Hi All,

I have had my HP MSS for about 3 years now. Today, I noticed that it has started making a strange and ominous noise. I really don't know what it is, but sounds like it might be a bad bearing in the fan (?) It's kind of a slow rythmic whirring sound. I removed all of the hard drives and started the server to make sure it wasn't hard drive related, and the same sound occurred so I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with the hard drives themselves. Whatever it is, it's definitely mechanical in nature. Are fans known to go bad on the MSS? Anyone have any ideas as to what else it might be and how to fix it?

All MSS units have 3 fans, the two most are familiar with which are 80mm PWM type Fans and the FAN in the PSU which I believe is 40mm. Fan failure is not all that frequent but overtime like any mechanical device it will eventually fail some have actually to some degree taken their fans apart mostly the PSU fan and applied a drop of oil to quite it down. Sometimes debris builds up on the fans causing them to make noise. You would be amazed at what can collect in the fan area even in the cleanest environments.

If you know how to take your MSS apart and when you do always be gentle with the backplane extraction or insertion because many break off the capacitors on the backplane. Its always best to keep the backplane to keep some space between the backplane and the fans when handling them to avoid breaking the capacitors.

You can do one short test and that would be to disconnect the fans from the headers and turn the MSS on and see if the noise is present and if it is then you will know the fan noise is coming from the PSU. You can also shut the unit off and leave one fan connected and turn the unit on to determine which fan the top or bottom is making the noise. Do not leave the MSS running for any great length of time when the fans are not connected because they are needed to cool the motherboard components.

The fans are on silicone mounts and can be removed by sliding them to one side or the other but keep in mind that the fans actually slide in opposite directions so if the top slides one way then the bottom slides the other way. Removing them is quite easy and you can give them a good cleaning. The are between the fans and the cage where they actually mount is also an area known to collect a bunch of debris.

If you are not familiar with taking your MSS Apart let me know and I will look for the link which explains how to take it apart. Does not matter which model it is EX47x, EX48x, EX49x they all use the same cage and assembly although I find the top of the EX48x and EX49x more difficult to remove and but they all have a locking tab which can be released from inside the enclosure.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

Thank you very much for the quick reply! I have verified that it is not one of the two main fans (unplugged both and the noise persisted). So, it must be the power supply fan. I haven't found the connector/cable for that one yet....will keep looking.

The FAN for the PSU or Power Supply is actually inside the actual PSU on some this fan is in the front on others its towards the rear where the power is connected.

Its important to note that Power Supplies may have stored energy even when not plugged into an external power source. On the EX48x I believe the fan is in the front of your so if you were to open the enclosure door and shine a flashlight through the lower front grill you should be able to see it to the right side.

If your unit has not been blown out for some time then this would be the time to do it and I would concentrate on blowing out the PSU because often its ignored. Dust if not removed over time becomes an insulator causing more heat to the components which the dust has covered and the end result is components over heating a failing.

If your not familiar with the disassembly of your MSS let me know and I will find you a link which will explain how to take it apart.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

Yes, thank you - a link to the disassembly thread would be much appreciated!

Here is a link that will help you disassemble any MSS: http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2009/09 ... -hardware/

Actually its quite easy to take these units apart I could almost do it with my eyes closed after having done so many units over the years with exception to the two screws which hold the lower front grill in place. The last thing you want to do is cause damage to your MSS so below I have written a few extras things worth noting to help you out.

There are a couple things worth cautioning you on:

Backplane Removal/Installation:

When removing the backplane use two hands. One inside the enclosure to push the backplane up and the other on the top of the backplane to keep it against the cage when pushing it up. There are several capacitors on the fan side of the backplane and they are easy to break. When the backplane is free you will need to gently move it towards the fans and then lift it out but keep the backplane away from making contact with the fans.

When installing the backplane you want to lower it into the enclosure but keep some space between the backplane and the fans. This is to protect the capacitors from being damaged. Before you insert it look at the backplane closely and you will see 4 grooves that the cage mounting tabs go through. Also look inside so you can see those tabs because you will want to guide the backplane onto those tables before you press down on the backplane to connect it to the motherboard. Do not use a lot of force to press the backplane in as it will go in with very little force.

Fan Headers on the Back Plane:

Because its actually quite easy to connect the fan headers off by 1 pin its important to take the time to verify they care both connected properly before closing the top cover.

Top Cover Removal:

Look inside the top of the enclosure and use a flash light if you have too in order to locate the locking tab for the top cover. This tab needs to be pushed up so that you can slide the cover off properly. If you do not release this tab properly you can break it and your cover will be lose when put back on. I have seen many used units come in with broken top cover locking tabs.

Front Grill Screws

The front grill has what I call two demon possessed screws from hell. They are very small and often difficult to line up when your reassembling the enclosure. Try to get yourself some extra light in this area to make it easier to put these screws back in. Do not over torque these screws as its easy to strip out the Philips head area of the screw head. You will need a very small Philips head screw driver and using one with a magnetic tip would be a good idea to keep you from losing the screws.

Place all the screws you remove in a cup so they do not roll off the table and there are only 4 screws you need to keep track of but the ones from the front grill are the ones I dislike the most.

Remove static from your body before taking the MSS apart:

While you can touch metal to remove static from your body your probably best to use an Antistatic Mat with a Wrist Strap that you can ground to the metal frame of the MSS or other metal frame to remove static electricity from your body. This will make it safe for you to handle the Motherboard/Power Supply Assembly.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

Great, thank you so much! That is very helpful.