Defective Freezer 4?

Kaizer · Post by **Kaizer** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:24 am

My Freezer 4 is very quiet when held in the air (and not touching anything) but once mounted, the hsf (at its stock speed of 2300 RPM) makes a very distinctive hum that can be heard several meters away even with the case doors closed. The pitch of the noise was higher than MikeC's recording (obtained for the Freezer 4 review), http://www.silentpcreview.com/article223-page4.html
and it sounds like the operating noise of a top-load washing machine. Furthermore, this hum is omnidirectional as oppose to the directional noise that was mentioned in the review.

I would like to know whether or not the fan of my Freezer 4 is defective or if this is an issue with the S478 mounting mechanism (My Freezer 4 is mounted quite snugly on the motherboard though).

Elixer · Post by **Elixer** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:11 am

I doubt it's defective. Your fan probably just has more vibration than most AC fans. Perhaps AC fans have very large manufactoring tolerances on their fans. As I see it there are 3 things you can do to reduce the noise:

1. Tighten/Loosen motherboard screws to try to reduce the transmitted vibration
2. Soft mount the fan using foam, rubber, silicon, etc.
3. Replace the fan

2 will most likely have the best results.

datapappan · Post by **datapappan** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:49 am

I broke my Freezer 4 fan, don't know how. I had just "soft mounted" it by placing foam between the fan frame and the fins, and also weighing down the frame with rubber slabs. It cut the noise it was making, the noise initially probably coming from vibration amplification via the MB. Luckily i look into the case frequently, and one day I see the fan in an awkward angle - the spindle was no longer attached properly.

The essence of this long story is that the AC fan didn't last long, and even might have suffered from soft mounting - since it's hanging unevenly it might have shaken itself apart because of the soft mount.

Next I fitted an 80 mm fan just hanging in bicycle tubing from the HS, worked well. Nowadays I use it w/o fan, but ducted to my PSUs 120 mm fan inlet, temps are +46 idle, fan at 60%, and +52 C gaming, fan at full speed.

/ datapappan

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 1:26 pm

I had a similar problem with a Freezer 64, although in my case it was closer to a whine than a hum. What I recommend is that you take the side of your case off, lay the case down, and run your computer. Now, touch with your finger/thumb different parts of the Freezer. Chances are you'll discover which part is making the noise.

My Freezer's noise was due to an undamped connection of the fan (on those two skinny struts) to the top fins of the HS radiator. The noise went away completely when I pinched one skinny support close to the radiator. Fix was to put modelling clay on the strut at that point to add mass.

Let us know what's making the noise on your Freezer. If you can't fix it once you know what/where the problem is, chances are somebody here has had the same or similar problem.

Kaizer · Post by **Kaizer** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 10:17 pm

Thank you all for the suggestions.

Elixer, I tried loosening the motherboard screw and it slightly reduced the pitch of the hum. I think the mounting tray of my case is at fault. The tray lacks stiffness /structural support so its flexibility probably aggravated the vibration problem.

Felger Carbon, I tried squeezing the two pylons that held the fan against each other and the action did reduce some vibration. So before my fan controller gets here, I think I'll just tie a string around the two beams to increase the tension. If the fan controller still doesn't tame the fan, I guess I'll go for a fan swap.

When it comes to vibration (or the lack of it), I think my Maglevs spoiled me

.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 9:13 am

[quote="Kaizer"]I tried squeezing the two pylons that held the fan against each other and the action did reduce some vibration. So before my fan controller gets here, I think I'll just tie a string around the two beams to increase the tension.[/quote]

I think it's possible that the tension isn't what reduced the vibration. The mass of your fingers may have done it. A string doesn't have much mass, so if string doesn't work, I still recommend modeling clay.