easily, in fact, that it might be loose enough to vibrate.

Go here (.pdf file, unfortunately)
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...N/YH242A01.pdf

Follow this path in the index:
Removing and installing parts>>>Drive Panels>>>Removing the Drive Panel

Go there and you'll see the plastics to which I'm referring. While the fan
could be the problem, I feel it's unlikely due to the mid-case positioning
and rubber grommets buffering vibration there.

hth

Stew

I'll try out your suggestions, thanks!

wrote:
> Hi,
> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
> small business store.
>
> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
> can probably fix this myself.)
>
> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
> to stop it would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> John

wrote:
> I'll try out your suggestions, thanks!
>
> wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
>> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
>> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
>> small business store.
>>
>> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
>> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
>> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
>> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
>> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
>> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
>> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
>> can probably fix this myself.)
>>
>> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
>> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
>> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
>> to stop it would be appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> John
>

My Dimension 9200 also has an intermittent rattle (zzzzzzzz). Ran it
with the cover off and found that the vibration was coming from the hard
drive: a slight tap would stop the noise.

On looking at the hard disk mounting, I noticed that instead of the disk
being screwed to two rails, it was sitting in an open plastic frame,
secured by 4 pins that were held in the screw holes by side pressure
from the frame. Removing the disk was simply a matter of pulling the
frame sides outwards. This might make for a quicker installation, but it
doesn't seem to provide a very tight fit. Perhaps a bit of Blu-Tack in
each hole would fix the problem?

Haven't seen this type of fitting before. I wonder if Dell are trying
it out on the 9200.

wrote:
> I'll try out your suggestions, thanks!
>
> wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
>> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
>> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
>> small business store.
>>
>> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
>> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
>> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
>> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
>> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
>> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
>> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
>> can probably fix this myself.)
>>
>> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
>> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
>> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
>> to stop it would be appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> John
>


My Dimension 9200 also has an intermittent rattle (zzzzzzzz). Ran it
with the cover off and found that the vibration was coming from the hard
drive: a slight tap would stop the noise.

On looking at the hard disk mounting, I noticed that instead of the disk
being screwed to two rails, it was sitting in an open plastic frame,
secured by 4 pins that were held in place in the screw holes by side
pressure from the frame. Removing the disk was simply a matter of
pulling the frame sides outwards. This might make for a quicker
installation, but it doesn't seem to provide a very tight fit. Perhaps
a bit of Blu-Tack in each hole would fix the problem?

Haven't seen this type of fitting before. I wonder if Dell are trying
it out on the 9200.

"Robbie Beade" <> wrote in message
news:dq0654-...
> wrote:
>> I'll try out your suggestions, thanks!
>>
>> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
>>> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
>>> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
>>> small business store.
>>>
>>> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
>>> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
>>> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
>>> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
>>> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
>>> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
>>> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
>>> can probably fix this myself.)
>>>
>>> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
>>> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
>>> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
>>> to stop it would be appreciated.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> John
>>
>
> My Dimension 9200 also has an intermittent rattle (zzzzzzzz). Ran it with
> the cover off and found that the vibration was coming from the hard drive:
> a slight tap would stop the noise.
>
> On looking at the hard disk mounting, I noticed that instead of the disk
> being screwed to two rails, it was sitting in an open plastic frame,
> secured by 4 pins that were held in the screw holes by side pressure from
> the frame. Removing the disk was simply a matter of pulling the frame
> sides outwards. This might make for a quicker installation, but it doesn't
> seem to provide a very tight fit. Perhaps a bit of Blu-Tack in each hole
> would fix the problem?
>
> Haven't seen this type of fitting before. I wonder if Dell are trying it
> out on the 9200.


A similar type of tray/holder is used in some other models of the Dimension
as well as Optiplex.

In article <dq0654->,
says...
> wrote:
> > I'll try out your suggestions, thanks!
> >
> > wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
> >> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
> >> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
> >> small business store.
> >>
> >> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
> >> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
> >> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
> >> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
> >> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
> >> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
> >> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
> >> can probably fix this myself.)
> >>
> >> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
> >> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
> >> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
> >> to stop it would be appreciated.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> John
> >
>
> My Dimension 9200 also has an intermittent rattle (zzzzzzzz). Ran it
> with the cover off and found that the vibration was coming from the hard
> drive: a slight tap would stop the noise.
>
> On looking at the hard disk mounting, I noticed that instead of the disk
> being screwed to two rails, it was sitting in an open plastic frame,
> secured by 4 pins that were held in the screw holes by side pressure
> from the frame. Removing the disk was simply a matter of pulling the
> frame sides outwards. This might make for a quicker installation, but it
> doesn't seem to provide a very tight fit. Perhaps a bit of Blu-Tack in
> each hole would fix the problem?
>
> Haven't seen this type of fitting before. I wonder if Dell are trying
> it out on the 9200.
>
Same noise problem with my Dimension 4600

"Janl" <> wrote in message
news:...
> In article <dq0654->,
> says...
>> wrote:
>> > I'll try out your suggestions, thanks!
>> >
>> > wrote:
>> >> Hi,
>> >> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with
>> >> it
>> >> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
>> >> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through
>> >> the
>> >> small business store.
>> >>
>> >> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
>> >> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
>> >> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap
>> >> on
>> >> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
>> >> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
>> >> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
>> >> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
>> >> can probably fix this myself.)
>> >>
>> >> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
>> >> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card)
>> >> It's
>> >> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about
>> >> how
>> >> to stop it would be appreciated.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks,
>> >> John
>> >
>>
>> My Dimension 9200 also has an intermittent rattle (zzzzzzzz). Ran it
>> with the cover off and found that the vibration was coming from the hard
>> drive: a slight tap would stop the noise.
>>
>> On looking at the hard disk mounting, I noticed that instead of the disk
>> being screwed to two rails, it was sitting in an open plastic frame,
>> secured by 4 pins that were held in the screw holes by side pressure
>> from the frame. Removing the disk was simply a matter of pulling the
>> frame sides outwards. This might make for a quicker installation, but it
>> doesn't seem to provide a very tight fit. Perhaps a bit of Blu-Tack in
>> each hole would fix the problem?
>>
>> Haven't seen this type of fitting before. I wonder if Dell are trying
>> it out on the 9200.
>>
> Same noise problem with my Dimension 4600


Entirely different animal, different case skin metals and plastics though
could be the same cause: fans, drives, etc........

S.Lewis wrote:
> "Robbie Beade" <> wrote in message
> news:dq0654-...
>> wrote:
>>> I'll try out your suggestions, thanks!
>>>
>>> wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>> I got my Dimension 9200 a couple weeks ago, and I am very happy with it
>>>> and would highly recommend it to anyone. Games like F.E.A.R. and
>>>> Battlefield 2 run better than I expected, specs below. It's through the
>>>> small business store.
>>>>
>>>> However, two days ago the case started making rattling noises. The
>>>> noise goes away if I just press my finger on the front panel by the
>>>> Dell logo (until I take my hand away), or give it a light-medium tap on
>>>> the side panel and it usually goes away (I know that's not smart but,
>>>> hey, it's driving me nuts). Is this problem something as simple as
>>>> just securing the front panel or does this rattle noise signal a
>>>> damaged item? I don't want to send it back to Dell (It's worth it, I
>>>> can probably fix this myself.)
>>>>
>>>> Again I really like my Dimension 9200. (it's a Dual Core 2.66, 2 gb
>>>> sdram, windows xp home, 16xdvd-rw, ATI radeon x800 graphics card) It's
>>>> just that this noise is kinda annoying! Any tips/suggestions about how
>>>> to stop it would be appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> John
>> My Dimension 9200 also has an intermittent rattle (zzzzzzzz). Ran it with
>> the cover off and found that the vibration was coming from the hard drive:
>> a slight tap would stop the noise.
>>
>> On looking at the hard disk mounting, I noticed that instead of the disk
>> being screwed to two rails, it was sitting in an open plastic frame,
>> secured by 4 pins that were held in the screw holes by side pressure from
>> the frame. Removing the disk was simply a matter of pulling the frame
>> sides outwards. This might make for a quicker installation, but it doesn't
>> seem to provide a very tight fit. Perhaps a bit of Blu-Tack in each hole
>> would fix the problem?
>>
>> Haven't seen this type of fitting before. I wonder if Dell are trying it
>> out on the 9200.
>
>
> A similar type of tray/holder is used in some other models of the Dimension
> as well as Optiplex.

Also used on the XPS700's.