AX860i Fan Bearings

[VaderDSL]

The fan bearings in my AX860i have gone, makes a buzzing sound on spinning up and rattles/clicks when running.

I've submitted an RMA, but it was already an RMA replacement 3 years ago. So in the likely scenario it has no warranty, should I

• Buy a 120mm fan, replace it and connect it to the motherboard and control it via PWM
• Buy a 4 pin vga adapter and replace the fan, connecting it to the internal PSU connector

I currently use corsair link solely to have the fan at 40% due to the horrid noise it makes when it spins up. But if I go the first route, I can just control it via BIOS and I can get rid of the corsair software.

 

[mikeo]

Pretty sure that with Corsair, the warranty goes by the invoice date of your "original" PSU. So it really depends on when you bought your original unit.

Good luck.

 

[pastymuncher]

The Corsair AX and AXi series psu's have a 10 year warranty and as they launched in 2012 it will still be under warranty. As above, like most manufacturers Corsair warranties are valid from the original purchase date. When you get a RMA replacement the warranty does not reset, it just takes the place of the original unit.

 

[VaderDSL]

I thought the AX650 Gold as the entry level back then only came with 7 year warranty, on Corsairs site it states 7 years. I realise in my OP I forgot to mention I’m around the 7 year mark since original purchase now, I’ll see what the RMA request yields.

 

[EsaT]

Well, that ball bearing certainly didn't work toward increased lifetime...

If ending up no getting RMA from Corsair it would be better to connect replacement fan to PSU, so that its control works according to PSU's temperature.

 

[ToTheMax]

If RMA fails, I wouldn't be tempted messing around inside a PSU as these things have a residual capacitence and touching the wrong thing accidently is a very back idea.

 

[pastymuncher]

I thought the AX650 Gold as the entry level back then only came with 7 year warranty, on Corsairs site it states 7 years. I realise in my OP I forgot to mention I’m around the 7 year mark since original purchase now, I’ll see what the RMA request yields.

You said AX860i in your op with no mention of a AX650 so I presumed your previous one was a 860i as well. Just wait and see what they say, you may have caught them on a good day.

 

[Rofflay]

You must have loaded that psu weirdly mine never ever started up. Maybe this would change if i went from 4770k to Ryzen and the 1080 to 2080ti.

They can run passive, If corsair refuse a 10yr warranty which i doubt what would the temps be in passive under link software?

 

[VaderDSL]

You said AX860i in your op with no mention of a AX650 so I presumed your previous one was a 860i as well. Just wait and see what they say, you may have caught them on a good day.

Ah yeah I actually forgot a lot of critical info

Basically it was pretty much always passive until a set temperature, and was fine for a few years. Until the last few months, when the fan spun up it made a heck of a racket, and because over the summer it was spinning up more and more I ended up having to put it at 40% constant, but that traded one noise for a slightly quieter one. At passive at 20C ambient it was 35-40, then every 10 minutes or so it would hit the threshold and the fan would spin up for a few seconds, just enough to bring the temperature down where it triggered the fan to shut off again. I think my usage/ambient was always around the threshold, so that's probably put a strain on the fan.

 

[VaderDSL]

Corsair support came through again. They were kind enough to offer an exception as I was 2 months outside of the 7 year warranty (the fan failed after 3 years on the first RMA replacement). They didn't have a suitable AX replacement in stock so they sent a HX1000i

I ended up buying a Superflower Leadex III 650W while the RMA was underway with the possibility of selling it and re fitting the replacement, but 1000W is overkill for a 6600K / 970. I originally started with a 650W AX which was replaced with an 860W AXi and finally replaced with a 1000W HXi.

 

[maklabouhlel]

Corsair support came through again. They were kind enough to offer an exception as I was 2 months outside of the 7 year warranty (the fan failed after 3 years on the first RMA replacement). They didn't have a suitable AX replacement in stock so they sent a HX1000i

I ended up buying a Superflower Leadex III 650W while the RMA was underway with the possibility of selling it and re fitting the replacement, but 1000W is overkill for a 6600K / 970. I originally started with a 650W AX which was replaced with an 860W AXi and finally replaced with a 1000W HXi.

How is the fan noise on the Leadex III when it kicks in? I'm thinking of getting one.

 

[VaderDSL]

How is the fan noise on the Leadex III when it kicks in? I'm thinking of getting one.

It has 3 modes controlled by a three way switch on the rear of the PSU. 0, I, II

0 = always on,
I = semi-passive,
II = hotter semi-passive (fans come on at higher temp than mode I).

I've ran with mode 0 and it is spinning at lowest RPM all the time and I can't hear it over my case fans, on I am assuming it's not spinning at all. My system doesn't really put a lot of load on it if I'm honest. Been happy with the PSU so far. Only slight minus are the cables aren't as nice as the higher priced Corsair.

 

[maklabouhlel]

It has 3 modes controlled by a three way switch on the rear of the PSU. 0, I, II

0 = always on,
I = semi-passive,
II = hotter semi-passive (fans come on at higher temp than mode I).

I've ran with mode 0 and it is spinning at lowest RPM all the time and I can't hear it over my case fans, on I am assuming it's not spinning at all. My system doesn't really put a lot of load on it if I'm honest. Been happy with the PSU so far. Only slight minus are the cables aren't as nice as the higher priced Corsair.

Sounds like just what I need. Pity about the in-cable capacitors though.