Sp120 high performance pwm rattle/vibration

Okay, I've been having this problem for the past 2 months, and I've done RMA, after RMA, and I'm getting very tired of it. Maybe its time to switch to another SP (non PWM) fan, or anther fan company.

 

Here's the problem. I upgraded to 4 SP120 HP PWM fans for push pull on my H100i when I got my 750D case (2 months ago). These fans give off an annoying rattle at the beginning of every startup, and around ~1300RPM. At first it thought it could have been either the H100i, or the 750D. Today, I finally narrowed it down to the fans. I removed the top two fans, and left the two bottom. Once I booted up, I got the annoying rattle sound. Then I replaced that fan with on of the two I took off the top. I was getting the same result. It seems to be a problem with my fans. I have seriously opened up 3 to 4 RMAs on these fans, and I'm getting the same result. Now there must some build quality issues with these specific fans, as they ALL do the same thing. I'm in the process of RMA'ing them again, and I'm going to give them one more shot. I should mention that all the other AF fans I own, do not have this problem. It seems to me that its only the PWM fans. If the new fans have the same issue, I'm going to ask for a refund, or see if maybe they can switch them to a non PWM SP fan.

 

I really hope others are experiencing this issue so I can have some insight, or troubleshooting solutions.

There has been an issue with mounting position on some of the Static Pressure fans. Try inverting them and see if anything changes.

I have the same problem with SP120 Perf's rattling. Assuming your fans are upside-down and you're pushing air out the top of the case through the H100i radiator, I think it's because the magnets in the fans are trying to pull the blade assemblies upward into the fan-frame while, at the same time, the fans are pushing air up through the radiator, resulting in the blade assemblies being pulled out of the frame. So, you have two opposing forces working against each other, and then you also have gravity increasing the downward force on the blade assembly. I don't think the fans would experience this problem if the fans are blade-up or or their side since gravity seems to be a strong contributing factor, though this probably won't be an option if you have the fans pushing air up and out the top of the case through the radiator.

 

The problem occurs when the fans spin within a certain speed range, usually 1700-1950 RPM in my experience, and this, especially if you're using Corsair Link to control the speeds, is the range at which fans settle into when your computer isn't under load but has been on for a while and has had time to warm up. Below this range, the fans aren't fast enough to pull the blade assembly out of the fan-frame and the magnets keep in all the way is. Above this range, the fans are exerting enough force for the blade assemblies to overcome the magnets and pull themselves as far as possible out of the frame until they are straining against their axles. And inside this range is the horrible sweet spot where the neither force is strong enough to overcome the other, resulting in the fans rattling up-and-down and in-and-out of the frame along the axle.

 

Unfortunately, the ways to overcome this seem to be:

• Have the fans stuck below the rattle-range, but this may make them ineffective as cooling device, especially on a radiator.
  
• Have the fans stuck above the rattle-range, but this will make them permanently loud.
  
• Get new third-party fans, but this doesn't always help because multiple fans together on the same radiator may resonate, which I have found out recently after going through Noiseblocker NB-eloop B12-P's, Gentle Typhoon AP-15's, Noctua NF-F12 iPPC's, and the Corsair SP120 Perf's (see everything I wrote above).
  

 

I've noticed that the stock fans that come with the H100i (SP120L's) don't seem to have their magnets strong enough to pull the blade assembly up into the fan-frame when they are upside-down so they don't rattle as much but they do drone a bit.

 

But this is all just my personal experience

 

 

TL;DR - At 1900 RPM, SP120 Performance edition fans, when used upside-down such as on the underside of a radiator, tend to rattle up and down because their magnets, which pull the blades up, are fighting against the pull of airflow, which pulls the blades down, and neither force is strong enough to win out, causing the blades to bounce up and down in the frame along the fan's axle.

So it definitely has to be just the SP Series. I just installed the fans yesterday (got them back from RMA), and the first thing they did was rattling. I just can't take it anymore, but now I'm stuck with $60 worth of fans. They told me they would test them before sending them, but it's not like it helped because they still rattle. For my next fans, I'm going to stay away from the ASAP Series. After dealing with so many RMA's, I feel bad for it because they really aren't "faulty"... But I didn't know that until a few weeks ago. Looks like I'm going to have to keep them and deal with the rattle.

Same thing here: H100i with 4x SP120 Performance Edition.

 

The bottom fans rattle between 1000-1500rpm and it is very annoying.

And to add insult to injury: the quick shortcut for Quiet mode is within the rattling range :(

Here is an audio of the rattle: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0yDXIqWXqXq - The loud noise is the air moving and the faint noise is the rattle. That's the best I can do with a phone.

What would you advise me to do?

1. RMA - they will send me new fans, which will probably do the same thing
   
2. Return them to Scan.co.uk, but they might refuse to accept them
   

 

I am really annoyed with Corsair: H100i difficult to recognise in Windows 8.1, fans are noisy. At least my AX860i seems to have no problems so far.

Same thing here: H100i with 4x SP120 Performance Edition.

 

The bottom fans rattle between 1000-1500rpm and it is very annoying.

And to add insult to injury: the quick shortcut for Quiet mode is within the rattling range :(

Here is an audio of the rattle: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0yDXIqWXqXq - The loud noise is the air moving and the faint noise is the rattle. That's the best I can do with a phone.

What would you advise me to do?

1. RMA - they will send me new fans, which will probably do the same thing
   
2. Return them to Scan.co.uk, but they might refuse to accept them
   

 

I am really annoyed with Corsair: H100i difficult to recognise in Windows 8.1, fans are noisy. At least my AX860i seems to have no problems so far.

 

The best thing to do it return them. If they don't accept it, ask corsair via support ticket. I asked them what could be another method to try and troubleshoot the issue, and they just asked me if I would like a refund. And that's what I did. Maybe later I will try out the quieter edition fans. Maybe they are better.

The best thing to do it return them. If they don't accept it, ask corsair via support ticket. I asked them what could be another method to try and troubleshoot the issue, and they just asked me if I would like a refund. And that's what I did. Maybe later I will try out the quieter edition fans. Maybe they are better.

 

Did you buy your fans directly from Corsair?

If not are they willing to still offer a refund?

Did you buy your fans directly from Corsair?

If not are they willing to still offer a refund?

i purchased mine from Amazon. Just ask them

It's more likely to do with PWM working by giving on and off bursts of 12v, and varying this to whatever speed it is set at. Some fans will tick or click with this on and off function, with the noise being more or less depending on how much the power is being reduced. I don't believe the 'magnets' are the issue or that RMA after RMA proves the fans are faulty but quite the opposite - it must be something else.

 

I myself am looking at the SP120s, and am trying to find which one would be best suited to the Zalman MFC1 Plus fan controller without clicking/ticking, the PWM vs Standard and QE vs PE. I am not sure if the PWM version doesn't tick or if my fan controller would even cause a tick at all on any of the SP120's.

 

Anyone had any experience of this?

Oh, and once the fans are running all forces, (gravity, magnets, air pressure), should balance no? There is nothing that would cause a fluctuation of forces, (rattling). Hope this helps if you haven't solved/abandoned the problem already.