[superstar]

I have an "ANTEC EARTH WATTS 500watt 80 Plus" psu that is starting to make loud noises. It's happening when I turn the pc off for a while... Say 5 minutes or more. It'll start humming loudly until I shut it off, and press the power button 5-10 seconds after shutting it off. It always comes back on without the humming sounds and works perfectly the second time around.

Today it was acting even weirder. I had the pc off for a while so as usual it made the sounds when I powered it on, but than next thing you know it went away on it's own after about 2 minutes.

Does anyone know what could be causing this? I tried vacuuming the back fan vent. It doesn't look SO dirty back there. Just normal dust build up... This thing is about a year old. I also looked back there to see if the fan wasn't spinning at anytime, and that's not the case because it seems to spin fine with and without the loud sounds.


Thanks

Edited by superstar, 23 May 2009 - 04:03 AM.

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I had an Antec Earthwatts 380W do a similar thing to me recently... that's funny because they are a really good quality unit. I wasn't too worried about it though because I had been using it as a test PSU and it had been used in literally dozens of computers for testing purposes... So I figured it may not last as long.

I've built quite a few budget systems for my customers and usually use the Earthwatts range for quality and value... Mine's the only one I've had fail yet!

What I did was email the Antec support team. I quickly determined with them that my unit was indeed faulty and warranted a replacement. The Antec warranty is very good, I was very happy with the whole process.

What you need to do is determine 100% that the sound is coming from the PSU... Then get in contact with them.

Cheers

[Troy]

I had an Antec Earthwatts 380W do a similar thing to me recently... that's funny because they are a really good quality unit. I wasn't too worried about it though because I had been using it as a test PSU and it had been used in literally dozens of computers for testing purposes... So I figured it may not last as long.

I've built quite a few budget systems for my customers and usually use the Earthwatts range for quality and value... Mine's the only one I've had fail yet!

What I did was email the Antec support team. I quickly determined with them that my unit was indeed faulty and warranted a replacement. The Antec warranty is very good, I was very happy with the whole process.

What you need to do is determine 100% that the sound is coming from the PSU... Then get in contact with them.

Cheers

[Digerati]

The ATX Form Factor standard requires all ATX power supplies to supply +5VDC standby voltage to several points on the motherboard whenever the PSU is simply plugged in (and, if equipped, the master power switch on the back set to on). This +5Vsb is used for such things as the front panel power switch and features such as Wake on LAN, Wake on Modem, Wake on Mouse, etc.

If the power supply is making noises in standby mode, then the PSU is bad. I agree 100% with Troy and typically, Antecs are very reliable, and I use many Antec PSUs (and cases too) in my builds.

I would pass along this warning - STOP! That is, turn it off, unplug and stop trying to make it work. It is never a good idea to connect a faulty PSU to a computer.

[superstar]

I had an Antec Earthwatts 380W do a similar thing to me recently... that's funny because they are a really good quality unit. I wasn't too worried about it though because I had been using it as a test PSU and it had been used in literally dozens of computers for testing purposes... So I figured it may not last as long.

I've built quite a few budget systems for my customers and usually use the Earthwatts range for quality and value... Mine's the only one I've had fail yet!

What I did was email the Antec support team. I quickly determined with them that my unit was indeed faulty and warranted a replacement. The Antec warranty is very good, I was very happy with the whole process.

What you need to do is determine 100% that the sound is coming from the PSU... Then get in contact with them.

Cheers

How did the warranty process work? Did you have to ship them your bad psu? I'd hate to have to pay to send my bad one in because I would assume it'd cost a pretty dime since it's heavy and big. But if that's the only way I can get a new one... Let me know what they did. Did they ship you a refurbished one or new one?

Thanks

[Troy]

It's actually pretty funny what happened... After determining that it was faulty with the Antec rep, I returned it to my wholesalers as it was still under their 1 year warranty. (I pickup parts all the time from them so I didn't have to factor in any shipping charges). After about a week I got an email saying it was ready to pickup. When I went in to pickup the next order I also asked to pickup my PSU and they handed me a brand new Corsair 400W - simply because they were completely out of stock of the 380W and it was the next best one they had.

They all know me and know I don't accept cheap junk, so the Corsair it was.

I doubt your experience will be anything like it, but go ahead and ask the Antec support rep anyway about what to do next.

Cheers

[superstar]

Actually I took the psu out and put an old one in. The noise was still there... I looked around my pc and literally saw the video card fan trying to spin slowly, than faster. The noise was from the fan. I hadn't cleaned it out in years and so it got so much dust that was obstructing it. I cleaned it with a q tip and alcohol/windex. I than applied some wd40 to the copper wire coils, because I couldn't get so close to the bearing. I was hoping some would drip it's way into the bearing. Anyways all is well now... I turned my pc on and it started wailing right away. Than after about 30 seconds the noise went away permanently. I don't know if this is a temp fix or if I need to buy a new fan but I will be doing so regardless.

[PedroDaGR8]

It should last around 2 months or so. Machine oil works better, but even that only lasts 6 months or so.