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PSU makes sligh grinding sound. Fan broken?

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  • Hardware
  • Components
  • Fan
  • Power Supplies
Last response: in Components
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January 28, 2014 12:37:52 PM

Hello there. So my homebuilt computer works great, but theres 1 thing that bothers me. I'm not sure if there's anything wrong, but there's this constant noise from inside the case. I guess you could call the sound some sort of grinding noise. Like when you hold a piece of paper slightly towards the blades of a fan.

I opened the sidepanel to investigate, and stopped each fan to see if there was something wrong. The source was not any fan in the case, however, when I applied a slight amount of pressure on the top of my PSU, the grinding stopped. Is this anything I should be concerned about, or could it just be that it isn't screwed in properly? Thanks in advance!

Also, excuse my poor english. It's not my main language :>

More about : psu makes sligh grinding sound fan broken

a c 2489 ) Power supply
January 28, 2014 12:43:15 PM

Bad Fan \ BEARING POSSIBLY.
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a b ) Power supply
January 28, 2014 12:46:39 PM

It might either be the PSU fan bearing being worn out (if the PSU is a few years old) or a plastic piece inside rubbing on the blades.

If it is the fan bearing, you will need to either add some oil to give it a few more years of useful life or replace the fan - assuming you are comfortable with opening the PSU and that its warranty has expired.
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January 28, 2014 12:47:14 PM

Is there any way to change the fan, or must I change the entire Unit?
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a c 2489 ) Power supply
January 28, 2014 12:48:27 PM

I would just invest in a new power supply.
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January 28, 2014 12:56:55 PM

The PSU is 6 months old. Thank you for the help. I'll leave it open to see if something useful shows up.
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a c 2489 ) Power supply
January 28, 2014 12:59:22 PM

If it's 6 months old it should be under warranty.
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a b ) Power supply
January 28, 2014 1:00:47 PM

Bafool said:
Is there any way to change the fan, or must I change the entire Unit?

Changing the fan is fairly simple if it is a standard size like 80mm or 120mm: buy one from your favorite PC parts place, test it, remove the PSU from your PC, cut the existing fan's wires about half-way, strip about 2cm off the wire ends, do the same with the new fan, splice the wires (black-black, yellow-yellow - some fans may have different power wire colors), wrap the wires with electrical tape or shrink-tubing, screw the new fan back in, put the PSU back together, put the PSU back in your PC, turn it on and check that the new fan works, done.

It takes 10-15 minutes when you know what you are doing and have all the tools/supplies ready before you start.

Edit: Since the unit is under a year old, it is most likely still under some form of minimum legal warranty so you might want to check with the manufacturer for RMA / warranty service first.
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