PSU clicking?

**petercj** · 03-04-2005, 06:59 AM

I have a PSU that starts clicking after running for about half an hour - I thought it might be the fan clipping something at first, but I think it is possibly too loud. It becomes virtually continuous but then misses some clicks in a random way.

The PC works fine and I'm wondering about opening the unit up to have a closer look, I notice there is a warning about the unit holding dangerous amounts of electricity, if I leave it stand without power for a set period of time, is it ok to open the PSU up?

Any ideas on what the clicking could be... is it more likely to be electrical rather than the fan touching something?

Any constructive ideas will be much appreciated.

Peter

**Sarkast** · 03-04-2005, 07:21 AM

Without looking and listening its quite difficult to tell what the problem is.

Is it safe to open it - well....

I play with electronic components in my freetime quite a bit and got zapped real bad once by a capacitor that wasnt connected to power for over a day. They can hold their charge exceptionally long under certain circumstances.

However - if you feel up to the task (and dont mind voiding any warranty you might have on the PSU) you should be safe aslong as you are careful - and only take the top of the PSU to take a look inside. No poking around in it with fingers or screwdrivers you know... ;-)

Oh i forgot - unplug it of course.

TKD2 · 03-04-2005, 07:26 AM

A psu has no moving components except for the fans so i would say it's somewhat unlikely that it could be anything else. There is a small chance that what you could be hearing is static elecrtical discharge from a capacitor - but since you don't mention any other problems i'd would personally rule that out.

As for opening up a PSU, that kinda depends on your confidence with such things. They do carry a lot of charge for a long time after they are switched off and i can tell you from personal experience they really can shock you

The best way to do it is to leave it earthed by leaving the power cord plugged into the mains, that works in the UK since we can turn our mains outlets off. If you're from a country which doesn't have this luxury don't even consider it, to put it bluntly.. you might die

I suppose the least risky way of cleaning out the interior is to buy a can of compressed air and secure the fans whilst blowing out the dust.

**petercj** · 03-05-2005, 12:58 AM

Thanks for your comments - I'm going to change the PSU and maybe I'll dismantle the old one at a later date.

Peter

03-04-2005, 06:59 AM	#1 (permalink)
petercj UK Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South Coast UK Posts: 907 OS: Win XP Pro/XP Home/98se/Suse Linux 9.1 & Xandros 3 Deluxe	PSU clicking? I have a PSU that starts clicking after running for about half an hour - I thought it might be the fan clipping something at first, but I think it is possibly too loud. It becomes virtually continuous but then misses some clicks in a random way. The PC works fine and I'm wondering about opening the unit up to have a closer look, I notice there is a warning about the unit holding dangerous amounts of electricity, if I leave it stand without power for a set period of time, is it ok to open the PSU up? Any ideas on what the clicking could be... is it more likely to be electrical rather than the fan touching something? Any constructive ideas will be much appreciated. Peter

03-04-2005, 07:21 AM	#2 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	Without looking and listening its quite difficult to tell what the problem is. Is it safe to open it - well.... I play with electronic components in my freetime quite a bit and got zapped real bad once by a capacitor that wasnt connected to power for over a day. They can hold their charge exceptionally long under certain circumstances. However - if you feel up to the task (and dont mind voiding any warranty you might have on the PSU) you should be safe aslong as you are careful - and only take the top of the PSU to take a look inside. No poking around in it with fingers or screwdrivers you know... ;-) Oh i forgot - unplug it of course. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

03-04-2005, 07:26 AM	#3 (permalink)
TKD2 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 152 OS: XP/SuSE	A psu has no moving components except for the fans so i would say it's somewhat unlikely that it could be anything else. There is a small chance that what you could be hearing is static elecrtical discharge from a capacitor - but since you don't mention any other problems i'd would personally rule that out. As for opening up a PSU, that kinda depends on your confidence with such things. They do carry a lot of charge for a long time after they are switched off and i can tell you from personal experience they really can shock you The best way to do it is to leave it earthed by leaving the power cord plugged into the mains, that works in the UK since we can turn our mains outlets off. If you're from a country which doesn't have this luxury don't even consider it, to put it bluntly.. you might die I suppose the least risky way of cleaning out the interior is to buy a can of compressed air and secure the fans whilst blowing out the dust. __________________ A64 Winchester 2.5GHz \| 2x512Mb Ballistix PC4000 \| 240Gb SATA Raid0/160Gb PATA \| Leadtek 6800GT \| MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum \| Win XP/Linux Fedora 3

03-05-2005, 12:58 AM	#4 (permalink)
petercj UK Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South Coast UK Posts: 907 OS: Win XP Pro/XP Home/98se/Suse Linux 9.1 & Xandros 3 Deluxe	Thanks for your comments - I'm going to change the PSU and maybe I'll dismantle the old one at a later date. Peter