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Buzzing fan

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 9:23 pm
by xenic
About a week ago my X5000 started making a loud buzzing sound for serveral minutes after I turn it on. When I opened the case I discovered that the buzzing was coming from the CPU fan. I think I need to replace it before it fails completely and am looking for some information:

Does the CPU fan come with the motherboard or was it added by the retailer when installing the motherboard in the case?

Does anyone know the fan size, capacity, voltage and other pertinent specifications?

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 9:48 pm
by Spectre660

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:02 pm
by xenic
Thanks for the info. The Gelid site lists all the specs so I can try another brand if another Silent 6 starts buzzing.

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 6:39 pm
by khayoz
xenic wrote:About a week ago my X5000 started making a loud buzzing sound for serveral minutes after I turn it on. When I opened the case I discovered that the buzzing was coming from the CPU fan. I think I need to replace it before it fails completely and am looking for some information:

Does the CPU fan come with the motherboard or was it added by the retailer when installing the motherboard in the case?

Does anyone know the fan size, capacity, voltage and other pertinent specifications?
This is one of my main worries with owning such expensive machine, that the fan die and the cpu dies.
Is anyone working on a cpu temp app/docky for the X5000? Preferebly with a shutdown feature.

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 3:16 am
by tonyw
Since a 60 mm fan is so cheap, you can afford to buy a spare and keep it handy in case the original fails.

Fans have a limited life, especially if the computer is regularly turned off and on. From time to time they should be removed from the heat sink, cleaned and lubricated, then they will last for years. I prefer fans with sleeve bearings because you can oil them, whereas there is nothing you can do to lubricate a ball race of that size.

I also reconnect my fans to run at 5V instead of 12 V. It makes them much quieter and they wear out more slowly. The fan on my X-1000 runs at 5V with a better heat sink and the temperature rise is the same as the old fan on the old heat sink running at 12 V and making my ears hurt.

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 10:33 am
by JamesFelix
khayoz wrote: This is one of my main worries with owning such expensive machine, that the fan die and the cpu dies.
Is anyone working on a cpu temp app/docky for the X5000? Preferebly with a shutdown feature.
The MCU on the X5000 will shutdown the board if the CPU get near to its critical temperature.
For the app you can find out the CPU temperature with the serial commands to the MCU which is in the technical reference manual.

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 1:48 pm
by Roland
JamesFelix wrote: The MCU on the X5000 will shutdown the board if the CPU get near to its critical temperature.
For the app you can find out the CPU temperature with the serial commands to the MCU which is in the technical reference manual.
Wellcome to this forum, James! It is really nice to have here a person from Varisys to share his knowledge! :-)

Could you please give us some 'maintenance tips' concerning the original Silence 6 fan?

Can this model be lubricated, and what substance should you use in that case?

I saw on some other forum a tip to add dampeners between the fan and heat sink. What material should the dampeners be? If the heatsink gets very hot, I suppose rubber is not suitable for that purpose...?

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:53 pm
by xenic
Roland wrote:I saw on some other forum a tip to add dampeners between the fan and heat sink. What material should the dampeners be? If the heatsink gets very hot, I suppose rubber is not suitable for that purpose...?
The dampeners might serve a purpose beyond dampening vibration. I ordered a spare Silent 6 60mm fan and the label on the box states: "Gelid Silent Series 60mm Case Fan". A case fan has low air flow resistance compared to a fan that is clamped down on a heatsink and was probably not tested in that situation by the manufacturer. Some dampeners might create an gap between the fan and the heatsink; possibly lowering the air flow resistance. If I open my X5000 case and press very lightly on the center of the fan with the tip if a pencil, the buzzing stops until I release the pressure on the fan. My impression is that the high air flow resistance on the heatsink side of the fan is causing an outward pressure on the fan bearings that exceeds the design specification. The above is just a guess and could be completely wrong.

The screws that came with my spare Silent 6 fan are very short and designed to screw into the fan from the outside of the case. I haven't yet removed my original CPU fan to see how long the screws are but you might need some longer screws if you add spacers (dampening or otherwise).

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 4:11 pm
by broadblues
If I open my X5000 case and press very lightly on the center of the fan with the tip if a pencil, the buzzing stops until I release the pressure on the fan.
So your fan mount is vibrating and the pencil stops it. Could be you simply need to (gentley) tighten some screws?

Re: Buzzing fan

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 5:56 pm
by xenic
broadblues wrote:
If I open my X5000 case and press very lightly on the center of the fan with the tip if a pencil, the buzzing stops until I release the pressure on the fan.
So your fan mount is vibrating and the pencil stops it. Could be you simply need to (gentley) tighten some screws?
I'm not pressing on the fan frame. I'm pressing very lightly on the center of the spinning fan with the tip of the pencil. The screws are tight. The buzzing sound doesn't sound like typical fan vibration noise. It's louder and stops after the X5000 has been on for several minutes. If I turn the computer off and turn it back on after a few seconds, there is no buzzing when it starts back up. If I wait for 10+ minutes to turn the system back on, I'll get the temporary buzzing again. As I said in my first post, I could be wrong about what caused the problem; it could just be an unusual part failure. Based on the specs, it is a better fan than most of the ones I found online.