PSU fan replacement

[InertiaSelling]

Hi. I'm using a g550m in my current build. When I realised that what kept it from being a tier 3 PSU (along with the capxcon capacitors) was its sleeve bearing fan, I was already in the process of making my custom case, which meant that it would go from horizontal to vertical in the following days. I thought two months of horizontal use wouldn't have damaged it, but whenever I take my headset off, I can here it click slightly. Maybe it was there from the beginning, but I don't think so. While it's not extremely annoying, especially since my graphics card is much louder, I still tolerate regular fan noise better than clicking sounds, which makes me consider replacing it with a more silent fan.

 

The issue is that I don't know much about the fan offering. I guess a good sleeve bearing fan could work, since it's horizontal now, but then again, all I know about fans is what linus said in his fan bearings tech quickie episode. What would you recommend ?

 

Thanks.

[kb5zue]

2 minutes ago, InertiaSelling said:

Hi. I'm using a g550m in my current build. When I realised that what kept it from being a tier 3 PSU (along with the capxcon capacitors) was its sleeve bearing fan, I was already in the process of making my custom case, which meant that it would go from horizontal to vertical in the following days. I thought two months of horizontal use wouldn't have damaged it, but whenever I take my headset off, I can here it click slightly. Maybe it was there from the beginning, but I don't think so. While it's not extremely annoying, especially since my graphics card is much louder, I still tolerate regular fan noise better than clicking sounds, which makes me consider replacing it with a more silent fan.

 

The issue is that I don't know much about the fan offering. I guess a good sleeve bearing fan could work, since it's horizontal now, but then again, all I know about fans is what linus said in his fan bearings tech quickie episode. What would you recommend ?

 

Thanks.

Avoid sleeve bearings like the plague.  The best would be a fan with ball bearings.  And the more balls, the better.

 

[MoonlightSylv]

Figure out the mm of the fan, also when taking the PSU apart be EXTREMELY careful. The internals of PSUs can literally kill you. Do not touch anything inside the power supply and if the fan connector is close to a capacitor, just don't replace it.

You may be better off buying a new PSU if it annoys you that much.

[W-L]

16 minutes ago, InertiaSelling said:

Hi. I'm using a g550m in my current build. When I realised that what kept it from being a tier 3 PSU (along with the capxcon capacitors) was its sleeve bearing fan, I was already in the process of making my custom case, which meant that it would go from horizontal to vertical in the following days. I thought two months of horizontal use wouldn't have damaged it, but whenever I take my headset off, I can here it click slightly. Maybe it was there from the beginning, but I don't think so. While it's not extremely annoying, especially since my graphics card is much louder, I still tolerate regular fan noise better than clicking sounds, which makes me consider replacing it with a more silent fan.

 

The issue is that I don't know much about the fan offering. I guess a good sleeve bearing fan could work, since it's horizontal now, but then again, all I know about fans is what linus said in his fan bearings tech quickie episode. What would you recommend ?

 

Thanks.

Your going to want to get a replacement pressure optimized fan something like a Fractal Design Venturi or say, Gentle typhoon would do very well. Your most likely will need to get an adapter such as this is require or rewire it to your specific connector on the board. 

 

 

As a word of caution if you do attempt to open the PSU note be sure to unplug it and let it sit at the very least a couple hours to ensure the capacitors are drained and when open to take note of the contacts and to not short or touch anything if they still hold any small residual charge. The capacitors can hold enough to potentially be lethal. 

[AvocadosGuac]

Turn off PC.

Unplug from wall

Press power Button(to drain some residual power)

Disconnect PSU, let it sit for 24 hours.

Still, be very careful about touching anything near a capacitor or on the PCB.

[loculus]

Didn't the G550M use a Yate Loon D12BH-12 (12 cm, high speed, ball bearings)? I see it in both TPU and HardOCP reviews. Or maybe it was one of the situations where later versions/revisions/production runs might have been different.
 

It also had generally high efficiency, testing a lot better than minimum 80 Plus Bronze, close to Gold across much of the range and low ripple, so mediocre secondary-side filtering caps is relatively less a concern. Not ideal but I think people are overreacting given context.

 

tbh even the Yate Loon D12S_-12 (sleeve bearing) fans in a lot of power supplies hold up pretty decently. Not as consistently, but generally for years, past the warranties, despite the fan running orientation.

[InertiaSelling]

4 hours ago, loculus said:

Didn't the G550M use a Yate Loon D12BH-12 (12 cm, high speed, ball bearings)? I see it in both TPU and HardOCP reviews. Or maybe it was one of the situations where later versions/revisions/production runs might have been different.
 

It also had generally high efficiency, testing a lot better than minimum 80 Plus Bronze, close to Gold across much of the range and low ripple, so mediocre secondary-side filtering caps is relatively less a concern. Not ideal but I think people are overreacting given context.

 

tbh even the Yate Loon D12S_-12 (sleeve bearing) fans in a lot of power supplies hold up pretty decently. Not as consistently, but generally for years, past the warranties, despite the fan running orientation.

You're right, I just checked, looks like I mixed several reviews of very different power supplies. For all I know, I might be hearing the regular noise of a double ball bearing. It's still annoying nonetheless.

[loculus]

In any case, it may be worth poking around, pressing down on the fan hub (while off, obviously), seeing what might be causing the clicking or if it's actually the fan itself.

 

I think it should probably still be under warranty but you may not have luck RMAing something like this.

 

If you do replace the fan, you'll need a replacement that has high rpm and starts up at a very low voltage. It normally runs its 2300 rpm max fan at close to 600 rpm at lower loads.

 

In fact, some clicking can be from not quite smoothly operating and starting up at voltages well under the nominal 12V.