Possible PSU fan fault

Marsman

Marsman

Marsman

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2009
Posts
11,174
I've got a Super Flower Golden Green HX550, and I'm sure there's a problem with the fan. I noticed a fairly rapid knocking sound coming from the PC the other day. I guessed it would likely be a fan, but after stopping all but the PSU one, I could still hear it. Definitely sounded louder when I put me ear near to it.

It doesn't do this constantly, which is what I might have expected from a fan with maybe a faulty bearing. When I first turn the PC on, there no knocking noise from the fan, just the usual fan noise. It only starts after so many hours use, from what I can tell. It's fine now this morning, but I could hear it last night.

I've got a another PSU I can put in the PC to use, so I can set this one up with a second PC to test a bit further.

Reason why I created the thread, is because I'm unsure about when it comes to RMA'ing it. It's in warranty, but because it's not an immediately obvious problem, I'm just a bit bothered that when it's tested, it will seem as though there is nothing wrong with it.
 
Started a game up yesterday, to see if playing a game has any bearing on the problem, and it definitely does, or at least seemed that way. At the time, it seemed this kind of knocking sound starts after a game had been running for a while, maybe half an hour, which I didn't pick up on before. I suspected the fan, because when I powered the PC down, the knocking sound slowed down as the fan did.

Before I turned the PC off, I stopped the GPU fan to make sure it definitely wasn't that, and I could still hear it, so it's definitely coming from the PSU. I thought that it's possibly happening when the fan speeds up a bit due to extra power draw, which doesn't happen when the PC is just idling. The noise seemed to carry on though even when the power draw is less and PC isn't doing anything.

Today I took the PSU out and tried with another PC, where I can see what the fan is doing, and it was fine. Played a game for a bit, and no hint of any weird noises. Tried it fan downwards too, in case the fan was only producing weird noises when faced down. Still no hint of any strange knocking sound. Put it back in the main case last night and again played a game for a maybe an hour, and it was fine.

Odd and pretty inconsistent problem it would seem. I'll just have to see how it goes. As for cleaning it, it's actually not that dusty, except for the fluff bits that collects on the edge of the fan blades. I've seen much worse. :p
 
I mentioned it to a friend, and he said he had the same thing, but with a different brand PSU. Fan seemed to be catching the grill, so he took it off and bent it out a bit, which helped a bit. He was puzzled how the fan could touch the grill unless the fans blades had somehow moved closer to the grill. Maybe I had something similar with mine. Must be a fine gap though if the blades can move close enough to catch the grill.

Seemed fine since I put it back in the case, although I had to re do all the cable management again last night, then I noticed a vibrating sound this time after turning it on. I thought that was rather odd, because in this Fractal case, the PSU sits on rubber dampeners and there is a rubber gasket detaching it from the case, at least metal to metal anyway.

I've had the PSU for two years now, and only recently got this Fractal case. Previous case was an Antec, which had no vibration dampening for the PSU, and there was not a peep from the PSU, except just usual fan noise. Could be internal vibration though I guess, rather than transference to the case. Whether that's a bad sign or not, I don't know.

Strange things are afoot at the circle K. :p
 
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