What is this noise that my TV is making?

March 9, 2010 11:02 AM

What is this odd noise that my TV is making when turned off?

I have an old, small color Insignia TV that works fine, but lately has been making a loud twangy snapping noise a couple times a day when turned off. If it's been making it for longer than the past few months, I haven't noticed it. It's loud enough that it has made me jump a couple of times. It sounds sort of like what I would imagine a wire being pulled at both ends and subsequently snapping sounds like. Is it time to get rid of the TV? If it's not, I'm still curious as to what the noise is.

posted by emilyd22222 to Technology (5 answers total)

My Philips plasma TV makes a clicking noise a couple of times a day even if turned off, the same sound it makes when the TV is turned on or off. My guess is that it's setting the clock or something when it does this. (Most PBS stations broadcast a time signal and a lot of sets will use it to keep their clock accurate.) Possibly your TV does the same thing, for whatever reason, and the relay it uses to do it is just getting a little noisy. A twangy noise isn't out of the question, I wouldn't think. I doubt it is serious.

If it were, you wouldn't get rid of the TV, you'd have it fixed.
posted by kindall at 11:07 AM on March 9, 2010

Does it make said noise when it's unplugged?
posted by citywolf at 11:29 AM on March 9, 2010

I get this same sound from my projector (I think it's my projector) and it drives me nuts not to know what it is. My best guess so far has been fluctuation in temperature causing some joints to snap off of each other.

IOW, I have no idea.
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 12:05 PM on March 9, 2010

Is it a CRT? Flyback transformer?
posted by fixedgear at 12:22 PM on March 9, 2010

Heat sink expansion/contraction is a well known problem in TVs.
posted by A189Nut at 1:05 PM on March 9, 2010