this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024

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Do you often hear the ringing of switching power supplies and devices when you are in a quiet space? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by j4k3@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I'm curious, how many people are aware of these sounds. I have designed, etched, and built my own switching power supplies along with winding my own transformers. I am aware of the source of the noise. So, does anyone else hear these high frequency sounds regularly?

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[–] SLO@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

We have a VR system set up in our living room. I don't even want to talk about how long it took me to figure out the receivers were making a steady, high pitched noise. There are 4 of them and they are situated near the ceiling.

I hear it from a lot of things when it's quiet enough. Clock radios, tvs, monitors, my pugmill, heaters. There was a noisy power strip with a flashing one-off switch that I'm still convinced was going to kill someone.

I DON'T know anything about electricity - so mostly it makes me anxious that my house is going to burn down. I have bad enough hearing loss that I have to use closed captions on my TV - but it IS mostly because deep voices are extremely muddled. I'm surprised a bit by how many "not really" answers I see.

[–] kakes@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago (4 children)

I still don't get why the lighthouses can't be turned on/off via SteamVR. There's no reason they should stay running if I'm not actively in VR, and with the amount of noise they create, I have to imagine it's negatively impacting their lifespan.

One of these days, I'll get a smart plug for them, but I really shouldn't need to imo.

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[–] j4k3@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Well the flashing light is just a tiny low current neon tube that can't hurt anything. The main thing to worry about with power strips is that they securely hold the connectors in place and not overloading them with more than their rated power, and the power of the circuit they are attached to in your home.

Switching power supplies for cheap consumer stuff are usually operating in the 20-30 kilohertz range. This is just outside of the audible range. What you are hearing is usually the windings or powder ferrite core of the miniature transformer physically vibrating. The audible sound is likely some lower order harmonic resonant peak that is in the audible range.

At the manufacturing level, the frequency of switching can be tuned to avoid unwanted noise, and the magnetics can be potted in a resin or other techniques used to dampen the vibrations. If you build your own power supplies like I have, they tend to make a lot more noise at the first prototype stage.

[–] SLO@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

It's all Science Magic to me. I am continuously thrilled that the world is filled with people who are much smarter and more curious than I am.

I'll sleep a little better knowing the quiet strip flickering under my aquarium isn't a ticking time-bomb though.

[–] Nemo@midwest.social 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I can't hear it but I can often tell when it clicks over because it causes a spike in my tinnitus.

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

I have tennis and can still hear the noise. It’s weird. I have that background noise but I can still separate it from the other sounds around me. I actually went to do an audio test recently and had perfect hearing except I that I also hear extra things. Annoying as hell.

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

I really only notice them when the rest of the room is silent. Otherwise my brain ignores the sound most of the time.

[–] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

It is never quiet enough in my house to hear myself think without difficulty, so it definitely never gets quiet enough for that.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 9 months ago

My monitor has a power led that blinks when in stand by (and not receiving a signal.
And the coil whine between the onn/off-switching is audible.

[–] Lath@kbin.social 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ugh. Now you got me thinking about hearing my heart beats.

[–] clif@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Next you'll start seeing your nose

(Sorry)

[–] metaStatic@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

And now I can taste my tongue

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[–] Fisch@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 months ago

When my monitor is on stand-by the led slowly blinks and every time it turns on I can hear it. Aside from that, I don't think so.

[–] berryjam@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Yes

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago

Everyone with fully functioning ears can hear it if they pay attention. Just a reminder to protect your hearing!

Inside your ear are hair cells that detect sound. You're born with the only hair cells you'll ever have, and damage to them is irreparable. Hair cells naturally sustain damage over time and people's hearing decreases as they age. This process is accelerated if someone constantly listens to things at loud volumes. So, maybe don't turn it up to 11!

[–] Player2@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago

Yes all the time

[–] insomniac_lemon@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Even past 30 and with (mild) tinnitus, yeah my hearing is still great so I'm going to hear it. Light bulbs, chargers, the router etc.

Recently my computer's PSU has started randomly buzzing a not-quite-high frequency. It could be age (it's from 2019) though I'm pretty sure it's some kind of interference because sometimes it won't make any noise at all for days and I'm pretty sure my light bulb (an LED filament bulb which doesn't have much in the way of components) seems to also make different pitches of buzzing that coordinates with how much my computer PSU will buzz.

Anyways it bothers me, so as soon as I post this I'm going to power-down and unplug my computer and switch to a different device for the next day or so.

[–] j4k3@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The switching frequency is usually set by a small capacitor that is on the mains auxiliary power circuit. This may degrade depending on what kind of capacitor was used. There is also a small electrolytic capacitor that smooths the auxiliary power for the chip itself. If this capacitor degrades too much, it can cause some switching frequency stability issues too.

My current laptop supply sounds about like R2D2 when my GPU is running full tilt and I'm maxed out on 18 of 20 cores with AI.

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[–] VelvetStorm@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I can hear my phone charging.

[–] bleistift2@feddit.de 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I can’t of anything that makes an unwanted sound. Old CRT TVs used to, but I haven’t used one in years. My monitor at work makes a sound when it turns on or off (I believe there’s an ass-old fuse in there), but it makes no sound otherwise.

I’m still young and hear very well, as exemplified by my annoyance of half-closed bottles of carbonated drinks, which do make a sound.

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[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

My friends and I used to drive out to an area of the desert, away from people and the general noise of civilization. However, there were large power transmission lines going through the area and we could listen to them crackle in the night as we watched the stars. Just a nice way to relax and get away from it all.

[–] Nanomerce@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I have like 2 USB chargers that are really loud.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 3 points 9 months ago

Not after I stopped buying cheap power supplies.

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