PSU Fan Replacement

Bl1zz4rd

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Jul 2, 2010
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I have a Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1050w PSU and upon arriving home today, I realized that its fan was making a strange, fluctuating, loud noise. Stopping the fan briefly while the PSU is running stops the noise, so it's definitely that and not anything else inside it (fortunately).

Here the PSU's site: http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00001717

This is the fan that's currently inside it: image 1.jpg

This page (part of a review of the PSU) shows the inside of the PSU and the fan in more detail: http://vr-zone.com/articles/thermaltake-toughpower-grand-1050w-psu-review/13454.html/4

The fan obviously needs to be replaced, as the noise is very loud and it could be an indicator of its failing to work at all being imminent. Does anyone have recommendations as to what my next best step is with this? The PSU is only 3 years old and has a 7 year warranty, but I'm not sure if that covers the fan, nor where it'll need to be sent to to be fixed by Thermaltake themselves (and I can only imagine how long that'll take). I don't have another PSU to use in the meantime either, and can't really live without my PC for long.

Will it be easy enough to replace the fan myself? Can any 140mm fan be installed?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.
 

ponder

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Warranty claim.

You could peel that label on the fan back and put a drop of machine oil in there. In many cases this stops the noise and the fan could carry on working.
 

Bl1zz4rd

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@ponder, I'd really like to do a warranty claim, that'd be my best move, but unfortunately the place I bought the PSU from doesn't exist anymore, so I've got no idea how I'd have it swapped out.

Oiling the fan would just involve unscrewing the top part of the PSU casing and flipping it over, correct?
 

Rickster

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@ponder, I'd really like to do a warranty claim, that'd be my best move, but unfortunately the place I bought the PSU from doesn't exist anymore, so I've got no idea how I'd have it swapped out.

Oiling the fan would just involve unscrewing the top part of the PSU casing and flipping it over, correct?

You dont have to take it back were you bought it you just have to take it to the thermaltake distributor which is Corex
 

Bl1zz4rd

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Oh really? That's great then. I see they're in milnerton (well, my one is at least, as I live in Cape Town). Are they likely going to swap it out for a new one for me then? Perhaps after a fault assessment.
 

Rickster

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Oh really? That's great then. I see they're in milnerton (well, my one is at least, as I live in Cape Town). Are they likely going to swap it out for a new one for me then? Perhaps after a fault assessment.

If its under warranty then most likely they would.
 

Bl1zz4rd

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Thanks for that tip. I've emailed Corex, so hopefully they'll have some good news for me next week.

I'd rather do that than open it myself and void the warranty. Also opening PSUs is rather dangerous.
 

Bl1zz4rd

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My Southbridge temp reading is significantly higher than it usually is, and my GPU is now idling at 60, instead of its usual 39. If I restart my PC, they're as they should be at the start, and then go back up again.

Could this be related to the PSU problem?
 

Rickster

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On my Maximus IV Extreme, it does indeed.


-How hot is it outside?
-Whats the voltage of your GPU
-What make and model is your GPU + clocks
-Do you have some sort of GPU fan control installed? If yes whats the fanspeed %.
 

Bl1zz4rd

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Airflow through my case (HAF X) is good, as always. Nothing feels hot inside the case, and it's around 20 degrees in the room the PC is in at present.

The GPU temp seems to be fluctuating between what it always has been and this new, far hotter idle temp. Earlier, when I checked the GPU temp and it was 60, the voltage was 0.950. Currently, it's idling back at 37, and the voltage is 0.850. Are these related? As a side note, the SB is running at 45 now, instead of 50.

The GPU's a Sapphire HD7970 3GB. Stock clocks, never been overclocked.

MSI Afterburner is controlling the fan and it is has been at a constant 40% the entire day.
 

Rickster

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20,459
Airflow through my case (HAF X) is good, as always. Nothing feels hot inside the case, and it's around 20 degrees in the room the PC is in at present.

The GPU temp seems to be fluctuating between what it always has been and this new, far hotter idle temp. Earlier, when I checked the GPU temp and it was 60, the voltage was 0.950. Currently, it's idling back at 37, and the voltage is 0.850. Are these related? As a side note, the SB is running at 45 now, instead of 50.

The GPU's a Sapphire HD7970 3GB. Stock clocks, never been overclocked.

MSI Afterburner is controlling the fan and it is has been at a constant 40% the entire day.

Take your PSU to matrix warehouse and they will test your PSU there for free, while you are there grab some good quality thermal paste and redo your GPU.
 

Bl1zz4rd

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Took the PSU to Corex, who said it originally came from Rectron in JHB. It was confirmed to be faulty, with numerous things wrong with it. They didn't have any Thermaltake stock, as the "old" PSUs (like mine) aren't being made anymore, but the new range hasn't been released yet. They offered me an Antec alternative, but, via Rectron CT, i got a Corsair AX760. It's from their top line of PSUs and is fully modular, with a Platinum efficiency rating and hybrid fan mode that allows the fan to turn off completely under 50% load for silent operation, which is awesome. It's installed and running fine.

I didn't need all the wattage my previous one provided and figured I'd get a really high quality smaller one. Hopefully this lasts a long time. It's made by Seasonic, so I'm thinking it will.

Thanks again to everyone for the help.
 
Last edited:

Rickster

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Took the PSU to Corex, who said it originally came from Rectron in JHB. It was confirmed to be faulty, with numerous things wrong with it. They didn't have any Thermaltake stock, as the "old" PSUs (like mine) aren't being made anymore, but the new range hasn't been released yet. They offered me an Antec alternative, but, via Rectron CT, i got a Corsair AX760. It's from their top line of PSUs and is fully modular, with a Platinum efficiency rating and hybrid fan mode that allows the fan to turn off completely under 50% load for silent operation, which is awesome. It's installed and running fine.

I didn't need all the wattage my previous one provided and figured I'd get a really high quality smaller one. Hopefully this lasts a long time. It's made by Seasonic, so I'm thinking it will.

Thanks again to everyone for the help.

Sweet, did you have to pay anything in?
 
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