how to silence toroidal coil making noise

The forum for non-component-related silent pc discussions.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
jean lutrin
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 5:18 pm

how to silence toroidal coil making noise

Post by jean lutrin » Sat Nov 06, 2004 1:46 am

Hi all,

I have a very silent P4 2.4 Ghz (PSU with Panaflo fan,
Zalman cpu cooler with Panaflo fan, GFX card with
DVI output 1600x1200 without fan, etc.).

This thing is *quiet* : I just hear the HD a little bit,
just enough to know what's going on (I love it that way).

However, sometimes, under whatever conditions, there's
a toroid coil (toroidal coil) that starts making some noise
that I can notice when I move the mouse / when I scroll
Windows, etc.).

I'm sure this is where the noise come from : if I put my
finger on the coil and apply some force, the noise simply
stops.

I've read that I could put "termal grease on the coil
to help reduce the noise". However, I've no idea what
thermal grease I should use and how I should do this
(what quantity, where exactly to put it, etc.).

Isn't there any risks that I would prevent the coil from
performing is duty by doing such a thing ?

Also, this coil is very hot, are there any risks of
over-heating it ? (I suppose that thermal grease would
prevent overheating, but where will the heat go ?).

What I would really appreciate is a picture from someone
who successfully silenced a coil that had, in the past, been
sometimes noisy.

Thanks in advance for all the informations,

Jean

sthayashi
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 3214
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 10:06 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Post by sthayashi » Sat Nov 06, 2004 12:29 pm

I've heard of a couple solutions and haven't tried any of them. I'll offer them to you with that warning.

First solution. Get some foam ear plugs. Take on of them, squash it into a thin enough tube and stick it into the hole toroidal coil.

The other solution I've heard is to use hot melt glue on the coil. Give that your coil is warm, I'd try the first solution before attempting the second one.

maxxy
Posts: 22
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2004 2:59 am

Post by maxxy » Sat Nov 06, 2004 1:31 pm

What PSU/Mobo do you have?

I have a HEC 300W PSU and an ASUS A7N8X-X motherboard and there is coil noise from my motherboard when I scroll in windows. It didnt happen before when I had an Enermax 350W.. but the reason I switched out the Enermax was coz it made a real high pitch whine from the PSU because of the Enermax+Radeon 9800 combo... damn crappy things :/

Anyway perhaps I'll be getting an Enermax Noisetaker or a Seasonic Silencer and hopefully that will change things.

jean lutrin
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 5:18 pm

details about my config

Post by jean lutrin » Sun Nov 07, 2004 6:21 am

Hi,

Mobo is an ASUS P4PE with a Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz.

GFX card is an ATI Radeon 7000 (this is a a machine
I only use for development, no games).

I have no idea about the PSU (it was relatively silent, and
I changed the fan for a Panaflo, now I can't hear the
alim).

But I've read indeed that the PSU/Mobo combo had
usually something to do about the "coil buzzing noises" :(

I'm not too sure I'll dare to try something about the
coil itself... I may just go shopping and buy another
alim for this PC (or just momentarly swap with the
alim of one of my other PCs).

Thanks for your infos and I hope you'll fix your noisy
coil too !

Jean (writing this with an irritading "coil buzzing" in
the background on an otherwise silent PC !)

silvervarg
Posts: 1283
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2003 1:35 am
Location: Sweden, Linkoping

Post by silvervarg » Wed Nov 10, 2004 1:51 am

I agree with Sthayashi that earplug of hot glue is the common ways to fix this problem.
Just how hot does the coil get? A good estimate is how many seconds you can hold your finger to the coil.

If it gets very hot (sub 1 second with finger) then you might have some trouble, but if you can hold your finger on it for a while there is no big problem to fix it.
The noise comes from the coil winding moving and rattling against the metal ring inside. The idea is to mechanically dampen this movement.
So the glue should go between the coil winding and the metal ring.
Make sure that any glue that you use is specified to handle high temperature. Preferably a bit over 100C.

jean lutrin
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 5:18 pm

What means earplug of hot glue

Post by jean lutrin » Sun Nov 14, 2004 8:40 pm

Hi there,

thanks a lot for your informations... I would say I can maybe keep
my finger on the noisy for about two to three seconds.

But I'm french speaking and I don't get what
an "earplug of hot glue" means :(

I know what "glue" means, is a "hot glue" a special glue that
resists high temperature !? Or a glue that is applied "hot" ?
(what happens to this glue when I don't use the PC ? It becomes
a "cold glue" ?).

I'm sorry for those questions btw.

What does "earplug of hot glue means" ? Is an earplug an item
I need to apply the "hot glue" or is the form that the glue is
supposed to have once applied ?

Thanks in advance (and any picture of how to apply an "earplug of
hot glue" would be appreciated),

Jean

sthayashi
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 3214
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 10:06 am
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Post by sthayashi » Sun Nov 14, 2004 9:28 pm

Foam earplugs look like this.

Hot melt glue guns look like this.
You put sticks of glue inside and they melt it at a high temperature.

jean lutrin
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2003 5:18 pm

thanks a lot for the infos

Post by jean lutrin » Sun Nov 21, 2004 10:24 am

Hi there,

thanks a lot for the pictures, I feel dumb now :)))

btw, if someone is still reading this thread, are
"foam earplug" resistant to high temperature ?

Is there any concern that they would burn ?

Thanks,

Jean

MikeC
Site Admin
Posts: 12285
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by MikeC » Sun Nov 21, 2004 11:19 am

It does not have to be foam earplus -- it could be anything somewhat resilent. Perhaps some type of soft rubber would be more heat resistant? Maybe even a soft pencil eraser cut to the right size.

mathias
Posts: 2057
Joined: Sun Jul 11, 2004 3:58 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Post by mathias » Sun Nov 21, 2004 11:27 am

MikeC wrote:It does not have to be foam earplus -- it could be anything somewhat resilent. Perhaps some type of soft rubber would be more heat resistant? Maybe even a soft pencil eraser cut to the right size.
How about some kind of cheap thermal adhesive?

Post Reply