Fanatec Wheel Owners, please help me figure out if there is something wrong with mine

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panjandrum

panjandrum

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A few weeks back I moved from the G25 to the Fanatec GT3RS V.2 wheel.

I need help figuring out if there is something wrong with mine. I've included a link to an mp3 file of a recording of my symptoms:

1) It is quieter than the G25, but not hugely quieter. Seems much closer to the G25 than I anticipated.

2) Even when at rest, there is a noticeable high-pitched electronics whine coming from the wheel housing. There is also a sound which I assume is a fan. The fan sound is fine, but an electronics whine like this one is almost always bad news (plus, it bothers me. It isn't very loud, but noises like that drive me nuts. Anyone remember the old NEC monitors? This is kind of like that but not quite so bad.)

3) The turning resistance of the wheel does not properly lighten as the car lightens. (For example, in Dirt 2 when your wheels leave the ground the G25 steering resistance lightens to essentially nothing. But with the Fanatec it doesn't change much at all. It is as if the motors are continuously resisting me even when they shouldn't. Correcting this with "drift" settings is possible to some extent, but all that really does is lighten the wheel resistance all the time, which definitely isn't right.)

Here is the audio file. First a click as I turn the wheel on, then the initial calibration sounds so you can hear how loud the wheel is in motion, then about 20 seconds of the sound of the wheel just sitting there powered on at rest where you can hear the fan (barely) and the electronics whine (a bit louder). You may have to turn up your volume to hear it:

http://www.thatmacguy.com/simracing/Fanatec GT3RS v2 Wheel Noises 2.mp3

So any feedback from other Fanatec owners would be great.

Thanks!
 
That doesn't sound right, your best bet would be e-mailing Fanatec support, if it is normal, fine...... if it isn't..... let them take it from there (they would most likely replace it). Hope this helps!
 
I also bought a GT3 RS V2 wheel a few weeks ago and as far as the sound goes, I can say that the running noise on mine was identical to your sound file. And I know exactly how you feel about the high-pitch wine, it drives me nuts.

I took apart my wheel and found the culprit is a small 30mm fan under the right vent on the housing. Replaced it with a $7.99 ball bearing fan and all is well!

If it bothers you enough to take your wheel apart, I'd be happy to give you a few tips and a link to the fan I bought.
 
I have had about the same sound with mine(same exact wheel). Personally I do notice it but I'm not bothered by it. I can report back within 1-2 hours and see if mine produces the same sound(dad is out getting bolts for the hardmount).
 
That's the fan. You can even hear it gradually start. You should not be hearing it when you are racing with speakers or if you wear headphones though. I can hear mine in the menus with speakers but not in races.

The problem is that it is such a small fan, small fans are the worst :yuck: So yeah don't worry about that sound.

As for the light feeling, hopefully someone who is familiar with Dirt 2 can help you. I have it but I have not played it much and am not really familiar with the feel/settings.
 
I just checked with my wheel and that sound you are hearing is just the fan. You don't have to worry, it's normal. If it really does annoy you then just ask cschoei for those tips he mentioned.
 
sound nomal to me........just turning air like a self power windmill.....you going to get some kind of sound
 
Thanks so much for your feedback guys. It is nice to get some opinions on this.

But, I'm not sure you are hearing the same thing I'm hearing. I'm extremely familiar with the sounds that computer fans of all different sizes make, from the absurdly small to the very large. I'm generally not bothered by the sound of fans.

What I hear overtop of the fan noise is a high-pitched electronics squeal. It isn't the kind of sound a fan makes, even a cheap one or one with bearings going bad. It's a very distinct sound that is occasionally produced by electronic components, and which is usually (but not always) bad news. Unfortunately or fortunately as the case may be, I'm one of those people who hears into ranges most people don't, so it may be that you just can't hear this sound. (Again, the most obvious example was the old NEC monitors from around the period of 1990 IIRC. They ALL emitted a very nasty high-pitched whine, but only a small percentage of people could hear it. If you could hear it though, there was no way you could use one of those monitors, or even be near one. It would drive you up the wall).

If any of you have youngish children have them give yours a listen, they might be able to hear into this range (my daughter also hears this high-pitched noise, but my wife only hears the gentle "woosh" of the fan).

So basically, if they really do ALL make this noise, then it is just a design flaw and doesn't mean that something going wrong with mine. But if this is something that mine is making and other ones aren't, then there is a very good chance that some bit of the electronics are failing.

I've sent it off to Fanatec for them to listen to. I'll let you know what they tell me.

Thanks again for the feedback, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me and even though I'm not entirely convinced, I'm at least slightly less worried.
 
Hi m8, mine makes the exact same high pitch squeel/whine over the top of the fan whoosh.. I don't think it's anything to worry about.
 
Hi, iv'e old prob carpish freq range, not as young as i was. But i hear want you say, hear, most might be putting it down to the decoding or whatever, normal audio file sometimes. But there is something in the background above the normal Fan noise(mine is the same, with that, no prob thou), whether detrimental thou ? or what it even is ?



Cheers BOB
 

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