So today my computer's power supply's fan started making a reeeeeeeally irritating noise. Not all the time (thank goodness), but in comes and goes, and sometimes wayyyy too comes -and not enough goes. What does it sound like? Ohhh, imagine taking a cat and putting it in the blender. Not the blender noise, but the cat's reaction. A shrill screaming type noise that make me want to kill myself. I've gotten some lube, super stuff from a copier repairman, but it doesn't seem to work. Right now it is quiet, which is rare lately. Ooooo goodie, there it goes again. It happens on and off with this frequency. I can't even type how irritated this makes me. Imagine trying to concentrate on coding with an Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee sound. Thank you for the opportunity to vent.

I thought of a good sound like it- about twice as loud as a teapot boiling, more like Eeeeeeeerrrrrreeeeerrreeeeeeeerrrr

[Edited by Chicken on 10-25-2000 at 11:56 PM]

Bwahahhahahaah.....

Sorry, I sympathise totally (I had a similar scenario a few months ago and I had the entire fan replaced).

The thing that irks me, is that of course it isn't one of the other four fans in the computer. Those are easy to get to, and easily replaceable. It is the power supply fan, which, if you've ever opened up one of those power supply thingamagiggers, you know that they make it nearly impossible to unplug things like the fan. Some anti-kill yourself protection. I put it all back together after I thought it was gone (the lube seemed to do the trick - HA! Nope!).

So now it is irritating to have the computer on. Wonderful. Tomorrow's mission. Meanwhile I am gonna jam a pen in the $#^&%^& fan blades. Whole thing will probably overheat and set on fire.

I'm scheduling a 911 call.

Usually you just flip out the whole power supply... easy job, really -- ten minutes.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=power+supply

A standard PS will usually run you around US$25.



[Edited by etLux on 10-26-2000 at 12:31 AM]

Thats what I was thinking. A trip to Frys tomorrow.

Too bad you don't live closer by... lol... I keep a dozen of them in a box under the console at all times. No kidding.

Get a new one, Chicken. 20 bucks.

Originally posted by etLux
... I keep a dozen of them in a box under the console at all times. No kidding.

A Tower of Power! :-)

I do the same with IDE drives, cuz if your p/s gets flaky you can fry a drive in the bargain. That happened to me a couple weeks ago.

Actually, this is a good area to discuss a bit -- glad it came up. Staying operational -- whatever end of the wire you're on -- is an important consideration.

I basically keep enough parts around (power supplies, mother boards, drives, cables, etc.) to build two machines fresh on a moment's notice.

That's a little extreme for most cases, but the point is, knowing your hardware and how to keep it rolling is a valuable asset.

With a little practice, you can slap together a whole machine in around an hour; or, more routinely, flip out a dunced power supply or a crapped-out drive in twenty minutes.

When I was running NT servers I used external SCSI drives and mirrored them. Thus the drives each had their own power source. And if one of them did happen to wig-out, I'd just hitch up a new drive, flip the source device and I'm back in the race in minutes after a reboot. The nice side effect of duplex mirroring (under NT 4.0 at least) is that disk i/o actually *improves*. Go figure.

And you're right, etLux, you need to be very familiar with the hardware. Getting familiar with the good products and staying with them is the key. For example, I've had great success with Asus motherboards (completely jumperless) and so I stay with them.

[Edited by alchiba on 10-26-2000 at 11:07 AM]

I noticed that on NT4 -- but I thought I was hallucinating... lol.

Chicken,

I have the solution. In the basement (directly under the room where my computer is), I mounted the computer on the wall on a rack and drilled a hole through the room. I brought up keyboard, mouse, monitor, sound, parallel and a few other cords. I could turn off the monitor and sound, and I hear absolutely no noise, yet the computer is up and running! :)

Too much work, Vincent. Just pour around eight ounces of vodka into the power supply... quiets it right down. If that doesn't do it, pour eight ounces into you.

etLux, I like the way you think. Why use a drill when you could get hammered? LOL

LOL... thanks! Look at the virtues of this approach. It's non-violent, requires no handtools, and anyone can do it without special training.

And at least you don't hear the damn thing for the next 24 hours while you drift in and out of hallucinating.... (about that girl-next-door or the latest Athlon processors... Yum :D)

Wrong, oh God of the Forum -- that requires sixteen ounces.

It depends on the capacity of your body to take all the alcohol. Me? I only need about 8-9 ounces :D and you'll see me off in la-la land....

Cheap date.

hehehehehehehehehe

Well although I was looking for a good excuse to go to Fry's, it seems the lil bugger was scared silent for the time being. I doubt this will last long, but it hasn't made a peep. In fact, I had to check to be sure the fan hadn't stopped it's been so quiet.

Could it have been the quart and a half of olive oil you poured into the thing? Ya think?

PS fans are butt when they die. I had one die on me a few months ago, a little complaining at the place I bought it, and they coughed up a new one.

Alas, I usually roll my own boxes (more to get them the way I want them than to save a buck).

I'd have to take it back to myself and then holler at me.

I build my own machines too. All I did was bring in the PS, since I bought it local.

I still think Edison had a point about a DC power grid... imagine how much easier this would all be were it so.