PSU fan spinning too fast at all times, without any load or heat.

[Wolf Lady Louise]

Hello there! Just wanted to create a post to maybe get some ideas as to what to try next on this issue, allow me to explain the situation:

I have an AZZA PSAZ 650w ATX Power Supply (will link to its product page below) unit with a single internal 120mm RGB fan. Ever since yesterday (after a couple power outages here at my home), said 120mm fan has been spinning at full speed at all times whenever the computer's powered, and I do mean at ALL TIMES, the fan kicks in at full speed even while the computer's booting, being turned off all night, and it's not even at the BIOS yet, in other words, without having any power load or temperature to justify the fan going that fast.

I've had this power supply unit for a year now, and I have never observed this behavior on it, the power supply has always been stable and quiet, even when playing Cyberpunk 2077, doing Blender renders or doing any sort of demanding task, and in all of those situations the PSU's fan never span this fast, it drowns any other sound from within the computer, I can't even hear the other fans or GPU fans spinning over it, that's how loud/fast it is, it's not the sound of a damaged/failing fan, just the noise of a very speedy jet turbine-like fan.

The things I've tested are:
1. Checking to see if my computer components are not pulling any extra power for some reason, none of them seem to be having issues, voltages in the BIOS and from reporting utilities seem fine.
2. Ran an OCCT Power stress test (which stresses both the GPU and the CPU) to test the PSU's stability in this state, test ran for 5 minutes without issues.
3. Temperature issues due to dust buildup, I took apart my computer last night and dusted every single component in it just to be sure, but even with all of the dust gone the issue still persists.
4. Temperature due to improper cooling (I know this may sound silly), I pointed a fairly potent desk fan at the PSU's fan opening while it was still running, the inner fan from the PSU did not slow down at all, so I do not believe it's temperature related at this point.
5. Did a BIOS update for my motherboard and a CMOS clear just to test if that would change anything, also disabled stuff like XMP and any sort of CPU performance boost system, but to no avail.
6. Switched my PC's main power cable.
7. Carefully opened the PSU to check its inner components, none of the caps seemed to be bulging or having issues, the inner electronic board seems to be pristine in my opinion, the inside of the PSU is basically dust free since the PSU's fan intake has a dust filter, still, I removed all of the very small amounts of dust inside it, checked the speedy fan's connections to the PSU's inner board (it's a 2-pin 120mm fan with RGB lights, the 2-pin cable seems to be connected to the inner board of the PSU via some sort of cable extension? also the fan has some sort of header to connect it to a motherboard ARGB port, but I don't have ARGB on my motherboard so I can't use it), I disconnected the fan and then reconnected it from it's 2-pin connector just as a test, but none of it changed anything, it's still spinning at high speed.

From what I could gather up to this point, the PSU is working perfectly, without any power issues or overheating problems, and without any heavy load to justify the noise, the only issue is, well, the fan is spinning just way too fast and loud, and I do not understand why at this point.

My only guesses at this point are that:

1. Maybe the PSU's is misreporting its inner temperature and thus the fan is going full bore to compensate for the temperature misreport?
2. For some reason the PSU's 2-pin header is sending the full 12v load to its inner fan for some reason even if it's not under load?

Any insight on this issue would be appreciated! I know quite well that this PSU is not from a reputable brand like EVGA/Corsair/Seasonic, but still, after all of the troubleshooting I've done I'm just confused and at a loss over this issue.

Link to the PSU's page for model clarification: https://azza.gg/azza/products/power supplies/650W ARGB

 

[68Olds]

The power supply has a two-year warranty. RMA it.

 

[Wolf Lady Louise]

The power supply has a two-year warranty. RMA it.

I wish I could, but sadly it's not possible in this case, as I live in Venezuela it's very difficult to get things RMA'd officially. To top it off, the computer shop I bought it from only offers 1 month of warranty.
As such, trying to fix the issue myself or with third-party assistance is the only way, besides fully replacing the PSU of course.

 

[Assimilator]

Probably you had a power surge and the PSU got damaged. But that's no great loss since that PSU is garbage anyway (Tier E: Avoid).

When you buy the replacement, make sure it's tier C or higher, and buy a UPS to go along with it.

 

[Wolf Lady Louise]

Probably you had a power surge and the PSU got damaged. But that's no great loss since that PSU is garbage anyway (Tier E: Avoid).

When you buy the replacement, make sure it's tier C or higher, and buy a UPS to go along with it.

That's the most reasonable way to go with it, yes, next time I will have to do some deal hunting to find a C-Tier PSU. It would have saved me all of these issues.
I can't say for certain if the PSU's completely busted as the system is perfectly stable and functioning fine through gaming and stress tests today, just with a lot more fan noise.

Also, just as a new thought I just got as I was taking a walk outside, though I think this would be a stupid "fix", but please give me your opinions on it:

Right now I have at hand one 120mm Rosewill fan which uses a 3-pin/MOLEX connector (has both of them, but the MOLEX one is just for daisy chaining them, model picture below), how stupid would it be to switch my PSU's current 2-pin RGB fan and put this 3-pin/MOLEX fan in its place, and power it through one of my motherboard headers, or the PSU's external MOLEX cables?



I know this isn't so much of a fix for the situation, but more so a silly and janky workaround since I can't have it RMA'd and I don't have the expertise to tinker with it directly, believe you me, I feel just as sketched out by doing PSU related stuff as you are, but I have very limited choices at the moment. I'd just be using a different fan that isn't controlled directly by the PSU, but it sounds like a doable workaround to avoid the noise levels without leaving the PSU without proper ventilation, all I would need to do is to remember to plug in either the 3-pin cable to one of the motherboard's many SYS_FAN headers, or the MOLEX 4-pin header to one of the PSU's MOLEX cables to provide power for the inner PSU's fan.

My only other idea/option for repair is to take it to an electronics/PC Parts repair shop to have them take a look at the components and maybe fix whatever is wrong with the PSU's fan control or other components.

Thank you for your opinions and your support on this matter up to this point!

 

[Assimilator]

That's the most reasonable way to go with it, yes, next time I will have to do some deal hunting to find a C-Tier PSU. It would have saved me all of these issues.
I can't say for certain if the PSU's completely busted as the system is perfectly stable and functioning fine through gaming and stress tests today, just with a lot more fan noise.

Also, just as a new thought I just got as I was taking a walk outside, though I think this would be a stupid "fix", but please give me your opinions on it:

Right now I have at hand one 120mm Rosewill fan which uses a 3-pin/MOLEX connector (has both of them, but the MOLEX one is just for daisy chaining them, model picture below), how stupid would it be to switch my PSU's current 2-pin RGB fan and put this 3-pin/MOLEX fan in its place, and power it through one of my motherboard headers, or the PSU's external MOLEX cables?

View attachment 273063

I know this isn't so much of a fix for the situation, but more so a silly and janky workaround since I can't have it RMA'd and I don't have the expertise to tinker with it directly, believe you me, I feel just as sketched out by doing PSU related stuff as you are, but I have very limited choices at the moment. I'd just be using a different fan that isn't controlled directly by the PSU, but it sounds like a doable workaround to avoid the noise levels without leaving the PSU without proper ventilation, all I would need to do is to remember to plug in either the 3-pin cable to one of the motherboard's many SYS_FAN headers, or the MOLEX 4-pin header to one of the PSU's MOLEX cables to provide power for the inner PSU's fan.

My only other idea/option for repair is to take it to an electronics/PC Parts repair shop to have them take a look at the components and maybe fix whatever is wrong with the PSU's fan control or other components.

Thank you for your opinions and your support on this matter up to this point!

Let me make this clear: by continuing to use this PSU you are likely putting all of your PC's components at risk. If this already-damaged PSU fails completely, because it is a low-tier unit it is liable to do so catastrophically. It could be a fire, or a power surge to the motherboard, or something else entirely. This is one of the many risks you take when using a low-tier unit.

The increased fan speed is a symptom, not a cause. Something inside your PSU has been damaged due to the power surge and as a result the unit is either detecting higher temperatures, or more likely the protection IC has detected something's not entirely right and has dropped into a safe mode whereby it runs the fan at maximum speed in the vain hope that doing so will prevent the unit from eventually failing.

You are welcome to take it to an electronics shop but unless there is something very obviously wrong with the unit like a blown MOSFET, there is little chance for them to diagnose the fault unless they are familiar with switching-mode power supply design. Further, even if they can diagnose the fault, will they be able to source replacement components? How long will those replacements be good for? Are there other components that have been damaged but not obviously, that will cause problems down the line?

It's your PC, and as such you're welcome to gamble with its health. But if you think replacing the PSU is expensive, wait until you have to replace the PSU and every other component too because your low-tier PSU decided to take everything with it in death. I do hope you have backups of your data!

 

[Wolf Lady Louise]

Let me make this clear: by continuing to use this PSU you are likely putting all of your PC's components at risk. If this already-damaged PSU fails completely, because it is a low-tier unit it is liable to do so catastrophically. It could be a fire, or a power surge to the motherboard, or something else entirely. This is one of the many risks you take when using a low-tier unit.

The increased fan speed is a symptom, not a cause. Something inside your PSU has been damaged due to the power surge and as a result the unit is either detecting higher temperatures, or more likely the protection IC has detected something's not entirely right and has dropped into a safe mode whereby it runs the fan at maximum speed in the vain hope that doing so will prevent the unit from eventually failing.

You are welcome to take it to an electronics shop but unless there is something very obviously wrong with the unit like a blown MOSFET, there is little chance for them to diagnose the fault unless they are familiar with switching-mode power supply design. Further, even if they can diagnose the fault, will they be able to source replacement components? How long will those replacements be good for? Are there other components that have been damaged but not obviously, that will cause problems down the line?

It's your PC, and as such you're welcome to gamble with its health. But if you think replacing the PSU is expensive, wait until you have to replace the PSU and every other component too because your low-tier PSU decided to take everything with it in death. I do hope you have backups of your data!

You are very right about this, yes... Replacing the PSU right now is going to be difficult, but I can't possibly replace my whole computer in the case the PSU fails and takes out everything with it, it took me years to find the parts and the savings to build this PC after all.

Thank you for voicing your concerns on this matter, I had not considered all of those details properly as I was really hoping I could find a way to repair it, but it's as I've always preached to my friends, you don't fix a PSU, you just go ahead and replace it, it's not worth the risk at all. I'll look into some offers for a replacement 600W unit from EVGA most likely as those tend to go for around 70USD over here, as for this current PSU I will probably just put it in its box and consider having it looked at before putting it on sale at a reduced cost/sold for parts (since I can't really take it to, say, a PC part recycling place, those don't really exist here at Venezuela), and recovering some of the money spent on a new PSU would help greatly.

Thanks again! Let's hope I can find a good deal.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Carefully opened the PSU to check its inner components

Never advisable. It is important to remind folks that anything that plugs into the wall can kill! And while "in theory" any deadly voltages are "supposed" to quickly decay to safe levels when completely powered off (with master power switch or unplugging from wall), we are talking about a potentially faulty PSU. So all "supposed tos" are thrown out the window.

That said, because PSUs are specifically designed with no "user serviceable parts" inside, opening the case of a PSU typically voids the warranty.

I agree with previous advice and you should get a new PSU. You can always use this one as test PSU to check for RGB lighting, spinning fans and hard drive motors.

 

[Shrek]

I agree, those primary capacitors can hold a lethal charge.

Teen electrocuted while working on unplugged computer - CNET

 

[Chrispy_]

Only open the PSU if you have experience soldering electronics with potentially lethal charge stored in capacitors.
Only replace the fan with a DC-12v 2-pin fan connected to the PSU's internal header/solder points.

Chances are good that that last power surge either killed some of the redundancy in the PSU and it's now getting hot enough that the fan NEEDS to run that fast to avoid triggering thermal shut-off (assuming it even has thermal shut-off), or else the thermal sensor/fan-controller is fried and no longer works. Neither option bodes well, and replacing the fan may not even solve the problem.

As for the other warnings, I don't need to say anything else because others have already said them.

 

[Tech_fanatic]

It's never a good idea to repair a psu by oneself. What if the psu fan controller is itself damaged then even replacing the fan won't help you. Even if the fan controller is working then you need to make sure that the fan you are replacing it with has almost the same rating as the original one.
Also your psu is a lower tier one as @Assimilator pointed out so you are better off going with a higher tier psu that offers 8 plus years warranty.

 

[Chrispy_]

Ignoring the risks of servicing your own PSU, the problem with changing the fan is that you don't know WHY the fan is running at full speed.

Changing the fan only helps if you know for certain that the fan had its own thermal sensor and also that the thermal sensor of that fan is the only thing that is faulty. The chances of both those conditions being true are extremely low.

More likely, the fan is spinning at 100% because there is damaged fan control circuitry on the main component board. There aren't a lot of ICs on the board of a cheap PSU but they're all likely running off the same low-voltage, low-current rail. What that means is that whatever power surge fried the fan control IC, probably fried all the other ICs - and a lot of them are internal monitoring ICs for operating safety; OCP cutoffs, voltage/current/ripple regulation, component protection etc...

I am only guessing so don't take what I'm saying as expert advice - you'd need a PSU expert like @crmaris to chime in - but I'm going to make the assumption that one and only one damaged IC after a surge is extremely unlikely. What's more likely is that your PSU is now operating solely as a fully-analogue AC-DC transformer with no functioning safeties or ability to dynamically react to changes in loads or voltage drift. You may already be slowly damaging the hardware in your PC with out-of-spec rails and if you value the data on your hard drive, your motherboard or your graphics card - perhaps it's time to stop using the PC until you can get a suitable replacement.

 

[GerKNG]

i would not risk my life because of a 40 dollar PSU.
buy a new one (and a good one).

 

[Udyr]

This is what your PSU will do when it goes out.

As others pointed out, change it as soon as your money allows. Don't risk the rest of your build.

 

[Wolf Lady Louise]

Thank you all for voicing your concerns on this matter, I am convinced that this PSU must now leave my system, I was inclined towards repairing it since it cost me $70USD when I bought it a year ago (Venezuela has very low variety when it comes to quality components, and those are often overpriced, I was desperate at the time lol).

I am on the hunt for a new Power Supply now, currently looking at possible offers for something like an EVGA 600W BQ with Bronze certification for around $70 too.
There are some offers in that range, but they are usually used PSUs, or new PSUs without any warranty available for them.

The no warranty part is annoying, but then again no PSU comes with a warranty in this country due to most people being resellers and/or carrying older/unbranded equipment, but I suppose it's better to run a new PSU from a trustworthy company like EVGA and Corsair even if it has no warranty, over a no name brand unit, a damaged AZZA PSU unit like the one I have now, or a used unit.

As a minor update, I don't know if I'm being paranoid, but today I've been feeling some very, very small hitches in performance while using my PC, nothing too serious, nothing like huge freezes or bluescreens, but I can definitely tell that every once every few hours, there's a small hitch that lasts for like half a second where the PC freezes and then resumes operation, again, don't know if I'm being paranoid, but it's best to be safe than sorry. I was doing a different installation at the time, but maybe this is an indication that the PSU could be having more issues than I thought.