Clicking from power supply

[boden08]

Hi all,
just wanted your advice, i have built a new system and has been running perfect for the last month but i has just started to get a clicking sound from the psu.

The psu is a xfx 650w core edition, i was thinking about rmaing the unit but that would leave me without a system and i use this daily.

my first idea was the fan, but didnt want to open it to check as it will fraud the warranty.

any ideas

Thanks

**edit** forgot to say, the clicking happens at all times, but it is not one after another. you can get sort of 6-7 clicks and they are very fast and then one or two the next second and the more and so on the they are staggared clicks.

hope this helps

 

[beanoslim]

Are you sure there are no cables touching the fan periodically?

Can you shine a torch in to see if something has worked loose or got inside the unit?

 

[boden08]

no cables that are in the case are touching the psu, all the cables are behind the motherboard tray with the cable management (using antec 902 ). i will have a look to see if their is any wires in the psu that are touching the fan or see if any thing is loose or got inside. the system has not been opened since it was built so dont think anything should of gone in to it but i will still check.

Thanks

 

[beanoslim]

Are you 100% sure its the psu then? Run it with the side off and listen.

Check all screws on mobo, componets, fans and psu to make sure nothing is working loose.

 

[thor220]

First off, never attempt to open an PSU. If something is wrong inside, it is better to just buy a new one then endanger your self. Try and see if you can isolate the location of the noise. If you determine that it is in fact the PSU, then I would advise you against opening it. If you can, wait and see if the noise will go away after a certain period of run time. If not replace it.

 

[beanoslim]

I always open mine if they are out of warranty, best way to clean them properly, get the dust out.

Unless you go sticking screwdrivers in there when they are plugged in you should be ok.

 

[Deleted member 362816]

Hi all,
just wanted your advice, i have built a new system and has been running perfect for the last month but i has just started to get a clicking sound from the psu.

The psu is a xfx 650w core edition, i was thinking about rmaing the unit but that would leave me without a system and i use this daily.

my first idea was the fan, but didnt want to open it to check as it will fraud the warranty.

any ideas

Thanks

**edit** forgot to say, the clicking happens at all times, but it is not one after another. you can get sort of 6-7 clicks and they are very fast and then one or two the next second and the more and so on the they are staggared clicks.

hope this helps

I have a xfx 750 and 850 black edition.

They all click from what i read on fourms.

at least both mine do, but its not loud.

 

[thor220]

It doesn't seem worth it to dig around in a PSU with the huge risk involved. One accidental touch to the PSU's circuit board and that could be it. I'm in college, and our professor specifically states to avoid working on the inside of a PSU

 

[beanoslim]

You never get anywhere always doing what your told.

 

[boden08]

I gave it a good blow with a air can spray and the clicking has slowed down and quieter now but i can see a wire slightly touching the fan but you can get anything through the fan and the fan is a overlapping fan. so the only way i can move the wire is to open, if i was to send it back to xfx i would have to pay for the delivery and return.

The psu weighs quite a bit and would cost enough just for the delivery, they do not class this as a fault as their is nothing wrong ans is still working.

I have opened many psu in my time and repaired them, the main reason for this is because the fan has stopped with the dust build up inside and needs cleaning out.

 

[beanoslim]

That is the problem do you void your warranty or pay postage costs.

My only thought would be is it catching enough to wear it away over time??

 

[boden08]

i can run crysis on max so the psu is using a lot of its power and runs perfect if that means anything.

all the voltages are fine

to send it back in the box it weights 4.6 kg and 5.2 when all boxed up and packaged. it costs more than 20 pound to send it their and then the same back. i phoned them to see if they could send it back at their cost but as their is no fault with the power supply if it is the fan or wire clicking against it then i will have to pay to get it back so it will cost over 40 for the transporting it. i paid 76 pound for the power supply.

I have looked at the psu and their is no seal on it, just the 8 bolts 4 for the casing and 4 for the fan.

thanks for the replys.

The memory has been tested with the motherboard and cpu as i had many problems with them through the build and the motherboard was faulty. I ended up with a third one in the end as the system would not take more than one stick of memory, but thats all sorted now

 

[boden08]

Just a update, i have gave the psu a good clean without opening it up and the click is still quiet but it is still their, i have looked at the wire and it is not touching as i spun the fan without it being on and no clicking.

Cia24 did yours click from the start and how long they lasted

 

[Deleted member 362816]

Just a update, i have gave the psu a good clean without opening it up and the click is still quiet but it is still their, i have looked at the wire and it is not touching as i spun the fan without it being on and no clicking.

Cia24 did yours click from the start and how long they lasted

Yes It Did Click From The Start, This Is A Common Issue But Mine Is Quiet When I Have The Graphics Cards Fan At 30% I Cant Even Hear It Unless I Stick My Head Into The Case. It Really Is Nothing To Worry About "do Not Void Your Warranty That Is Stupid" If It Gets Worst Or Stop Working Send It Back Until Then Get Used To It After Awhile You Wont Notice It.

 

[boden08]

best thing i can do is contact xfx and ask them their opinion.

one is saying it will be fine and the other is saying it could be arcing which was the second thing i was thinking it was.

Is there any way i can tell if it is arcing.

 

[Deleted member 362816]

The bottom line is a psu is not suppose to make clicking sounds. When a person buy hardware its suppose to work like it should. No psu I know of made a clicking sound if they did I would return it right away. That psu got great reviews but if it made a clicking sound and its suppose during the reviews it wouldn't have gotten such a good one.

I will never be in peace when my psu makes that kind of noises when I got 1000usd hardware attached to it

Good for you

Op xfx will fix it but you are stuck paying shipping there.

 

[boden08]

yes i am sending it back, i got it off scan so they said it is fine to send it their and they will forward the psu on.

the only thing is because i need a pc for working i have had to buy another one today and the only one i could get was a (cover your ears) EZ cool.

I have heard bad things about them but i had no option, it is a 650w with dual 20a rails on the +12v. i am only running it off the onboard gpu and not my gtx460, just wanted to ask you guys if you think it is safe to run it with the gtx460.

Also it does say sli on the box but not sure on the wiring, it has a pci-e connection and a second one but they are both on the same cable about 6 inches from each other is this just a extension or a second pci-e connector. the gtx460 takes 2 pci-e connector.

Thanks

 

[boden08]

no it is 20 amp on each rail so 40 amp in total, so 480w on both rails, now i know 480w should be enough to run my system but it is a ezcool and from what i gather they have a bad rep.

I always use single rails as i use corsair and xfxand so on and they all seem to come with single rails, but this is a dual rail with 20a on v1 and 20a on v2 total of 40a.

From what i read the rails split the components up, EG: v1 runs motherboard cpu and v2 runs gpu.

Second i am not sure on the connector it is one wire with 2 pci-e connectors on it, a bit like the sata connectors, 2 on each wire.

dadiggle, i dont quite understand what you mean, the cpu fan is plugged in to the motherboard cpu connection (think 3 pin).

Thanks

 

[boden08]

It is plugged in to the 3-pin on the motherboard Stated cpu fan

i will make another post about the ezcool psu. thanks

 

[LJGrant]

I have had this same problem of mysterious clicking. It turned out that my connections from the 1-month old psu to the new mobo were loose.

In fact, I had the cpu cooling fan either never run or run for days then stop, so that to me it appeared to be a short in the fan wiring.

The real cause was that the "locked in" four-pin ATX 12v power cable SW of the cpu was not fully seated. As soon as I tweaked that cable, the clicking disappeared and the cpu fan ran fine.

I had tried three cpu fans, having trouble with each. Nevertheless, the system would run and boot into Windows, until the temp got so hot that the thermal sensor of the Intel cpu shut everything down to keep the cpu from frying.

 

[boden08]

Thanks for the reply ljgrant, i sent the psu back to xfx and they comfirmed that the psu was faulty.

I didnt put the gtx460 in with ezcool, i didnt want to risk it.

Thanks all

 

[LJGrant]

Glad you solved the problem.

I just wanted to post this as all the references I've seen to broken cpu fans never seem to mention this "power to the cpu" socket. The cpu got enough power, but all the 3-pin fan power connectors didn't.