[scott452]

Hi,
This started about a month ago. When I start my computer up, the fan where the power plug enters (i'm pretty sure it is this one) is really noisy - it is making a high pitched noise. After a certain amount of time (normally 5-10 mins) the fan quietens down and goes back to its normal noisiness. Has the fan become dislogded somehow and that is making the sound. How can i fix this?

Thanks for any help

Scott

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Your power supply fan has got dust and lint into the shaft where there is a sleeve bearing that centers it. Some power supplys have fans that can be replaced. Others have the wires soldered to the base board on the PS. I have cut and soldered wires to replace the fan in some. Sometimes compressed air blown around the shaft can aleviate the problem but usually does not fix it. If you try replacing the fan be very careful of the capacitors in there . A wrong move and they can give you quite a shock. If this sounds too complicated replacement power supplies can be bought and installed.

SRX660

[SRX660]

Your power supply fan has got dust and lint into the shaft where there is a sleeve bearing that centers it. Some power supplys have fans that can be replaced. Others have the wires soldered to the base board on the PS. I have cut and soldered wires to replace the fan in some. Sometimes compressed air blown around the shaft can aleviate the problem but usually does not fix it. If you try replacing the fan be very careful of the capacitors in there . A wrong move and they can give you quite a shock. If this sounds too complicated replacement power supplies can be bought and installed.

SRX660

[austin_o]

Hi. If it is the fan where the power cord connects, that would be the power supply fan. It could be dirty. It could be the bearing is going bad or it is otherwise destined for failure. I would suggest getting some "canned air" (you can get this at Walmart, Office Depot, Best Buy, CompUSA etc). Turn the computer off. Take the side panel off, open it up and check inside. Use the canned air to blow out the fans. While you are at it, check the CPU fan and heat sink. These get dirty as well. If you have a lot of dirt in there, use the canned air in conjunction with a vacuum cleaner. Blow the dirt out of those places you can't vacuum, then suck it up with the vacuum.

The fans inside of the power supply are not intended to be "user serviceable". If cleaning the fans does not fix the problem, you could replace the power supply. I am looking at an ATX 12 V power supply I took out of one of my systems. It has a label on it that says "WARNING hazardous voltages contained within this power suply. Not user serviceable. Return to service center for repair." The unit has two fans on it, one surface mounted with screws easily removable, the other inside and not easily removable. No, being that I am a qualified electronics technician, I wouldn't hesitate to tear into it and investigate a fan that was noisy. However, the warning is something I still take very serioulsy for myself and for you. If you are not capable of doing the repair (if needed) yourself, by the time you paid someone to repair the thing, it would probably be cheaper to replace the power supply in the first place.

[scott452]

Hi, thanks for replies

Used canned air and that seemed to do the trick
Now it runs quieter

Thanks

Scott