TheCheapGamer

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So I dont know much about power/voltages and all that, and this may be an easy fix but I am currently lost.

PSU - Seasonic 520w S12II series 80+ Bronze
GPU - RX 580 8GB
CPU - Ryzen 5 3600
Mobo - X470 Gaming Pro

Recently we have been having regular power outages (South Africa), and my family bought a fairly decent sized Inverter and solar panels.
The inverter works amazingly for my moms office PC I built out of my old PC parts with some generic no name 400w power supply.

The issue is whenever I connect the Inverter to my system, there is a constant electrical buzzing sound that sounds like something is shorting out. It definitely isnt the fan or a cable catching.
The PC works fine when this happens, but obviously I dont want to chance leaving it on just incase something does get shorted out. The sound definitely originates from the power supply.

I decided to get a small UPS to protect against surges and to see if that would smooth out the power delivery if that was the issue, but still theres a buzzing sound whenever the Inverter is in the mix.

I have tried multiple power cables to see if that is the issue but no fix. In normal day to day use the PC is 100% perfect with the current cables.

If you have any idea at all, it would be greatly appreciated.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Make and model inverter?

Make and model UPS?

What is the total wattage available via the solar panels?

FYI:

https://news.energysage.com/what-is-the-power-output-of-a-solar-panel/

And the inverter is serving both your Mom's office PC and your own system. Both at the same time - correct?

Does the buzz occur if only your system is connected and not your Mom's (just for test purposes...)?

How is it all connected?

For example:

Solar panels ----> inverter ----> Mom's PC
inverter ----> UPS -----> your PC.

My immediate thought is that the solar panels/inverter are unable to provide the necessary power to serve both computers simultaneously.
 

TheCheapGamer

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Dec 14, 2013
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Make and model inverter?

Make and model UPS?

What is the total wattage available via the solar panels?

FYI:

https://news.energysage.com/what-is-the-power-output-of-a-solar-panel/

And the inverter is serving both your Mom's office PC and your own system. Both at the same time - correct?

Does the buzz occur if only your system is connected and not your Mom's (just for test purposes...)?

How is it all connected?

For example:

Solar panels ----> inverter ----> Mom's PC
inverter ----> UPS -----> your PC.

My immediate thought is that the solar panels/inverter are unable to provide the necessary power to serve both computers simultaneously.


Make of the UPS is Kstar (probably some generic brand) and the inverter is from a small South African company with zero online presence unfortunately, I cant see any proper branding, but regardless its been working like a dream for a while now, so it seems like good quality? Definitely not a top of the line system by any means though.

We have two large 12v batteries connected inside the inverter constantly being charged during daylight. And when my moms pc is on it draws around 130-150w of power and the batteries inside the inverter dont drop voltage at all so it tells me that the solar panels are most likely providing more than 130w of power I presume. This was tested today with 100% sun, no cloud cover.

Ive tested both with only my PC connected, and with my moms pc connected and the result doesnt change, still buzzing even when my PC is the only device connected to the Inverter, and it draws around 160-180w of power when just idling apparently. Not too sure how accurate that all is though.

I have also tested my dads PC and he also gets a electrical buzzing coming from his PSU when we connect him to the Inverter (Antec VP500 purchased last year this time)

The configuration is pretty much what you stated, just for my case I have tested with and without this UPS and still the same results.

Solar panels ----> inverter ----> Mom's PC
inverter ----> UPS -----> your PC.

The solar panels arent massive, but each one is about 2mx1.5m so I feel like power isnt necessarily the problem, more power delivery. Im not too clued up on the sine wave and square wave that is talked about when Inverters are brought up.

Its a lot of information i apologize, but thanks for any help!
 

TheCheapGamer

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Dec 14, 2013
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It could also possibly be coil whine? Im not 100% sure on that though. Would that damage my PSU if I keep it connected to the Inverter for an hour or so when we have power outages? It wont be a frequent daily thing to use the inverter, more so when I have to use my system for work or university when theres no power.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Solution