PC psu Coil whine in truck

Discussion in 'Trucking Electronics, Gadgets and Software Forum' started by Aztech, Feb 23, 2016.

  1. Aztech

    Aztech Light Load Member

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    Feb 17, 2010
    Townsend, DE
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    I bought a new computer to be used for gaming and media in the truck, replacing my Xbox. I used it at home and it works great. However when I plug it in to the inverter in the truck and turn the psu on, it makes a loud wine sound. My TV has been making a soft whine sound since I got it (almost a year now). My laptop does not make any whine sound, nor does xbox or any other electronic.

    What could be causing it to whine? It doesn't whine when plugged in at home, but it's very loud in the truck.
     
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  3. STexan

    STexan Road Train Member

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    The PC power supply does not like the power provided by the inverter. They rarely do, especially high-powered gaming machines that needs lots of good, consistent, power.
     
  4. 8thnote

    8thnote Road Train Member

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    The way the inverter delivers power has an effect on the way different devices function. This article explains it very well.

    http://www.ebay.com/gds/Fact-sheet-Pure-sine-wave-VS-modified-sine-wave-/10000000177654483/g.html
     
  5. CousinVinny

    CousinVinny Medium Load Member

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    You can pick up a power conditioner from many music shops that might take care of the coil whine.
     
  6. Tai

    Tai Medium Load Member

    Do you have a modified sine wave inverter? This was the issue with it for me. Some of our trucks have pure sine the others modified. Switched trucks (and inverters) and cured the issue.
     
  7. uncleal13

    uncleal13 Road Train Member

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    Yup, a pure-sine wave inverter would do the trick. My microwave used to buzz a lot, but after I switched from a cheap modified-sine wave inverter, it runs quieter now, and cooks faster too.
     
  8. Aztech

    Aztech Light Load Member

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    Feb 17, 2010
    Townsend, DE
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  9. Balakov100

    Balakov100 Road Train Member

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    My laptop power supply/power brick makes some strange noises as well.

    Seems to work ok so never worried about it much. It is annoying though lol.
     
  10. Tai

    Tai Medium Load Member

    Best answer i can give you is it might work. Or the whole unit might fail to provide anypower because its expecting a pure sine wave. I put a UPS to try and do the same thing and it won't even turn on because the modified sinewave was so far out of what it wanted.
     
  11. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    NO, it won't work, the problem is there impure sine waves coming out of the inverter that effect the switching power supply in the computer. YOUR best solution is to go to a laptop or change the power supply. No filtering will help, it is because the garbage mass produced PSU does not like inverter power no matter what. Some of them use the sine waves for clocking in the power supply to regulate the power.
     
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