ticking from my Coolermaster Real Power 850w Modular Power Supply

Andy1911 · 1 Jul 2010 at 17:38

Hi i bought a Coolermaster Real Power 850w Modular Power Supply from here on 23 May, 09, and it has been in use almost 24/7 from install latley it has been making a ticking noise and i have no idea why? anyone got any sudgestions as to what may be causing this?
i am 90% sure its the psu as i rolled up a magazine into a cone and listened to each part inside the pc and it was loudest with the psu.

Tikkabhuna · 1 Jul 2010 at 18:48

It's a bomb!

Could something be bouncing off the fan?

Tealc · 1 Jul 2010 at 19:04

It could be the fan itself. Had exactly the same problem with a OCZ StealthXStream 600W unit a short time ago. Was bloody annoying and took me ages to track it down.

Upon taking the fan out it was grinding nicely just by pushing it by hand. This PSU was mounted directly above the CPU heatsink so I imagine it got too much heat. I swapped it for a Scythe S-Flex and all was good again.

Gundog48 · 1 Jul 2010 at 19:41

Try taking the PSU out and kick starting without anything attached. You will be able to confirm it is the PSU and check for where on the PSU the noise is coming from. Probably just the fan as suggested above.

Andy1911 · 2 Jul 2010 at 15:29

ok so i tested it with the pc running and a magazine rolled up i listened to the psu stuck something into it to stop the fan noise went away started the fan it came back did this a couple of times so am pretty sure its the fan thanks.
now what type of fan should i get to replace it and is it a simple thing to do?

Tealc · 2 Jul 2010 at 17:49

Is it under warranty? I don't know what warranties these things have.

Fan missing a power supply is not for the faint hearted as there's lethal amount of charge held in those capacitors. I chose to do it because I'm stupid and wanted a quiet fan instead of a time consuming RMA process.

Most PSU fans are two pins only and will require cutting and soldering of wires to fit the 3/4 pin variants we see today.

Over on spcr most people use Scythe S-flex fans, I chose the 1600 rpm version for my OCZ because the stock fan was 2,000 rpm.

Andy1911 · 2 Jul 2010 at 21:31

i cant solder and am not really willing to try.

Tealc · 2 Jul 2010 at 23:22

Then live with it, RMA it, replace it or learn how to solder (it's not hard)

Sometimes the fans are glued in position too so you can't even buy a 2 pin fan.

Redmint · 2 Jul 2010 at 23:57

Tealc said:
Most PSU fans are two pins only and will require cutting and soldering of wires to fit the 3/4 pin variants we see today.

Actually I think I've replaced the fans in 3 PSUs, none of them required any soldering. Normally you can just put the 3 pin fan on the 2 pin header.

coupe69 · 3 Jul 2010 at 01:19

If it's ticking and the units still under warranty, then surely the simple answer is RMA it??

Tealc · 3 Jul 2010 at 08:17

Redmint said:
Actually I think I've replaced the fans in 3 PSUs, none of them required any soldering. Normally you can just put the 3 pin fan on the 2 pin header.

I suppose it depends if the fan header is glued in position like mine was.

RMA would be the logical option but will leave you PSUless for a while.