Strange fan problem...

Nova Swing

Nova Swing

Nova Swing

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29 Mar 2012
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91
Hi, wondering if anyone has any thoughts on why a Corsair 3 pin fan has just started going at 100% all the time, from start-up, regardless of temps.

It's in a 2 week old OCUK build (Neon), which was completely silent at idle to start with. I wanted to add an SSD I had, which was a mistake as I can now see that the cable management/build quality is somewhat lacking.

Anyway, after successfully installing the SSD, the fan has run at 100% ever since. No more do I have a silent PC on idle :(

Is it possible I could have knocked something while fiddling with the cables? I would just have a look myself but because it is in such a state I'm worried I may make things worse (the reason for mentioning the bad physical build, not just for a dig at OCUK).

I wonder if for instance, could I have dislodged the 3 pin plug for the fan? Maybe that would just make it spin at 100% as it has no control from the system.

Any thoughts or insight before I don my Indiana Jones hat and open her up for a look would be much appreciated.

Temps are fine in HWMonitor btw.

Thanks in advance.
 
3 pin wire fan has no separate control pins and without either ground or 12V contact fan wouldn't run at all.
Though maybe bad contact in RPM-measuring pin might confuse motherboard so checking connector is one thing to try.

And what particular fan that is in case?
 
Really hard to tell and from what you posted it appears you have limited computer assembly experience.

At a guess maybe in the installation of SSD you changed fan control setting of fan header to now being PWM instead of variable voltage.
Or maybe you moved the fan plug from a variable voltage fan header to a PMW fan header.
Or you changed the fan temp to speed control curve.
 
Thanks for your responses. You're right, not much assembly experience but can change cards and add drives just about. And I did add a cooler to my last PC, but I'm not that good at all this really...

Thing is, I definitely didn't change any plugs that the fan might use when installing the SSD.

Or indeed any software options. The fan literally started doing it when I rebooted after adding the SSD, so no chance to play with any software.

It's a 120mm Corsair fan, that comes with the Carbide 400C.

One thing that's out of the ordinary is that I haven't been able to place the SSD where it should go, because I can't add any more leads to the modular power supply. They installed it with only the needed leads and because everything is so tightly packed I can't access the PSU to add more leads (the shroud won't budge). Very bloody annoying. The SSD is just left at the bottom of the case on the backside, next to the PSU. Literally nothing else I can do without taking PC apart fully, so I can get to the PSU and add some more leads :(

Still I can't see how dodgy placement of the SSD could affect the fan. I reckon I have physically knocked a plug, will have to investigate and hope I don't make it worse...
 
Rear case fan's cable shouldn't be anywhere near where you sticked hands.
But if its front fan which is making that noise its cable/connector could be near SATA-cables.
If it's not that then it's certainly going to be tricky...

That lack of ease of access/working space is why I won't be ever getting case with PSU shroud which serves no functional purpose.
Having once had "pizza box" style case without proper working space is enough.
 
Nova Swing said:
Thanks for your responses. You're right, not much assembly experience but can change cards and add drives just about. And I did add a cooler to my last PC, but I'm not that good at all this really...

Thing is, I definitely didn't change any plugs that the fan might use when installing the SSD.

Or indeed any software options. The fan literally started doing it when I rebooted after adding the SSD, so no chance to play with any software.

It's a 120mm Corsair fan, that comes with the Carbide 400C.

One thing that's out of the ordinary is that I haven't been able to place the SSD where it should go, because I can't add any more leads to the modular power supply. They installed it with only the needed leads and because everything is so tightly packed I can't access the PSU to add more leads (the shroud won't budge). Very bloody annoying. The SSD is just left at the bottom of the case on the backside, next to the PSU. Literally nothing else I can do without taking PC apart fully, so I can get to the PSU and add some more leads :(

Still I can't see how dodgy placement of the SSD could affect the fan. I reckon I have physically knocked a plug, will have to investigate and hope I don't make it worse...
Click to expand...

Indeed, sounds like nothing you did, so must be something computer gremlins did. Believe me, there are gremlins in these things that love to cause problems like you are having. :D
 
Quite happy to accept it's something I did... just wanted to describe what I had done to give all the info I had :)

Anyway, working from home today and it's driving me mad, but I have got further in my investigations... I unplugged the suspect fan and it made no difference to the noise level, so I'm wondering if it always span like that (you basically can't hear it when its on now I have listened with it on and off). The noise on idle continued though so on checking Corsair Link it tells me the pump is at more than 2000 rpm from the moment the PC is turned on. Having discounted the fan as the issue, it is clearly the pump making the noise (the rad fans are around 400 rpm).

Understood that pumps can be noisy and totally accepted in games. But for the first week the PC was completely silent on idle/light desktop use and temps were great. I just want to get back to that :(

It's a Corsair H115i Pro RGB for the record. Yes, I got marketed at ;0

I've read that unlike a lot of AIOs, Corsair does have dynamic pump speed. Maybe somewhere along the line I have changed the configuration to make it max out all the time, just can't remember doing anything like it though.

Unless of course it's mechanical, is it possible I could have loosened/dislodged something with my fat hands whilst I was installing the SSD... so the pump speed/configuration hasn't changed but there is more vibration?

Live update... typing that sentence made me think so I just lifted the front of the PC off the floor and the noise stopped!!!

Aargh, any thoughts anyone please? It's driving me nuts, just because I know it was once silent.
 
Yup. Well, what I can only describe as 'the deep part' did. I still think the pump is running much faster than before (on idle) though, as even with the PC lifted its whirring away quite merrily. When before I hear nothing from the PC.

Its also making some grating noises every now and again, but on reading up it seems that could be normal? Does it 5-10 times over a minute then goes away. Only just noticing now as I'm working and don't have headphones on, so it may not be new.

All very confusing and annoying :(
 
The reason I asked is maybe it was/is air bubbles in pump that got in when you moved to different orientations while putting SSD in.

With system running,try turning case up, down, sideways, etc. keeping radiator above pump to hopefully move any air in pump up into top of radiator above pump.

I dont like .. make that hate CLCs. Their quality is just barely above failure, which is why we see so many going bad after a few years, sometimes even sooner .. and it is almost always pump / coolant level problems. And until very recently the pumps were almost always audible even at idle .. most still are. With no fill port there is no way to top up coolant, and even water molecules move through the plastic/rubber slowing lowering coolant level .. the harder / hotter the water is during use the faster this happens. Same as storing liquid in plastic bottle. Over a year or 2 or 5 the total volume will diminish.

Combine all of the above with a cooler that cost 50% to 100% more than air cooler with comparable cooling and it's a loose/loose proposition in my book.

If you want a reasonable quality pre-build and filled AIO, the be quiet! Silent Loop is good. While it is an AIO, it is not a CLC. CLC are a sub-group of AIO that are mostly aluminum radiator, no fittings, no fill port, low quality and mostly made by Asetek. Silent Loop is made by Alphacool, who also make Fractal Design's Kelvin and their own Eisbaer AIOs. Much better quality they CLCs are, but still not as good as most custom loop components. Still way better then CLCs and you can add coolant, change pipe length, add components, etc.

Still way more expensive than air cooler that is quieter, last longer an costs much less.
 
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Thanks Doyll, will try that, although the grinding seems to have stopped this afternoon.

Anyway, the plot thickens, I don't think it's cooling or fans at all now. I had also just before before installing the SSD put an HDD in one of the drive bays (3tb Seagate barracuda). It seems its that that's been causing the vibrations, so not cooling at all. I've unplugged it and pulled it out for now and all I have is low level general noise at idle. I'm convinced it was quieter before, but without the HDD, all i can hear is a general whirring, so nothing too much to moan about.

Just out of curiosity, with HDD out, I changed the cooler settings from balanced to quiet and performance. It changed the pump RPM but you couldn't tell the difference between any of them in terms of noise, so I was barking up the wrong tree anyway.

I guess I need to go and ask in case central why a new HDD should be causing such noise as it's not the drive itself, only when it's in the case.
 
HDDs often vibrate when running, so if case mount to frame, whatever has a little play HDD / HDD mount can vibrate in the cage. Many newer cases have rubber bushing in holes HDD screws go through, and I've found if the screws are more than just snug against rubber bushing HDD vibration is transmitted through bushing much more .. similar to old solid metal to metal mounts.
 
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