XPS 8950, PSU fan rattling

Always include exact PC model in your posts.

Guess you'll have to keep calling Support until you find somebody who understands that it's your PSU making noise.

And spend another 30 minutes on the phone while they have me run diagnostics on parts that are not malfunctioning?

Is there no way to contact them via email?  I tried the chat system but that's just a bot serving up ready-made answers to questions that I don't have.

It's an XPS 8950, what else do you want to know?

Tech Support has to ask those questions...

You could try @DellCares on Twitter, https://twitter.com/DellCares. And/or post something in the Customer Care forum.

They may still want you to contact Tech Support again, and go through those scripted questions again...

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@SlowSkier505 wrote:

One of the fans in my PSU is making an awful rattling sound. 

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Be absolutely sure it is a fan inside the Power-Supply. Maybe temporarily run it without the side panel installed?

This issue seems to pop-up, every once-in-a-while ... as Dell switches manufacturers of the various Power-Supplies and wattages.

My Aurora-R6 was shipped with one of those bad ones (a Huntkey-made 850w unit). The fan inside had bad/cheap bearings and sounded like a Geiger-Counter when idling. A lot of us got them. Dell sent me a new one and I replaced it myself. I specifically requested and received a Delta-made 850w PS unit (dpn: N1WJD ). It's been fine ever since.

And as a side note, why they build a nice/powerful SMPS, and then think it is a good idea to put a cheap-fan inside it is unknown to me.

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@SlowSkier505 wrote:

 

It's an XPS 8950, what else do you want to know?

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They might have different sizes available, maybe some are modular, etc.

I think he was trying to help you determine the true specs of the one you need, so you can communicate that to Dell, and either get the proper one, or maybe a comparable one (with a different DPN) from a different manufacturer.

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@kras1 wrote:

Tell them to go ahead and send the tech out with the cpu fan. When the tech comes to replace it tell them what is going on and then the tech should be able to get the correct parts ordered.

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Unfortunately, this seems to be what we are going to have to do.

@SlowSkier505   - Hang on a nanosec. Something doesn't add up here....

You said you can see the troublesome fan by looking inside the case, so it probably isn't the PSU fan. The PSU fan is inside the PSU's metal "chassis box", #14 here, and wouldn't be directly visible when looking inside the case.

Sounds -to me- that this really is a bum CPU fan (#20 in that pic) after all...

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@SlowSkier505 wrote:

1. they're sending someone out to fix the CPU fan.  Totally bizarre.

2. And, yes it's definitely the PSU fan.  There are two fans in there, and it's the one on the left as you look at it from the front. 

3. I think my mistake was saying the word "fan" 

4. I mean, frankly, I'd be happy to pay for a new PSU and install it myself if they would just send it to me. 

5. I would just buy one off the shelf if I could.  I just can't seem to get anyone at Dell to understand that a power supply is a thing.

6. In the meantime this rattling is driving me slowly insane.  

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1. We get it. Most of us here have moved-on to next steps.

2. OK, good.

3. Probably. Just say the Power-Supply is noisy.

4. That could be arranged. That's what I was trying to get to. You still never said which wattage one you have and who made it for Dell. We could try to help you get the right one, or maybe a better/different one.

It's almost as if you think we work for Dell and are trying to make excuses for them. We are definitely not that or trying to do that.

5. No, no retail/after-markets. Especially if yours is modular, I would suggest you get another Dell-OEM power-supply. Repair the machine back to stock config.

6. Yeah, we get it. New machine, driving you insane. That is why we are in here (spending our free time) trying to help you.

I still don't think it's the PSU fan (see my post above).

You can't see the PSU fan just by looking into the case. You'd have to crack open the PSU's metal chassis box before you could see the PSU fan.

Yes, the PSU is contained inside a metal "chassis box" as you call it.  If you look at the image that you linked, you will see that inside that "chassis box" there are two fans, plainly visible through the grill in the front of the box, one on the left and one on the right (if the tower were standing up). The one on the left is rattling. 

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4. That could be arranged. That's what I was trying to get to. You still never said which wattage one you have and who made it for Dell. We could try to help you get the right one, or maybe a better/different one.

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I'm not sure how to determine these things.  There's no label or other visible markings on the PSU.

And, no,  I don't think you work for Dell, I just think the argumentation (not by you) about whether or not my PSU fan is actually rattling is unhelpful.

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@SlowSkier505 wrote:

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1. I'm not sure how to determine these things. 

2. There's no label or other visible markings on the PSU.

3. I just think the argumentation (not by you) about whether or not my PSU fan is actually rattling is unhelpful.

 

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1. Well, you can likely get some info. from your Invoice or the Online-Config (in your Dell account).

2. There is a large sticker on the Power-Supply. It might be hidden while installed. Try to get a phone-pic of that.

Once we know some basic facts around the existing one (ie, the wattage, and if it uses "modular cables" or not) ... we can decide which one you need/want to replace it. Within each wattage, there will be several replacements available (each with it's own Dell-Part-Number [DPN]).

3. He means well. He's just trying to help. 

As a, hopefully, final update, I've managed to get someone on the phone who spoke much better English than the first few people I talked to, and they are now sending me a new power supply.

The rep had a pretty good laugh as he was reading through my vain attempts to get his colleagues to understand that the power supply was the problem, not the CPU fan. And, most amusingly, he said (unprompted by me) that the problem stemmed from the fact that I said "fan" when I first started talking to the first tech, and that sent everyone down the wrong troubleshooting path that led ultimately led to the wrong result.

So fingers crossed, and thanks again to everyone who tried to help resolve this communication breakdown.