One of my Fans has Suddenly Started to be very Noisy

[Pumpa Cat]

Hi

I have had my PC since May this year.

All has been well until this morning when one of my fans has started to make an awful noise. It also keeps starting and stopping.

I thought there might be something against the fan and so I opened the PC up and tried to remove the fan. I could not get the fourth screw out as the structure of the PC innards is in the way - seems I need a very short screwdriver for that.

From what I could see there is nothing touching the fan. I've given the PC a good clean but to no avail. The fan is making an awful noise.

When I look at the fan there does seem to be a slight wobble to it when comparing it to the other fans.

The PC has not been kicked, knocked or otherwise hit.

Is there anything I can do? Will PCS fix something like that?

Thank you.

 

[B4zookaw]

Bearing might have failed, and yes sometimes a stubby screwdriver is needed. I think I had to resort to just using a screwdriver bit and turn it by hand to get a fan off previously. If PC is still under warranty, PC should replace, contact PCS to arrange a RMA

 

[Pumpa Cat]

Yes I think you could be right. The noise has become so loud now that I’ve had to turn the PC off.

I tried seeing if I could turn the fan off but could see now way of doing it. I tried the Armoury software but all that does is show one of the six or so fans, and according to the app than fan is doing 0 rpm.

I’ve sent a support request to PCS. Hopefully they’ll send me a replacement fan rather than my having to send the whole PC back. If, of course, replacing it is a simple task.

I’ll look on Amazon for a very stubby screwdriver.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Pumpa Cat]

Eek. I managed to remove the fourth screw using, as per your suggestion, a screwdriver bit.

I was hoping there’d be a cable plug that I can use to disconnect the fan. Alas no. The wire seems to be hardwired into the fan. Leading away from the fan the cable disappears into the back of the PC.

Looks like that even if PCS send me a replacement fan, I’ll have to get a chap in who knows what he’s doing to do the honours.

Sigh. Oh well, my Xbox will serve me well whilst I await a reply from PCS.

I was hoping I’d get an email auto-reply from PCS when I submitted the support request. I didn’t get one. Just checked my account and it seems they do not show a tracking of submitted support requests. I guess that only happens with RMAs.

Now I have to wait not knowing if they even received my support request. 😔

Oh and when I turned the fan blades manually they squeaked like they needed oiling. Didn’t want to risk doing that. So yes, bearings as you suggested I believe.

 

[B4zookaw]

What fan is it? Corsair? The cable doesn't disconnect from fan, the other end of it will be attached to either a fan hub or to a fan header on the motherboard. Either way you'd need to follow the wire back to it's end and disconnect in order to fully remove it. You'll need to open the side panel to do this, and probably have to cut some cable ties to free the wire. If you're not comfortable doing this (it's not hard though), best to either get a friend who's done it before to do it for you, send the entire build to PCS to replace, or bring to local computer repair shop. Just be careful with your warranty on the last one.

 

[Pumpa Cat]

Yes, it’s a Corsair. I’ll check with PCS if they’re okay for me to get a computer geek in to replace it for me.

 

[Pumpa Cat]

Just thinking aloud here. Whilst I await a response and remedy from PCS, can I turn off the offending fan in my BIOS?

Thank you.

 

[B4zookaw]

If fan is connected to a Commander core, it’s controlled via iCUE, not bios. If it’s connected to fan header on motherboard I suspect it’s done so using a splitter with the other two fans attached. So if you set the fan header to 0 rpm in bios, all three fans will stop.

 

[B4zookaw]

I’m assuming it’s a front fan btw.

 

[Pumpa Cat]

Hi

No, it's not one of the three front fans, but rather one of the fans that lay directly beneath the top of the case.

I played with the fan settings in BIOS but it did nothing, which suggest to me they are controlled by something other than the BIOS. I tried turbo mode and stopping the fan there but it made no difference to the speed of the fans.

Doesn't matter anyway, as I was hoping that each fan could be controlled independently via BIOS. They can't.

I have two choices:

1) Wait for PCS to reply to my support request or,
2) Cut the cable that goes into the fan itself. I have a feeling that doing that might cause me more complications, so I'll shelve that idea.

 

[B4zookaw]

Do NOT cut cable. You will void warranty if you do. You need to trace the cable back from fan like I said and disconnect it.

 

[Pumpa Cat]

Do NOT cut cable. You will void warranty if you do. You need to trace the cable back from fan like I said and disconnect it.

No, no, I wouldn’t do that.

Just been looking on Amazon. A replacement fan would only cost about £20. I might get one from there if I have to. I’ll wait see what PCS say first. If I don’t hear from them by mid-week I’ll give them a call.

Oddly, the fan has been behaving itself today. A barely perceptible scraping noise coming from it, but certainly none of the awfully loud screeching it was doing yesterday.