Ticking sound PSU when PC turned off HP Victus 15L

[Victus15LUser]

Hi all,

My PC is pretty much brand new, and a few weeks after purchase I noticed a very faint ticking noise coming from the PSU when the PC is turned off, but with the power cable plugged in. The ticking noise is reminiscent of an electrical arc / short circuit noise. I found this short youtube video of someone having an identical kind of sound, only mine is less loud. Psu making clicking noises but PC is turned off… please help (youtube.com)

Now everywhere I look on internet, the consensus is the same. A ticking noise in the PSU means the PSU needs to be replaced (asap). But the thing is, I have already had the PSU replaced last week by HP, and now I notice that the new PSU is also making such a very faint ticking noise. 

So assuming they actually put in a new PSU (I think they did, the ticking noise seems slightly different on this one), I guess there's only 2 possibilities. Either I got unlucky twice, or all / many of these HP PSUs make such a soft ticking noise when the PC is off.

Btw, it might also make the sound when the PC is turned on, but I wouldn't know because the sound is so soft that I wouldn't be able to hear it with the PC turned on due to fan noise. I also tried to use a different power cable on the PC and the noise is the same, so it's also not a power cable issue.

So what do you think? Am I just being paranoid and listening too closely for noises, or do I have yet another bad PSU in my PC? 

[Bill_To]

Hi @Victus15LUser 

Welcome to the HP Forum.

The power supply should not make a ticking noise when the PC is off. A platter HDD would make a ticking noise when active or a fan could make a ticking noise if the fan: is hitting the fan housing or the fan bearings are failing.

Try disconnecting the PC from AC power. Depress and hold down the power button a couple of times to drain residual power from the MB.

Reconnect AC power. Check for a ticking noise before you start the PC. Then start the PC and use it for a while. Shutdown.

Check for a ticking noise again.

Regards

[Victus15LUser]

Hi @Bill_To

Thanks for your reply.

Ticking noise is present in both cases.

The noise seems to vary in volume and frequency a bit. Sometimes a bit louder, sometimes a bit softer, sometimes a bit faster, sometimes a bit slower. But I haven't been able to pinpoint it to a specific variable. The previous PSU the ticking was more constant both in volume and frequency.

But in all cases it's very soft, definitely softer than the previous PSU I had (the original in the PC). I can only hear it in a quiet room with my ear directly next to the PSU. That's why I'm wondering if I'm perhaps looking into it too much. I can imagine the sound would have gone unnoticed in 99% of users. I also think if I were to send it in to HP and a technician would listen to it in a noisy workshop, they would probably conclude they can't identify any issues because the ticking is too soft to hear when there's other ambient sounds/noises.

But the perfectionist in me is wondering why it's ticking at all, no matter how faint...

[Bill_To]

Hi @Victus15LUser 

My pleasure.

It is a very unusual problem. I am sure a HP Tech would probably not detect the sound as you suggested.

 I  would see how things go unless the ticking sound is annoying.

I don't think HP offers any diagnostics tests for this type of power supply problem since the HP power supply does not directly communicate with the MB other than providing power to the system.

Regards