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power supply fan making some noise

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reboot

reboot

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Oct 10, 2006
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san antonio, TX
I have a corsair psu and I noticed a real light almost ticking-like sound, im preety sure its the fan in the psu.

never had this happen before what should I do?
 
Two options:
1. You can leave it be unless it starts getting louder.
2. Replace it.

Most fans will make some sort of very light mechanical noise when you put your ear very close to them. If it's loud enough to be heard across the room then it's time to replace it.
Most PSU fans either have a proprietary fan connector or is soldered directly to the circuit board. I have seen some that use a regular 3 pin connector.
If the original fan connector is proprietary or soldered directly to the circuit board, then splicing the new fan is your only option. You can solder the wires together then use heat shrink or use automotive style butt connectors. Either way make sure the connection is out of harms way when reassembling the PSU.
Most PSUs regulate the fan speed, but then again, some don't. Usually a 2000rpm fan is a good guess on what to replace it with.
Of course, the replacement fan needs to be the same size as the original.
By the way, you will have to remove the PSU from the case in order to do all of this.

Good luck!
 
you might try cleaning it really good with compressed air. my GPU fan was making all kinds of noise and cleaning it helped a lot
 
Ticking is bearing tap, so yeah the race has worn down and it's time to replace. If it was a sleeve bearing and doing the grinding noise, pulling the sticker and putting a drop of motor oil in there would help alot.
 
Thanks for the help,

I have another question if anyones familiar with the case I have.

The antec p182se case has a psu cage in it but its a very tight fit on the corsair 620. Should I not squeeze the psu so much, I figured it was tough enough to handle it but maybe I'm not so sure.
 
I have a non-SE p182, so mine is gunmetal al. outside instead of polished, not painted black inside, and doesn't have the light. Other than that they are the same. The cage puts a bit of a squeeze on my seasonic which is not oversized in anyway, so I'm pretty sure it's supposed to.
the P18X cases all have that cage as far as I can tell. It seems to be mostly there to quiet down the PS (especially PS's with a light rattle from the casing) which is why it's lined in silicone (at least in my p182)

As for you PS, if it's under warranty then let corsair worry about it. If not for whatever reason, then you could open it up and replace the fan yourself. There should be a sticker on it with the company and model number, you could try searching for a direct replacement with that info.

Jeff
 
1. clean it
2..if noise continues replace it.

PSU is too critical to other components if the fan locks ups and the psu over heats it could spike and kill other expensive compenents.

dont risk your system for a $100 part.
 
hey jonnyGURU it was your review of the 620 that got me to purchase it in the first place and I'm very happy with it. Thank you, I'd also like to say thank you for the reviews of the garbage psu's they made me laugh a lot!

Somehow the noise it made has stopped for now so I'm going to wait a little bit and see if it comes back.

As far as cleaning it its clean as a whistle.

thanks everyone who replied
 
don't know if you have the same experience: the noisy sleeve bearing fans would be very quiet after adding grease to the axis. i have done this on six or seven fans. i tore the sticker off, used a knife or screwdriver to 'dig' that bung out, then used a toothpick to pick some shell retinax grease and fill the hole where i can see the axis of the fan, then stuck that bung back and stick some electronic tape so that the bung would not come out easily. it is really quite! but from my experience those liquid-like lubricant such as WD-40 doesn't work well, the fan would becomes noisy again after a few month - i think it's because the oil dried quickly. but if you use some toothpaste-like grease [don't know how to tell it in english] such as the can of shell retinax i used it would last very very long. i added the grease to the fan in my PIII box seven years ago and it is super quiet until now [the box runs 24/7]!
just my little experience.
 
Last edited:
int1221233 said:
don't know if you have the same experience: the noisy sleeve bearing fans would be very quiet after adding grease to the axis. i have done this on six or seven fans. i tore the sticker off, used a knife or screwdriver to 'dig' that bung out, then used a toothpick to pick some shell retinax grease and fill the hole where i can see the axis of the fan, then stuck that bung back and stick some electronic tape so that the bung would not come out easily. it is really quite! but from my experience those liquid-like lubricant such as WD-40 doesn't work well, the fan would becomes noisy again after a few month - i think it's because the oil dried quickly. but if you use some toothpaste-like grease [don't know how to tell it in english] such as the can of shell retinax i used it would last very very long. i added the grease to the fan in my PIII box seven years ago and it is super quiet until now [the box runs 24/7]!
just my little experience.
Click to expand...

Int,

WD 40 isn't a lubricant, it's a rust preventative and is useless for lubrication. Light bearing grease or light bearing oil is the correct remedy. A toothpick drop of Mobil 1 works wonders.
 
RollingThunder said:
Int,

WD 40 isn't a lubricant, it's a rust preventative and is useless for lubrication. Light bearing grease or light bearing oil is the correct remedy. A toothpick drop of Mobil 1 works wonders.
Click to expand...

the owner of the grocery store always told me it can be used for lubrication. but it doesn't work.
 
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