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Topic: PSUs : tips, maintenance, cleaning, coil whine (Read 127 times)

legendary
Activity: 1834
Merit: 1131
Thank you very much for all your replies.

How do you put your PSUs? Fans down (normal) or up (reverse)?  Maybe on the side?
I heard that with Compressed Air Dusters, it could pose problems, as it would move the dust in some angle of the PSU?
What about immersion cooling for PSU? anyone tried it?
I place the power supplies vertically. If the PSU is installed horizontally and the fan is at the top, then more dust gets into it. But this depends on the cleanliness of the important room. My mining farms are in the garage.
Why Use Immersion Cooling? Buy good PSUs and don't load them above 90% of their stated load. They will work out their warranty period.
sr. member
Activity: 770
Merit: 268
How do you put your PSUs? Fans down (normal) or up (reverse)?  Maybe on the side?
i think those doesn't really matter if you're running an open case rig (at least most of the time). positioning really matter if you're putting it on a closed case imo. so it will depends on the case that you use.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1247
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From my personal experience I would say this depends on the PSU you buy.I have been mining since early 2016 and I still use the same PSU-s to power up my new rigs now at 2021.They are Corsair 1000 Watt Gold or 1200 Watt Platinum efficiency.I never had a problem with them and until now I never cleaned them,I just kept them running and where I have them as location is a hot place where over 30 degree Celsius is fairly normal for 300 out of 365 days that the year has.Also no coil whine yet after 5 years of running.
legendary
Activity: 3808
Merit: 1723
From what I read about coil whine, its "sometimes" normal and you will just have to live with it. Sometimes you can RMA a PSU and they will send you another one but most of the time they say its normal.

I had many PSUs where I used for both ASICs and GPU mining and I found that the coil whine generally happens on the ASIC but not with regular GPU mining on a computer. Most of the time you never heard it anyways because you got tons and tons of fans. However it can be an issue if you are trying to game at night and the noise drives you nuts if you got an open case.
legendary
Activity: 1834
Merit: 1131
What are your tips for your PSUs to last longer? How do you clean them? All my PSUs have end up coil whining   Embarrassed.

Would you try something like this :

Securing the inductor coils

On the other end of the spectrum we find the most radical option, securing the coils in place. This involves coating the inductor in a non-conductive material like hot glue. Its goal is to prevent the inductor coil from vibrating at all.

Typically this is done with insulating varnish, epoxy or hot glue. As long as the liquid is non-conductive and it dries up after a while, it should be okay. When it works, it basically creates a permanent fix.
You should buy power supplies with a 10 year warranty, for example, Corsair RM series power supplies.
I don't think the inductor is vibrating on the motherboard. Sounds are heard due to poor insulation.
If the sounds don't bother you, then you don't need to do anything.
Voltage stabilizers extend the life of power supplies.
legendary
Activity: 3444
Merit: 1061
because of the noise of my mining area, i can't hear if there is coil whine LOL.

ideally PSUs are most efficient at 50% load and cooler too.

if you live in hotter region of earth supplementing the PSU fan with another 12v fan on top is a good idea.
member
Activity: 70
Merit: 14
What are your tips for your PSUs to last longer? How do you clean them? All my PSUs have end up coil whining   Embarrassed.

Would you try something like this :

Securing the inductor coils

On the other end of the spectrum we find the most radical option, securing the coils in place. This involves coating the inductor in a non-conductive material like hot glue. Its goal is to prevent the inductor coil from vibrating at all.

Typically this is done with insulating varnish, epoxy or hot glue. As long as the liquid is non-conductive and it dries up after a while, it should be okay. When it works, it basically creates a permanent fix.
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