Loud Grinding Noise from Water Cooler

[NodeTG]

Hi there, this might be a bit of a long one as I go through the history of this issue.

A few weeks ago, I started noticing a clicking noise coming from my PC (for reference, the system arrived on 1st April 2021, and that's not a joke). I didn't think too much of it, and just assumed some dirt had gotten caught in a fan, as it sounded similar to when a small amount of paper gets caught in a fan while it spins. This changed about a week later when I turned on my system and was greeted by a loud grinding sound. This prompted me to quickly turn off the system and remove the side panel to investigate the culprit fan. Of course, as the title implies, it was caused by none of them. After booting the system back up, the sound returned to a smaller clicking noise, but even when stopping each fan individually to check each one, none caused the noise. But, after disconnecting the AIO pump (for a very short period of course, due to temperature concerns), the noise disappeared.

Since the grinding noise had changed back to a clicking sound and I could find no answers on the internet or any way to reproduce it, I simply ignored the issue until today. This morning, I powered on my system and thought I heard construction noises from outside, only to soon realise it was actually coming from my PC. The noise was much worse than before, and of course I quickly turned the system off. Once again, I decided to remove the side panel, even though I didn't know exactly what to try, but thought of booting it up one more time since it seemed to make the previous grinding noise go away, and indeed it did. The noise is now back to just clicking.

Unlike last time, I don't really want to just pretend this didn't happen and ignore it. The clicking has persisted for almost a month now, so this issue could happen again, and it could potentially be a sign of something worse, hence why I am writing this forum post hoping somebody has advice on this issue or any potential causes.
The only explanation I could come up with myself was some air bubbles that didn't get cleared out from the first month of using the machine and are now getting stuck in just the right position to cause the noise, but I'm not sure. It would be helpful if I had recorded the grinding noises before they went away, but sadly I did not. I did however record the clicking noise, though it comes out a bit quiet and sounds a lot more like bubbles than it does in reality. I've uploaded this to the thread.

Here is my system spec in case it is needed:

Spoiler: Specs

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-10600K (4.1 GHz) 12 MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B460-PLUS: ATX, LGA1200, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
2 PORT (1 x TYPE A, 1 x TYPE C) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 16 to 19 working days
Promotional Item
Get HITMAN 3 and more with select Intel Processors
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

Hopefully somebody will be able to offer some advice on this issue.
Thanks in advance!

 

[JakAttack]

Good morning NodeTG, it sounds like the pump has indeed run into some kind of issue. The air bubble theory is a good one and is something that can affect the coolers, normally if this is the case you can 'knock' the air out if you tap the cooler gently when it is making the noise if you wanted to give it a go. But in all honesty, it's probably a good idea to look at getting the cooler replaced if the noise keeps coming and going. We could look into doing this either by sending one to you in exchange for the old one if it is something you can do, or we can bring it back for repair under the SIlver warranty.

 

[NodeTG]

Good morning NodeTG, it sounds like the pump has indeed run into some kind of issue. The air bubble theory is a good one and is something that can affect the coolers, normally if this is the case you can 'knock' the air out if you tap the cooler gently when it is making the noise if you wanted to give it a go. But in all honesty, it's probably a good idea to look at getting the cooler replaced if the noise keeps coming and going. We could look into doing this either by sending one to you in exchange for the old one if it is something you can do, or we can bring it back for repair under the SIlver warranty.

Hi there, thanks for the response!

I'll give tapping the cooler a go just in case, though I don't expect much of a change.
For getting it replaced, I would prefer to do an exchange, but I'm not too sure on the process of removing/installing the cooler. I'll do some research on the subject before making a final decision, as I'd rather not make things worse by messing up the installation.

If I decide to go the exchange route, what would the process of arranging it be? I can see a "Return a Component" option on the RMA page, would that be the correct option? And I assume to send it back to you for repairs, I'd choose the "Return the Computer" option?

Thanks!

 

[SpyderTracks]

If I decide to go the exchange route, what would the process of arranging it be? I can see a "Return a Component" option on the RMA page, would that be the correct option? And I assume to send it back to you for repairs, I'd choose the "Return the Computer" option?

That’s exactly right.

If you just return the cooler, DPD will come and collect it and have the relevant labels, they will take the broken unit and swap it for a replacement.

Refitting it is actually a lot easier than you may imagine with an AIO. There will be some videos on YouTube (most AIOs are very similar).

 

[NodeTG]

That’s exactly right.

If you just return the cooler, DPD will come and collect it and have the relevant labels, they will take the broken unit and swap it for a replacement.

Refitting it is actually a lot easier than you may imagine with an AIO. There will be some videos on YouTube (most AIOs are very similar).

Alright, thanks for letting me know, and for the added confidence in doing it myself!

As expected, gently tapping on the cooler had no effect on the noise whatsoever, so I'll look into the replacement procedure now.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Martinr36]

Alright, thanks for letting me know, and for the added confidence in doing it myself!

As expected, gently tapping on the cooler had no effect on the noise whatsoever, so I'll look into the replacement procedure now.

Thanks for the help!

Here's a video that explains things

 

[NodeTG]

Here's a video that explains things

Thanks, I'll take a look at that!

 

[NodeTG]

So my replacement unexpectedly arrived today. I had been told yesterday that it was arriving Monday, only to wake up this morning with a notification from DPD saying it'll be arriving in 45 minutes. I hadn't removed the old cooler yet, nor bought any packaging, so I had to do a speedrun removal and find whatever packing material I could around the house. Would have been nice to get an earlier warning, but oh well.

Removal was quite smooth, other than some stubborn zip ties that didn't want to let go of the cables. Putting the new cooler in was... less smooth... but I got there in the end.

New cooler is in now, and seems to be working fine. No noise at all, and temps look good from a quick benchmark. Hopefully that's the end of my troubles. Thanks again for the help from everyone here!

 

[Martinr36]

Good to hear all sorted

 

[JakAttack]

DPD seem to be doing extra deliveries on Saturdays, always good... unless you need to remove a complex cooler from your system!

Very glad you got it sorted, is everything running the way you want it?

 

[NodeTG]

DPD seem to be doing extra deliveries on Saturdays, always good... unless you need to remove a complex cooler from your system!

Very glad you got it sorted, is everything running the way you want it?

Haha, yeah that would explain it...

Seems to be running well. I've yet to actually try any intensive games, but I did run a script that maxes out the CPU for about 2 or 3 minutes just to see what temps it reached, and it seemed to do just fine. And of course, there's no more noise from the pump!

Thanks again for the help!

 

[JakAttack]

Great stuff! Give us a shout if you need anything

 

[NodeTG]

So I've returned after less than a month bearing bad news.
Came down this morning, woke up my PC, and greeted to a grinding noise again. Possibly louder than previously too.

I put the system back to sleep soon after hearing it, then decided to wake it back up again just in case it went away, but to no luck. I did quickly rush to lower the "speed" of the AIO pump in AI Suite, which previously would cause the noise to stop or at least be reduced, but it had no effect this time. I put the system back to sleep and grabbed my phone to record the sound, and I also pulled the system out a bit so I could get a look inside to see if I noticed anything strange, but as with the previous instances of the noise, there was no sound after waking it back up again.

Since lowering the "speed" of the pump didn't seem to have an effect, I'm thinking it may be a fan? I've no idea really, it's just a guess. Since the noise has completely vanished, no clicking like last time, I have no way of testing it, so all I can really do is wait and see if it happens again, at which point I'll make sure to record the sound before shutting it off.
I'll keep this thread updated if anything happens.

 

[Martinr36]

if it makes the noise again, take the side panel off and stop each fan individually, till the noise stops

 

[NodeTG]

Alright, so the noise returned again this morning, but I believe I have finally figured out the cause (for real this time).

I didn't put the system back to sleep like previously, and instead captured some audio of the noise and took a look inside. I noticed one of the front fans looked like it was spinning "in sync" with the sound, hard to describe. I pulled off the front panel (which I hadn't tested when the noise occurred originally, as I didn't know how) and sure enough, when stopping the top fan at the front, the noise went away.

It's nice to finally have a concrete answer as to what causes these loud grinding sounds. I'm not too bothered that I ended up replacing the cooler, as it was still making that nonstop clicking sound, even if it wasn't causing the grinding noise. I'm also not sure how I would go about replacing this fan, as I believe it came as part of the case. I don't think I will bother with it for now, as pulling off the front panel and stopping it every so often whenever it makes the sound, or just rebooting the system, isn't much of an issue for me, but I might look into it in the future.

Thanks for all the help received here!
I've attached the grinding sound I recorded below. You might have to turn up your volume to hear it, as it came out very quiet for some reason, but it was much louder in reality.

 

[Martinr36]

I'd sort an RMA for that fan, shouldn't be hard to remove it, send them a message via the tech support tab on the main site

 

[NodeTG]

I'd sort an RMA for that fan, shouldn't be hard to remove it, send them a message via the tech support tab on the main site

I'll take a look at that, thanks!