Seasonic X650 - How to tell if fan is running?

[tima]

My Seasonic X650 is mounted in the lower chamber of my P182 with the fan at the bottom. Is there any non-auditory way to tell if the fan is running, preferably with the case closed? I really wish there was an RPM wire I could hook up to my mobo, like the PSU that came with my 3700BQE had. I do have a Slipstream running at 500 RPM in the middle position in the lower chamber, and I can feel a temperature difference when I unplug the external Fanmate 2 that controls it, and my hand is close to but not touching the PSU grill. I can't really feel a breeze, but the air gets cooler when I unplug it. I figure if the Seasonic fan was running, that wouldn't happen. Is there a better way? Mirror and flashlight aren't working.

[MikeC]

You know that it is not supposed to run at lower loads, right? There are notices all over the PSU package about this -- and in every review, including mine.

Subject to the hot conditions of SPCR's testing box, the fan in our samples came on at 150~200W load. In a cooler environment (like the isolated chamber of a P180), the fan will not come on till much higher load -- over 300W in our samples. It is possible that your X650 fan never turns on.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article986-page5.html

About the only way you could tell when the fan starts running is to position a thin piece of plastic -- like a small wire tie -- into the fan blades so that it will make a clicking sound when the fan starts.

EDIT: btw, you're probably better off with the fan facing up. If the fan never turns on, then some of the heat that the PSU does generate will rise up & out through the fan blades.

[mkk]

With the PSU fan ramaining mostly inert in but the most powerful systems, a fan in the lower chamber will push some warm air into the PSU. Since the fan still does not appear to run very often, the air is not warm enough to make the PSU sensors think it's hot enough to warrant running the fan. I have a similar setup with a wee bit of overpressure in a new case that is also smaller than the one I used to have. The PSU metal can now get lukewarm, but the fan remains off for the most part and never makes a discernable sound. When I rebuilt my system a few weeks ago I looked into the PSU with a flashlight and saw very little dust in there in spite of six months of operation.

A small piece of paper taped up so that it just goes into the PSU fan would make for a safe sound source to verify when the fan is running. For curiositys sake. When the PSU was new I verified that the fan sometimes started up for a brief moment before going to sleep again, using this method. But you needn't worry about it. The X-650 is simply this good.

[MikeC]

Ah -- another way to determine if the fan is running: tape a very thin light strip of paper on the exhaust vent of the PSU so it flutters a bit if there is any airflow. This you can see, not just rely on hearing.

[tima]

You know that it is not supposed to run at lower loads, right? There are notices all over the PSU package about this -- and in every review, including mine.

Yes, thanks. The point of telling if the fan is running is to know whether it is a potential noise source when evaluating system noise. The ultimate silent PC would definitely include fan status and kill switches for every fan. I originally installed two FanMate 2's externally to control fan speed, but I later came to appreciate their value as (temporary) kill switches.

EDIT: btw, you're probably better off with the fan facing up. If the fan never turns on, then some of the heat that the PSU does generate will rise up & out through the fan blades.

I don't know if the thicker cables will make the turn in front of the lower chamber fan. At the least, I liked having them out of the way, which they are with the fan facing down. I might need an extension for the 24-pin cable, too. (Already using one for the 8-pin cable.) Will give that a look the next time I open it up. BTW, the best thing that ever happened to the fan bracket was accidentally breaking off the wide lip!

[tima]

I'll try the paper strip. I already tried dangling a Kleenex, but that didn't seem to work. It's quite possible that only the 500 RPM Slipstream was running at the time though.