EK Vardar F2 Bearing whining

deFiniLoGy · 16 Jan 2015 at 16:43

My 6 EK Vardar F2 arrived yesterday and I plugged it in to test it out.

Under full load, I don't see any problem - RPM actually does reach around 1430+, impressive.

However, when I use my Aquaero 6 PRO to knock the rpm down to around 650RPM, I can hear a slight high pitch whining noise from the bearing of the fans, and it is there in all 6 fans that I own.

The whining noise is not loud, and I think I will not be able to hear them if I put it into the case.

But I'd like to ask EK Luc, does this sound normal to you, or is it a bad batch from OC?

On a side note, I think the wire sleeving on the fan should really be improved. Although it is a huge step up from GT, it is quite a bit out-compete by the Noiseblocker fans, which I think you market these fans against

EK Luc · 17 Jan 2015 at 13:02

I will have to check about it since I didn't heard anything about a possible whining noise.

vsg28 · 17 Jan 2015 at 13:17

Well you are beyond the advertised PWM duty cycle here, mind you. So it may be that this wasn't covered fully during testing. I haven't finished testing just yet but so far so good.

deFiniLoGy · 17 Jan 2015 at 15:55

vsg28 said:
Well you are beyond the advertised PWM duty cycle here, mind you. So it may be that this wasn't covered fully during testing. I haven't finished testing just yet but so far so good.

Yes, I know.

Although the other fans that I owned are all DC-controlled fans, namely AP-15 and NB-eLoop, they do not have that kind of bearing whine when I set them at their startup voltage, i.e. around 40%.

For my 6 F2 fans, all of them have that kind of whine at 40%.

Not sure if this only happens in PWM fans or not :confused:

But other than that, I can't really fault the fans TBH.

RPM scaled really well, static pressure is very nice as well.

vsg28 · 17 Jan 2015 at 15:59

You are using PWM mode at a constant 12V right?

deFiniLoGy · 17 Jan 2015 at 16:01

vsg28 said:
You are using PWM mode at a constant 12V right?

Yup.

I checked PWM controlled in the Advanced Settings tab of the Fan section on my Aquaero 6 PRO.

vsg28 · 17 Jan 2015 at 16:03

Ok then. I will say I have seen this before with other fans (PWM or DC). When the rpm goes down a bit, a secondary noise comes from the motor hub which can be like a hum or a buzz.

deFiniLoGy · 17 Jan 2015 at 16:27

vsg28 said:
Ok then. I will say I have seen this before with other fans (PWM or DC). When the rpm goes down a bit, a secondary noise comes from the motor hub which can be like a hum or a buzz.

It sounds more like a buzz than a hum for me... But I doubt I will have the equipment to pick it up clearly.

Maybe you can check on your Vardars if they have those noises when RPM drops to around 40%

vsg28 · 17 Jan 2015 at 17:06

Getting around to them real soon so will find out for myself.

EK Luc · 18 Jan 2015 at 16:03

Thanks for stepping up here to help VSG! :cool:

vsg28 · 18 Jan 2015 at 16:06

I figured a French-Canadian has enough problems in his life as it is

buffhr · 18 Jan 2015 at 18:50

vsg28 said:
I figured a French-Canadian has enough problems in his life as it is

LOLOL... As a French Canadian this made my day

EK Luc · 19 Jan 2015 at 12:06

vsg28 said:
I figured a French-Canadian has enough problems in his life as it is

ROFL

You're so right

deFiniLoGy · 28 Jan 2015 at 22:01

Is there any update?

I also found out that when the fans are placed horizontally, blowing air downwards, the fans will make some noise like the fan blades are touching the frame...

vsg28 · 28 Jan 2015 at 22:44

Nothing like that here, man. I had the slightest of bearing noise with the F3 but below the advertised PWM duty cycle so I can't really fault it. Talking to EK didn't help much since they said that the fans were designed and tested for the advertised specs.

murah · 5 Feb 2015 at 17:39

deFiniLoGy said:
Is there any update?

I also found out that when the fans are placed horizontally, blowing air downwards, the fans will make some noise like the fan blades are touching the frame...

Had the same issue with my GT1850's and my current AIO rad ended up buying some XSPC 120mm Radiator Gasket's and it sorted the issue with the benefit of forcing all the air in the rad.

The GT1850's can make a similar whine when ran @ 850rpm but if I turn it down to 800RPM it's gone, only ever present in the 850-900 range so it might be like coil whine at a certain frequency the fan whines and take it out of that frequency range its gone again?