HX650 PSU fan spins up and down constantly even at idle. Fan makes squeaking noise.

My HX650 PSU fan spins up and down about 10 seconds each (about 20 seconds total and then it does it again endlessly) while my computer is at I assume relatively low temps and low power load.

According to Open Hardware Monitor my "Auxiliary" temp was around 37.5 C after rebooting and idling with nothing else open, and with a browser open and a video playing it's at about 40 C.

The sound of the PSU fan persists at both temperatures.

The fan makes a squeaking sound as well while it revs up and down, it sounds to me like it probably needs some lubricant in the bearings, and it may be that if the fan has always been spinning up and down like this, that it wore out faster because of it.

I'm not sure if there's possibly some dust buildup on a specific part of the PSU such as a temperature sensor that needs cleaning that could be causing this sort of spin up/spin down behavior.

Perhaps it's always been faulty and I just never noticed it until recently, or it only recently became an issue that didn't previously exist.

I'm not sure when the fan started making this noise, but it became a lot more annoying after I turned on the Q-fan features of my mobo to make my PC quieter.

I tried turning the Q-fan features off again and the sound of the PSU fan is still noticeable even with the other fans running at a higher speed to attempt to drown it out.

Originally I was worried that sound was my HDD dying or something, but I confirmed it was the PSU making the noise by looking inside with the PC running, the noise is what got me to try turning down the fan RPMs with the Q-fan feature of my mobo.

This PSU iirc is around 4 years old now with about 3 years left on the warranty I believe. It's now the noisiest fan in my PC at idle.

On the bright side, finally using the Q-fan feature of my motherboard has made my PC overall a lot quieter, which is a nice unexpected blessing that came from this issue.

"The fan makes a squeaking sound as well while it revs up and down...."

Not just while revving up and down, it stays at the same rpm for a bit after revving up, but continues to squeak at that consistent rpm, it basically squeaks the whole time it's spinning.

And just as it starts to spin, it makes a few clicking noises, almost groaning sounds, as if it's struggling a bit to get going from the stopped state.

The sound of that initial clicking varies in volume, sometimes being quite loud, and it's part of what made me wonder if it was my HDD at first.

Tried singing up but I get this each time I try on both Firefox and Chrome:

"AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED. PLEASE CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH THE FOLLOWING ERROR CODES:

001"

Okay seemed to work this time without the previous error showing up.

It did say I couldn't use the login name I used for this forum account, not sure if it's because someone else used it for the support site already or if it's because I used it for the forum and it checks for that.

Maybe it even got put into the server's taken username database when I got that error and I couldn't use it after that? I'm guessing it's just a security measure that we can't use the same login for both accounts.

For reference my ticket is #761410.

My ticket changed like this:

(Submitted: 2018-08-16 00:30)

(Approved: 2018-08-16 00:31)

(Arrived: 2018-08-16 01:05)

(Processing: 2018-08-27 15:07)

You'll notice it changed to "Arrived" on the same day I gave them the receipt, this is an error I believe? Unless "Arrived" isn't meant to indicate when the parcel arrived at their facility. I gave the parcel to Canada Post on the 20th and it arrived on the 27th, which is when it went into processing at 3:07 PM.

It's been 5 days since my unit arrived, last Monday, although I'm not certain if I should count the first day since they might not get to it right away if they stop working at 5 PM. This is my first RMA so I'm not sure exactly what to expect but I've done a good amount of reading, searching and asked a good amount of questions during this process, to try to ensure everything went as smoothly as it could.

Also in case it became an issue during processing, I was given permission by technical support and confirmed it was acceptable again with costumer service (on the ticket, I haven't phoned or anything else) before I shipped the PSU, that it was okay to keep the power cable to use with my spare power supply, because I wasn't sure if I still had the old one. It had been about 4 years since I last used the old PSU's cable and I might end up not having a working computer while I wait for the new unit, if I couldn't find the cable. I sent back every other cable and accessory in the original box.

I was searching for past discussion on the forums yesterday about how long it takes for processing to happen, and noticed that while it was stated it should take 3-5 days, a number of people in the last year had it taking weeks and even a month or more I think before they left a comment about it on the forum. At which point, it was discovered that it had basically been forgotten and was put back into motion and resolved not long after that I assume (no further comment was left by the customers about how long it took for the replacement to leave Corsair's facility, or about if it was resolved, in some cases, from what I recall, but I assume they would have complained if it wasn't resolved). I just want to make sure things are still moving on Corsair's end, since it seems entirely possible if I don't say something it could happen with my ticket too.

One other thing, is it standard policy when shipping replacement units back to customers during an RMA, to cover the taxes/duties so that the customer doesn't have to pay anything else upon its arrival? From what I've read there shouldn't be any additional cost to the customer when doing an RMA with any company, besides the cost of boxing it properly and having it shipped to the manufacturer, but I've read stories online about couriers charging extra upon its arrival (I assume the manufacturer failed to pay the additional fees/mark it as an RMA, or something along those lines). After paying about $20 CAD for having it boxed and protected with packing peanuts, I've more incentive to save boxes and void filler material in the future (although I'm not sure how often I'll need to RMA products during my life, probably rarely). It would have stung a little less if I already had the box/filler material at home and just had to pay the roughly $50 CAD for shipping to the facility in California from British Columbia.

So I guess some final thoughts, if the PSU arriving at 3:07 PM last Monday means I should not count that day for the Processing period (since they'd have less than 2 hours to do anything with it, if they did anything with it that day besides store it somewhere for later), is it likely to be shipped next Monday then, assuming Processing is generally a 3-5 business day period? Is it a good idea that I brought it up here to make sure it wasn't forgotten about? Should I call up customer service, and if so, is there a number that's free if calling from within Canada?

I know I write a lot, both here and on the ticket, but I wanted to make sure I left as little room for things to go wrong as possible, and learn as much as I could about the process, within reason.

Thank you.

Oh I thought I'd bring this up here too in addition to my last post, I was asked if a certain model would be acceptable on the 18th, and I gave them my consent. Then they asked almost the exact same copy/pasted question again on the 28th, I gave my consent again within an hour. I found a post or two while searching yesterday indicating that when this question was asked, if a reply was not given, the process halted right there.

I hope that them not seeing me giving my consent less than an hour after they asked on the 18th didn't create additional delays. I'd assume if they saw it they'd have recorded it for later.

Would there be any reason they'd have to ask again besides not seeing my consent the first time? I could see maybe asking it again if they were offering a different model the 2nd time, but it was the same model as the 1st time they asked. Maybe they asked again because it was drawing close to the end of the process? I should probably assume they didn't see my answer the first time, it was my first reply to the customer service representative (instead of the two technical support people), when they got involved after I managed to get the required receipt uploaded.

Still no update, been 7 business days since my ticket went into the processing stage. Is this normal? As said previously when I left my previous two posts on the 31st of August, when I did a search on the forums, I believe it was an employee who said once or twice that processing should take 3-5 business days.

I believe on multiple occasions people's RMA's got stuck at the processing stage seemingly indefinitely, in that it had been somehow forgotten and had to be brought to the attention of an employee seeing their dilemma at this forum before it could get going again, and finally be sent to them in at least one case a month or two after the RMA had gone into the processing stage, which seems unreasonable for the customer to say the least.

So I got done chatting with Customer Support a bit ago, I'm a little confused about the Processing phase now. They said here it should take 3-5 business days, but it's been 10 business days since the ticket went into the "Processing" phase from what I can see.

I'm guessing why it's taken this long is it took them a while to figure out if the unit I sent in was faulty. When they confirmed it, they then booked the replacement at some point after, and then it's another 3-5 business days after that to ship it out, and then the transit time before it arrives at my home. So if they ship it Tuesday (would that be considered the 5th or 4th day since they booked it?), it will have been 12 business days since the ticket went into the "Processing" phase.

So am I right to assume the stated 3-5 business days is not indicative of the ticket entering the "Processing" phase, since in reality it took 8 days for them to book the replacement (something they did not update me with knowledge of on the ticket, I'd to ask on the live chat to know this), and another 3-5 business days seemingly to then ship it? When this started I assumed as soon as the ticket said it was in the "Processing" phase, that's when the 3-5 business days started. Again RMA's are new to me, and I feel like there's some contradictory information I've been presented with.

Here's a copy of my live discussion with Customer Support today with names removed.

"Hi, my name is (Their Name) CS. How may I help you?

CS: hi (My Name)

Me: Hello.

Me: Can you see what I wrote in the subject line?

CS: We apologize for the inconvenience let me check the ticket here thank you

Me: Thank you.

CS: thanks for waiting i check the ticket and they already booked the replacement, processing time will take 3-5 business days for shipping plus transit we will provide you the tracking number once available, thank you

CS: Is there anything else i can assist you?

Me: Oh.. it's been 11 days since processing started.

Me: This is the 10th business day.

CS: they booked it last 09/05/2018

Me: Okay.

CS: i will go ahead and send a follow up email to the shipping team if they already shave the tracking number

CS: thank you

Me: So it should be shipped by next Tuesday latest?

CS: possibly ill go ahead and wait for a reply from the shipping team

CS: i'll update you with the tracking number

Me: Okay, so I check the ticket later for your reply? We're done here?

CS: yes ill send you an email through the ticket

CS: Thank you for contacting Corsair, have a nice day!

Me: Thank you, you too.

'My Name' disconnected ('Concluded by Agent')."

Okay so I just got a tracking number reply from the ticket.. looks like it's already in transit as of the 5th. Is that what they meant by "booked", it was already shipped? I thought that might mean that they had determined the replacement was warranted and would wait another 3-5 days to ship. The 5th would have been the 8th business day after the ticket went into the "Processing" phase. Looks like it is expected to arrive on Monday.

The path it's taking is kinda odd looking, USA, to Ontario, to LA, to Kentucky? I guess a lot of things are being shipped and brought all over the place along with my parcel, it's probably just the path they chose to get everything where it needs to be in the most efficient way they could come up with. Clearly I'm new to all of this.

Louisville, KY, United States 09/07/2018 13:07 Arrival Scan

Los Angeles, CA, United States 09/07/2018 6:16 Departure Scan

09/07/2018 3:23 Arrival Scan

Ontario, CA, United States 09/07/2018 2:38 Departure Scan

Ontario, CA, United States 09/06/2018 19:22 Origin Scan

United States 09/05/2018 17:09 Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Oh right, still it's going from LA to Kentucky and then back to the West Coast of Canada. I assume it was just the most convenient path for the distribution of all the goods combined on the planes they're using but it still seems a bit odd being new to seeing something like that. That's originally what struck me as odd (from West Coast, to Kentucky, to West Coast), then I added in the Ontario part after, clearly without noticing the USA part next to it.

Either way, happy to know the unit should be arriving soon. Also before I wrote that post you replied to yesterday I didn't get a lot of sleep, after being up for 24+ hours, probably part of why I didn't notice the Ontario/USA thing. :biggrin:

I still have other questions about the actual Corsair process and information discrepancies (or perhaps misunderstandings on my part), which is a lot more important to me. From what reading I've done it seems like from the experiences of a variety of customers in the past, people have also experienced a total lack of communication at some point once "Processing" started, but sometimes the package actually ends up getting to them without a weeks/months long halt in the process before they get into contact with someone who restarts the process (their ticket seemingly was permanently forgotten about, which was my worry). I had a period of no communication after multiple requests, but it seems the process was still proceeding in the background.

If the "Processing" phase is supposed to take 3-5 days, I'd like a breakdown if possible, of what happened with my PSU once it arrived at the facility on the 27th. That would be 8 business days between arrival and it being shipped, and 10 business days before I found out anything had happened, and only because I decided to talk to customer support on the live chat.

Once I had my chat it still sounded like the unit was waiting to be shipped, and that they'd get the tracking number to me once that happened, but it was actually already shipped on the 5th. Does that mean that the status of the ticket doesn't change from "Processing" to "Shipped" until after it arrives at my home? And as pointed out in an earlier post, the ticket changed to the "Arrived" phase right after they got my receipt.

I'd assumed the ticket would have been updated with information once the unit had started the shipping process, I requested information on if there had been any progress after the unit arrived at the facility, when I'd shipped it to them, with multiple days between requests, and didn't get anything until the live chat I decided to start yesterday.

I tend to naturally write a good amount when I'm interested in something, I hope that's not been a problem. I haven't been angry or anything at any point when writing, just concerned about the replacement PSU not arriving for a long time (if ever, based on the accounts of some other customers I found in the past year or so on this very forum when doing a search), and wanting to know more about the process, since like I've mentioned on multiple occasions I believe, both here and on the ticket, this is my first RMA for any product for the entire time I've been alive. Even if I don't get all the answers I'm looking for, any future RMA's should be considerably smoother with the knowledge I've already gained, largely through my own research rather than any answers given to me, if I ever have to RMA a product again.

One last question. I was given the impression by a family member and several places I've read on the internet, that RMA's should not involve having to pay additional duty or taxes (or whatever form of fee might be involved) upon the arrival of a replacement (even if shipped internationally), and yet some people have been met with such fees upon the courier attempting to deliver the unit to their home. Is it standard that for any RMA, with any company, the manufacturer/retailer involved in the RMA process should ensure that the customer will not have to pay any additional fees for the delivery of their replacement?

Thank you. <3