Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Did you have a bad Day One "Out-of-Box" Experience? Ask about it here then later report back with your final resolution.
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rick.monroe

Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Post by rick.monroe »

Hello from the Seattle area. My S1 made it all the way out here from Chris Coffee intact. Even the pressure gauge was in place.

However, when I first turned it on, I was surprised to hear a distant air-raid siren. Surprised enough that I shut it off and did a search on this site. And was surprised to make a hit searching for air-raid.
So I've got a noisy fan in April 2009.

What is the consensus on the cause and the fix?

For fixes, one person bought a Pabst fan, another advises making stand-offs in the form of longer bolts and extra nuts, another person just used a rubber or foam gasket, I think.

And what is the actual cause? Is it a cheap fan with whining bearings or the way the fan is attached to the chassis?

Thanks.
JohnB

Re: Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Post by JohnB »

I believe those were the old "fixes" before the factory changed the mounts. Call CC & see what they have to say about it.
bgour
Macchiato
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:56 am
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia

Re: Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Post by bgour »

The cause of the siren-sound is proximity to the round chassis holes. The cheap fan doesn't help, but it's the airflow through these holes that makes and/or accentuates the noise.

With skepticism I modded mine with a rubber spacer and it was very effective. I can still hear the fan but it's very quiet - much less than the original droning.
Vivaldi S1 V1, timer
Mazzer Mini
JohnB

Re: Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Post by JohnB »

bgour wrote:The cause of the siren-sound is proximity to the round chassis holes. The cheap fan doesn't help, but it's the airflow through these holes that makes and/or accentuates the noise.
.
If that's the case then why aren't we all seeing this issue? There have been zero fan noise complaints from S1V2 owners until just recently so something must have changed.
Endo

Re: Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Post by Endo »

I know nothing more than what I read about this noise issue (my machine sounds fine). But I have experieinced my share of fan noise on overclocked computers I've built. In this case it has almost always been rubbing of the fan against the outer shroud. But, this doesn't sound like the case here.

It sounds more like a case of acoustic resonance. This would explain why only some machines have it. If you are unlucky enough, you will have a system where the natural frequency of the fan matches the forced aerodynamic excitation coming from the flow through the holes.

Getting rid of this might be as simple as shifting the fan up or slightly to the side to line up with different inlet holes (changing the excitation) or adding a damper to the fan (changing the natural frequency).
rick.monroe

Re: Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Post by rick.monroe »

Thanks for your replies. Here is what CC said:
The fan should make a little bit of noise, but it should not be too loud. It may have shifted a little bit in shipping. I would first check to see if it has loosened up or shifted and I would also make sure it is not upside down. The writing and wiring should be on top. If everything seems good and it is still noisy then let me know and I will get a replacement sent out to you.


I opened the front (and thanks for people posting where to look). The fan is held down tightly with two bolts on one side (no spacers to make it stand off). The other side has lifted off about 1/32". So my guess is that it was fastened too tightly, warping the frame, and putting stress on the fan shaft or bearings.

I can probably loosen the nuts from underneath, but how do you actually get at the fan if you wanted to replace it? It is pretty close quarters in there. Is it accessible with the side cover removed?
JohnB

Re: Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Post by JohnB »

Looking at the pics on this page it should come out easily from the front once you remove the shield in front of the triacs.
s1v2/S1vsVII.php Worst case scenario you'd have to remove one or both triacs. As far as the correct level of fan noise I have to listen carefully to even tell when mine is running.
rick.monroe

Re: Day 1 - Aside from the air-raid siren, pretty good ...

Post by rick.monroe »

I've posted a follow up to this VII general section under the fan noise topic. But to summarize: I was able to remove only one of the screws holding the fan. But then I tried rotating the fan, now held with only one screw, to a different position. And I got lucky - rotated just a mm or so from its original position, the fan noise has diminished enough that I'm no longer bothered by it - at least for now. If anybody else is looking for a cheap and cheerful fix, it's worth a try.
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