ATX power supply

sbh7600 · 23 Sep 2019

Hey,

I have a ATX powersuply, that making a "tiking" sound i can't lacate what it is. my first though was capacitor. and maybe not.

The weird this is it's only sometimes when i power on the computer.

any wise ideas?

ignatzatsonic · 23 Sep 2019

It might be a relay if it occurs only when starting up.

Ticking implies repeating. Is there a rotational component?

Not a buzz? Not a hum?

sbh7600 · 23 Sep 2019

Well the sound can come when it has booted, and sometimes there is nothing to hear.

what do you mean by "rotational"

no not either buzz or hum, its like when your are bumping your thumbnail into a table. (not as loud)

Plankton · 23 Sep 2019

What PSU do you have? How old is the PSU?

Berton · 23 Sep 2019

It could be coming from a 'standard' HDD/Hard Disk Drive, has rotating platters/disk and a Voice Coil Relay that controls the movement of the read/write heads/arms and will sometimes click when having problems. That Relay snaps back to its resting point when seeing loss of power or other issues causing it to retract the arms.

Interesting videos:
YouTube
YouTube

sbh7600 · 23 Sep 2019

The PSU, is 3 years old i think.

Not the best pic

ATX power supply-2019-09-23-20.28.30.jpg

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Berton said:

It could be coming from a 'standard' HDD/Hard Disk Drive, has rotating platters/disk and a Voice Coil Relay that controls the movement of the read/write heads/arms and will sometimes click when having problems. That Relay snaps back to its resting point when seeing loss of power or other issues causing it to retract the arms.

Thanks for the input

but i can hear it's coming from the PSU.

clam1952 · 23 Sep 2019

Could be the psu fan.

sbh7600 · 23 Sep 2019

Could be it just pissing me off

Megahertz · 23 Sep 2019

clam1952 said:

Could be the psu fan

.

The power supply itself doesn't make noise, but as you can hear it's coming from the PSU, it can only be the cooling fan.
You can easily replace the fan. (same size, same speed, same connector (if there is one).

bobkn · 23 Sep 2019

Megahertz said:

The power supply itself doesn't make noise, but as you can hear it's coming from the PSU, it can only be the cooling fan.
You can easily replace the fan. (same size, same speed, same connector (if there is one).

Since this didn't include the standard warning, I'll add it:

A PSU can have high voltages present internally. I don't know how long you need to wait after unplugging it before it's safe to poke around inside, but caution is warranted.