Noise Killer, whats this? ATX

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Hi all, been running my sub from a car amp using an old ATX PSU. Damn thing smoked, I needed to hide the hideous box and proceded in extending the wires and somehow got a short. So out came my other spare. It says its got a Noise Killer, is it something to do with a Choke(?) mounted on the case, and how does it work, please? Will it perform well?
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Cheers

iUSERTLO72p🙂
 
Hi, Thanks

So, Does Power Factor Correction have nothing to do with making it quiet as in noisy fan? On my previous supply, I had a noisy fan, I tried to reduce the voltage, 7 volt mod etc, but when my sub hit low, the fan stalled and made a noise when it recovered. I had to switch it off, then on again. Running the fan properly worked fine, but on silent passages, became annoying, hence why I wanted to move the hideous looking thing. Not only is the case ugly, but its noisy too. Maybe a Scotch/Scouring pad might damp the noise????

Cheers

iUSERTLO72p🙂
 
Re: Hi, Thanks

iUSERTLO72p said:
So, Does Power Factor Correction have nothing to do with making it quiet as in noisy fan? On my previous supply, I had a noisy fan, I tried to reduce the voltage, 7 volt mod etc, but when my sub hit low, the fan stalled and made a noise when it recovered. I had to switch it off, then on again. Running the fan properly worked fine, but on silent passages, became annoying, hence why I wanted to move the hideous looking thing. Not only is the case ugly, but its noisy too. Maybe a Scotch/Scouring pad might damp the noise????

Cheers

iUSERTLO72p🙂

Nope, nothing at all. Switching power supplies are a difficult load on the AC mains, and the large PFC choke suppresses some of the undesirable effects from making it back onto the AC mains. It's mostly a consideration for energy efficiency and the health of the power grid. As a consumer it doesn't really make any difference.

I would suggest that if you want a silent supply for your sub amp that you just shell out for a purpose-built one. An ATX supply that's designed with a fan will surely overheat driving such a load without any cooling. Sure Electronics on eBay sells a decent 12V 145W switcher with no fan for about $25. That's about the same amount of current you'd be able to get off a single +12V rail from an ATX supply.

Your other options are either to buy a good quality supply with a quiet fan (see silentpcreview.com for suggestions/reviews), or replace the fan in your existing supply with a better quality one.
 
HI again

I'm upset now. Can't get the new supply to fire up. Fan rotates for a moment then stops. I need to buy a big transformer to make a linear supply. I could put up with this car amp permanantley, for a while anyway. Got to buy a new car this year, and pay for a new addition to our family. I think I should stroll over to the Car Forum, see if the chaps there, can't help me bypass the amp's switcher and power it directly.

Cheers everyone anyway.

iUSERTLO72p🙂
 
Re: HI again

iUSERTLO72p said:
I'm upset now. Can't get the new supply to fire up. Fan rotates for a moment then stops..........


If you are sure the power supply works, this usually means that the 'load sensor' is on the +5v line not the +12v line.

The psu requires a minimum load to run.

Andy
 
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