PSu fan death... what to do?

[blakerwry]

Hey all, I have an Antec 300Watt PSU that is about 1 week past 1 year old. It is the smart power 300 (basically a SL300).

The 80mm smart fan in it is starting to die... every once in awhile (has happenned twice this week) it will begin to make the ratling of death.

I have to either turn off the PC or touch the fan to make it stop rattling... after that it returns to normal.

I believe the PSU has a 3 year warranty. I have gone back to the retailer, but they won't help me with it... So... Should I send in my PSU to antec and wait a few weeks for a replacement? or should I change the fan myself?

The cost of shipment is sure to be ~$6-$8... I could get a Vantec stealth or a Enermax adjustable 80mm fan for that price...

The only problem with changing the fan myself is that 1) it will void my PSU waranty and 2) I'm not sure what will result will occur with mixing a non-standard fan in this PSU since it has the capabilites to automatically control/adjust fan speed...

Any advice? What would you do?

 

[CityK]

I have gone back to the retailer, but they won't help me with it...

Out of curiousity, what kind of support should be expected from a good retailer - Buck, Tannin, Coug, Merc? What/How long would you offer support on something like this - or would you also direct the customer to deal with Antec?

The only problem with changing the fan myself is that 1) it will void my PSU waranty and 2) I'm not sure what will result will occur with mixing a non-standard fan in this PSU since it has the capabilites to automatically control/adjust fan speed...
Any advice? What would you do?

I don't think I would go with an adjustable I'd just put in a nice quite regular Vantec or Panflo etc etc. as a replacement.

That said, I don't know if I would bother doing the DIY route or contact Antec and get a replacement...(actually, when I first started to respond, I was going to just say do the RMA). I guess it really just depends upon how much utility the PSU possesses for you. The relevant facts and questions that I can see are:

1) Its a good PSU - why ruin your coverage on it?
2) its a good quality PSU - what chance is there that it will become defective (other then the stupid fan) within the next 2 years of its coverage period?
3) its a good inexpensive PSU - In the long run, in light of voiding your warrenty and a future defect necessitating replacement, would it be something you could afford to spend the money on?
4) RMA costs a little bit of $, but takes time and can be a hassle - given that there is always the added potential that annoying administrative (and general incompetence) issues/hassles can delay the RMA even further then what should be expected, is it worth the hassle considering an equal short term $ cost alternative exists?
5) DIY fan costs little (same as RMA route), and takes little time and effort - do you want to alleviate the problem cheaply and quickly?
6) Putting in custom fan might make PSU quiter - but is it going to be any quieter then the original one (when functioning properly) to begin with ie. is it worth voiding warrenty on this basis?

Answering these I would say:
1) Dont ruin -> RMA
2) Not likely to go bad -> DYI
3) If goes bad, I can afford to replace -> DYI
4) RMA is annoying and takes time -> so, given answer to 3, DIY (unless they offer advance replacement like HDD companies, then do that instead)
5) DIY little $, time and can be satisfying -> DYI
6) Not a really loud PSU to begin with (when the fan isn't defective that is....at least the 300W Smart Power I have in one of secondary systems isn't) -> so I would say its not worth voiding your warrenty on this basis. However, I would attach less weight to this given my feelings about the RMA dance and also the fact that you can derive worth in other ways - i.e. out of the self satisfaction of acomplishing the task yourself.

Thus, in the end, I would say it is probably best just to DIY to save yourself some time and potential RMA headaces/hassles. It will also give you some personal satisfaction. It also isn't an item that you should be attaching a lot of weight too unless you can't easily afford to replace it. Hence, probably not worth agonizing a decision over.

CK

 

[Tannin]

Generally speaking, CityK, if we sel;l it, we service it. The only exceptions are products that have weirdo warranty systems - most notably printers, which require the customer to deal direct with the manufacturer or service agent.

Your Holiness, I'd just swap a fan in. Takes five minutes, saves a lot of stuffing around. OK, I might have some warranty trouble later, but that's later and this is now. Anything for an easy life. (I think Tea is having a bad influence on me.)

 

[e_dawg]

I agree with Tannin. Buy the 80 mm fan, cut the wires to the existing fan, and splice in the new fan. I bet you'd spend three times as much money as you'd save by driving around and calling people in order to get someone to fix your PSU under warranty.

 

[Handruin]

I'm no electrical engineer, but I thought PSu's have large capacitors inside which could continue to hold some power even while it is off.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm not a retailer. I'm an "advanced hobbyist". No store. No profit motive (customer usually pays cost + taxes + a very small fee for data transfer or XP-related annoyances).
All that said, I'd offer to take care of it for a customer within the warranty period of the part. Customer can pay expenses once the part comes back. If they want me to expedite something, I'll go rummage around in my parts bins (I usually only have one spare power supply, unfortunately) and replace at cost of the part if they're being annoying about it... assuming that whatever broke can be RMA'd and fixed, I get another part and (maybe) the cost of my replacement back, and that's good enough for me.
I take equipment failures within warranty periods VERY personally, but it doesn't come up that often.

 

[CityK]

Thanks for the feedback Tannin & Mercutio. Merc - I was never quite certain if you had a storefront or not - at least I've never come across, or have forgotten, where you may have mentioned it in the past...just associated your building systems for customers as part of a B&M business.

I'm no electrical engineer, but I thought PSu's have large capacitors inside which could continue to hold some power even while it is off.

Based upon what I've garnered from hersey, the caps would lose their charge after 2-3 days of the unit being unplugged from the AC....but I'm definitely not an EE either, so perhaps determinig how long the drainage time takes, before its safe to operate, is indeed a prudent exercise for Blake to figure out.

CK

 

[Tea]

If we are going to be zcientific about this, the continued exiztence of my gin-zozzled brain may be taken az evidence either for or againzt the harmful effectz of changing PSU fanz without waiting for the capz to dizcharge. Of courze, YMMV. But I do it all the time and I'm ztill here.

 

[e_dawg]

I'm no electrical engineer, but I thought PSu's have large capacitors inside which could continue to hold some power even while it is off.

Unplug the computer and turn it on a couple times if you're worried. Like the alcoholic monkey, I myself have changed numerous PSU fans without any deleterious effects to my health... at least that I can remember. BTW, does repeated electroshock therapy induce memory loss?

 

[Cliptin]

Unplug the computer and turn it on a couple times if you're worried.

Indeed. You may even see some leds light up and fans start spinning for a second. Depending on how long you've already left it unplugged.

 

[blakerwry]

I've replaced fans before.. even done a 7v mod on a noisy PSU before.. no worries.

I was wondering how the Antec unit worked... it has the smart fan RPM adjustment that changes the fans RPMs automatically. I don't know if it changes the RPMs by temperature, load on the PSU, or both... And I dont know if it's the fan or the PSU controlling the speed...

The vantec stealth fan seems like a great replacement. The original Antec fan spun at 1800-2200 RPMs and then Vantec spins at ~2050. But if the PSU controls the fan speed, I am thinking that the Vantec might spin slower than spec... possibly leading to problems.

I was also wondering if the PSU fan used a modular plug to attach to the PSU or if it was soldered directly.


I have emailed Antec and asked them for some information on their RMA process. Hopefully I'll find out if they offer cross shiping or anything else to expedite a return and I will avoid the typical "dummy" response I suually get from computer manufacturers.

 

[e_dawg]

Crack open the Antec and see if it has a 3 lead wire for the fan and if its a motherboard style header connector. If it is, then just pop in a fan that has a 3 lead wire to report the rpm. Chances are that there is a thermistor that regulates the power supplied to the fan and that the fan has no control over its own speed.

 

[Tea]

BTW, does repeated electroshock therapy induce memory loss?

Zorry, can't remember.

 

[blakerwry]

Holy Orangutan batman! I just looked at the back of my PSU to check out the fan and the fan was not moving! it could have been stopped all day long!

I blew on it and it started rotating again... not very calming though... I'm lucky that current weather has kept it below freezing outside, and thus kept my room reletively cold.

What is surprising is that the PSU was not hot.. or even very warm... My room is cold... but i didn't think it was that cold.

 

[CityK]

I have emailed Antec and asked them for some information on their RMA process. Hopefully I'll find out if they offer cross shiping or anything else to expedite a return

I think they probably do ... at least that's what I think is implied on this page (at the bottom FAQ#6) in relation to newly purchased DOA cases ... can't see why they wouldn't also make that option available on products that go belly up later on down the road.

CK

 

[blakerwry]

well, after reading this page I had decided to goto Microcenter and buy a new fan for my psu...

while there I started talking to a salesmen, he seemed interested in helping me, so he talked to the guy at the service desk. Aparently it had been a slow day and they had nothing better to do than to replace my PSU with a brand new one!

so, here I am, about to install a new Antec SL300S.




Aparently the pp303x (my old PSU) had a 2 wire modular connector on the PSU board, that went to a relay with the thermister and other fan controlling stuff, from there it conencted to a "dumb" fan that was 3 wire (rpm monitoring).. the original fan was a Top Motor brand fan spec'd at ~2800RPM

one thing that strikes me as odd is that the internal design of the pp303x seems to more closely resemble that of the antec True Power series and not its replacement the SL series.

 

[e_dawg]

I wouldn't be surprised if the TruePower series was based heavily on the old PP series. Antec has done an excellent job of positioning and differentiating the TruePower as a superior product that they are able to charge top dollar for an otherwise nondescript standardized piece of computer component. As a marketing person, I applaud the effort and the results of Antec.

 

[Dïscfärm]

I'm no electrical engineer, but I thought PSu's have large capacitors inside which could continue to hold some power even while it is off.

It is of typical design safety to have high ohm "bleed resistors" situated across the terminals of large reservoir capacitors to allow them to bleed off stored voltage potential over several seconds of time -- but it is not required by law to do so.

 

[blakerwry]

ah, now im off to get 2 of these babies... in blue of course.

http://www.directron.com/uc8fab.html

 

[Dïscfärm]

Hey all, I have an Antec 300Watt PSU that is about 1 week past 1 year old. It is the smart power 300 (basically a SL300). The 80mm smart fan in it is starting to die... every once in awhile (has happenned twice this week) it will begin to make the ratling of death. I have to either turn off the PC or touch the fan to make it stop rattling...

With the Supermicro power supplies I use at work and at home, this is something that I don't ever have to worry much about. Supermicro's dual-redundant fan design has a tachometer circuit that watches for fan slowdowns. In the event the power supply cooling fan slows below spec -- or is physically stopped by something like a wire falling into the blades -- the primary fan is disabled and the secondary fan then turns on providing power supply cooling. Once the situation with primary fan is resolved, it will again function and the secondary fan will go back into standby mode (after the power supply is power cycled).

 

[blakerwry]

Since the fan was connected to a relay I figured it might have some sort of sensing that would act as an auto cut-off switch if the fan stopped spinning, however it doen't look like this is the case.

I was realy surprised that the PSU did not overheat after operating for atleast 8 hours without a working fan.

 

[Buck]

Between Coug, Tannin, me, and Mercutio, I think Tannin is the only one with a retail store front.

 

[e_dawg]

retail store front... as opposed to?

a) corporate consulting
b) selling out of the back of a van in the middle of Chinatown
c) none of the above

 

[Buck]

retail store front... as opposed to?

a) corporate consulting
b) selling out of the back of a van in the middle of Chinatown
c) none of the above

I don't have a van.

 

[CityK]

retail store front... as opposed to?

a) corporate consulting
b) selling out of the back of a van in the middle of Chinatown
c) none of the above

I don't have a van.

But this doesn't rule out your selling something in Chinatown. Sugar daddy Buck, white china pusher.

CK

 

[CougTek]

PSu fan death... what to do?

[...]

Any advice?

No matter how much it affects you, suicide isn't a solution. Get over it and someday, you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel and forget about that dear little fan. Your heart will know happiness again. We are with you.

My sympathies.

I'm no electrical engineer, but I thought PSu's have large capacitors inside which could continue to hold some power even while it is off.

Me neither, just an electronic technician. Many years ago, we used to discharge big capacitors in audio amplifiers by shorting them with the chassis, using a screwdriver. Nice spark show everytime. Not sure it is very commendable for the long term reliability of your equipement though.

 

[Tea]

I blew on it and it started rotating again

I don't think thiz iz the approved technique, Blakewry. It zuggestz to me that the rubber band thingie might be due for replacement.

 

[e_dawg]

I blew on it and it started rotating again

Must have been your stank breath. What did you have for lunch? Anchovy and garlic paste on a toasted bagel?

 

[blakerwry]

oh, thanks guys....