Antec P180 rear exhaust fan making clicking noise

[Nocturnal]

This case is not even a year old and my P180 exhaust fan is making an annoying clicking noise as it spins. Is this a sign of a failing fan? I can only stop it from making that noise by stopping the fan entirely. Even changing the speed from high to low to medium does not affect the noise.

I have had several Antec fans and none have died this quickly on me. Is this something I may be doing? I tried to blow out any dust that may have caked up and there was just a tiny bit. Thanks in advance.

 

[Talcite]

That depends. The clicking noise can be caused by PWM, or it could be a sign of the fan failing. Where is the fan connected to?

If you've had it for so little time, why not RMA it? You won't even need to send it back. Probably just a photocopy of the receipt.

 

[Nocturnal]

What is PWM?

 

[NYHoustonman]

You could also try lubricating the fan, although I forget what kind of oil you're supposed to use (just that it's not supposed to be WD40). There's a couple writeups about this on google.

 

[Talcite]

Pulse width modulation. Here's the wiki.

The clicking can be caused because the square wave caused by pwm cuts off before the motor's cycle is finished, thereby causing a click. To counter this, some people use modified fans that have different cycles, or you could just plug it into the 4 pin molex directly to the PSU. If you are really adventurous, you could solder a cap onto the plug so that the square wave is turned into smooth dc current. There are also ways to convert the square wave into a modified sine wave. That's might help, but the best way is just to connect to the molex.

You can tell if it's pwm by looking at the plug. If it is plugged into the mobo with a 4 pin connector or into a fan controller with 4 pins, then it is pwm. I think this is not a pwm fan though, I can't remember properly. Your case could also be a different revision from mine.

I'd be cautious about lubricating the fan. Not all fans are designed to be lubricated. Check to see whether your fan is a sleeve fan or a ball bearing fan, or a fluid dynamic bearing fan. I have the P180 as well, and if memory serves me right, it should be ball bearing. I'm really not sure though. Since it's under warranty, my advice is to RMA it.

 

[Zepper]

One doesn't expect the OEM fans that come with a case to last long. Antec is a past master at cutting corners...

.bh.

 

[aigomorla]

i noticed this problem with OEM fans that came with the LL. What you need to do is give it more voltage. If you down volted with some mod, you need to take it off and give it its full 12V (meaning take it off its fan controler or down volt wire). Anyhow theres a switch that controls the fan speed if its too loud.


I hope this helps