Spektrum S2100 Charger fan makes weird sound at start up

[ErockPzyk]

I did not read all the responses as I am on lunch but mine makes a buzzing sound as well it's the fans usually I just give them a little tap or a blow and they take off there must be a piece of hair in there or something like that I haven't opened it up to look yet as soon as I blow on them or tap them they take off

 

[whitesock]

I just received a replacement for my previous s2100 . the first s2100 only charged one battery at a time. Horzion sent me a new one. It works ok. But it makes a lot of noise.

 

[basher27]

I will call it normal.

I have two of the S2100. One does make that noise on startup and the other does not. One is a purchase from the 2020 timeframe it does not make that noise on startup.

The other is a newer one from Horizon they sent me. They replaced it using the same form since it would not take the firmware update. They sent me a new one at end of 2021. The one I sent in was quiet on startup from the 2020 purchase. The replacement they sent me made that noise on day one on power-up.

It only happens when I turn it on. It does not do it on usage and it is in my home office that is always under conditions we live in inside the house....never been outside for usage.

I have done lots of charges with it charging 2x 5000mah or 2x 6200mah or 2x 8000mah at 4 or 5A both the fans are going but never make that noise. Sounds just like the second one user usage.

Under charging power when both or a single fan is running sounds just like the 2020 S2100 charger. I assume on power up it sends an extreme amount of power that is more than it would send during charger. I could be WRONG but think its just a startup thing. It has not been an issue

Please let us know what they say if you do change out....to your question I have that sound and do not have an issue with usage nor that sound comes back under usage. Only at startup.

It sounds like you hit the nail on the head with what you described. When the fans are going during usage there’s no abnormal sound just on start up. And it’s not every start up either just every now and then. This actually just started this morning. I first started using this charger for the first time three days ago. I guess I was hoping to get some feedback from someone like yourself who has my exact charger in the time frame it was purchased. I know a lot of others were quick to say a bad fan, or bearings in the fan. My opinion is if multiple people experience the same problem then it’s probably not much of a problem. Thanks again for taking the time to reply

 

[whitesock]

Thanks for the info.

 

[parcou]

I just received a replacement for my previous s2100 . the first s2100 only charged one battery at a time. Horzion sent me a new one. It works ok. But it makes a lot of noise.

Not sure about the noise you are referring to...but there should be some operational sound when it is hitting peak charge. If I do one battery it is cool no fan but for example 2x 3S 5000mah at 4A charge the fans will begin to operate at a normal but powerful speed...just sounds like fans pushing hard it does a level to it...Game Changer fans you can tell they are working

 

[ErockPzyk]

Stop bashing with charger attached you leave that at home

 

[AnttiP]

Yes, mine started to do the same noise after a few charge cycles. I replaced the charger unit and now after 50 charges it's still working without this noise.

 

[basher27]

Yes, mine started to do the same noise after a few charge cycles. I replaced the charger unit and now after 50 charges it's still working without this noise.

was the replacement done lately? Someone replied to this thread earlier saying he has two different ones. One from 2020 that was quiet and a newer one with the recent update that after a few uses makes that noise on start up.

 

[AnttiP]

was the replacement done lately? Someone replied to this thread earlier saying he has two different ones. One from 2020 that was quiet and a newer one with the recent update that after a few uses makes that noise on start up.

Yes. I bought the charger just over a month ago, and replaced it two times In a row.

First unit gave me battery polarity errors, second unit had this fan issue and the third unit seems to be working ok - but do not install the latest firmware as it’s flawed and starts giving these battery polarity errors or similar

 

[basher27]

Yes. I bought the charger just over a month ago, and replaced it two times In a row.

First unit gave me battery polarity errors, second unit had this fan issue and the third unit seems to be working ok - but do not install the latest firmware as it’s flawed and starts giving these battery polarity errors or similar

Did the issues happen pretty much immediately after getting the charger? I have not done any updates and I’m not planning on doing any. Whatever version comes from the factory is the one I’ll be using

 

[AnttiP]

Did the issues happen pretty much immediately after getting the charger? I have not done any updates and I’m not planning on doing any. Whatever version comes from the factory is the one I’ll be using

the stock Gen 1 firmware had this polarity problem. And latest updated Gen 2 firmware have a similar problem.

When I’m on a race track I might charge e.g. 10-15 batteries a day. It’s very annoying to get this error almost all the time and it required sometimes to unplug the charger. In my opinion the charger is unusable without firmware update.

I like the charger but Spektrum quality control is the worst

 

[slick2500]

Just wanted to let you all know that those noises are not normal. Fans should not rattle or vibrate or make odd noises. If it is the fan is bad.

The manufacturer of these chargers more than likely buys the fans in bulk for pennies on the dollar from some random factory in China so of course there are going to be a lot of bad fans.

 

[basher27]

the stock Gen 1 firmware had this polarity problem. And latest updated Gen 2 firmware have a similar problem.

When I’m on a race track I might charge e.g. 10-15 batteries a day. It’s very annoying to get this error almost all the time and it required sometimes to unplug the charger. In my opinion the charger is unusable without firmware update.

I like the charger but Spektrum quality control is the worst

Out of curiosity did you have to send in your charger each time or did they send you out a replacement first? As I have stated earlier in this thread the fact that I’ve only had this charger a week I feel they should send me a new one so I can still use it in the meantime. Similar to buying some thing at Best Buy or target if you have a problem within the 30 day return window you can just go back hand it to them and grab a new one and not have to deal with the manufacture until your return window is closed. I’m tired of Horrizon Hobby giving me the runaround and making everything so complicated for their mistake

 

[Velodromed]

Just wanted to let you all know that those noises are not normal. Fans should not rattle or vibrate or make odd noises. If it is the fan is bad.

The manufacturer of these chargers more than likely buys the fans in bulk for pennies on the dollar from some random factory in China so of course there are going to be a lot of bad fans.

Are the fans replaceable or is that to general a question?

 

[slick2500]

Out of curiosity did you have to send in your charger each time or did they send you out a replacement first? As I have stated earlier in this thread the fact that I’ve only had this charger a week I feel they should send me a new one so I can still use it in the meantime. Similar to buying some thing at Best Buy or target if you have a problem within the 30 day return window you can just go back hand it to them and grab a new one and not have to deal with the manufacture until your return window is closed. I’m tired of Horrizon Hobby giving me the runaround and making everything so complicated for their mistake

It has already been explained that this is common practice with anything that you buy online, this is not something that is exclusive to Horizon Hobby. Yes when you buy something at a brick and mortar store you still have to give them back the faulty device first before you can get a new one. How is Horizon giving you the runaround and making things complicated?

Are the fans replaceable or is that to general a question?

Yes, they are common sized fans.

 

[Velodromed]

It has already been explained that this is common practice with anything that you buy online, this is not something that is exclusive to Horizon Hobby. Yes when you buy something at a brick and mortar store you still have to give them back the faulty device first before you can get a new one. How is Horizon giving you the runaround and making things complicated?


Yes, they are common sized fans.

Thanks man!

 

[basher27]

I will call it normal.

I have two of the S2100. One does make that noise on startup and the other does not. One is a purchase from the 2020 timeframe it does not make that noise on startup.

The other is a newer one from Horizon they sent me. They replaced it using the same form since it would not take the firmware update. They sent me a new one at end of 2021. The one I sent in was quiet on startup from the 2020 purchase. The replacement they sent me made that noise on day one on power-up.

It only happens when I turn it on. It does not do it on usage and it is in my home office that is always under conditions we live in inside the house....never been outside for usage.

I have done lots of charges with it charging 2x 5000mah or 2x 6200mah or 2x 8000mah at 4 or 5A both the fans are going but never make that noise. Sounds just like the second one user usage.

Under charging power when both or a single fan is running sounds just like the 2020 S2100 charger. I assume on power up it sends an extreme amount of power that is more than it would send during charger. I could be WRONG but think its just a startup thing. It has not been an issue

Please let us know what they say if you do change out....to your question I have that sound and do not have an issue with usage nor that sound comes back under usage. Only at startup.

The charger that makes the weird sound at start up, does it do it every time at start up or just every now and then?

 

[AnttiP]

Yes, they are common sized fans.

When I had the faulty unit I tried to search for a replacement fan. I didn’t find any. Yes, they are probably just regular normal sized fans but they are not made to be replaced by an user.

Out of curiosity did you have to send in your charger each time or did they send you out a replacement first?

I bought the charger from our local hobby shop. I walked back to the store with the charger and they replaced it right away with a new one.

If possible and if the pricing is reasonable I like to support local hobby shop instead of some global distributor / online shop.

I have contacted Horizon Hobby few times for a product support and the support is just bad. The only thing their support seems to do is to replace faulty items, but it’s useless to ask anything else.

 

[slick2500]

When I had the faulty unit I tried to search for a replacement fan. I didn’t find any. Yes, they are probably just regular normal sized fans but they are not made to be replaced by an user.

You need to search by fan size, not by application you will never find anything by searching for a replacement Spektrum SR2100 charger fan. Not sure what size the fan is in that particular charger though. If you can open the charger and get to the fan you can replace it.

When I had the faulty unit I tried to search for a replacement fan. I didn’t find any. Yes, they are probably just regular normal sized fans but they are not made to be replaced by an user.

I bought the charger from our local hobby shop. I walked back to the store with the charger and they replaced it right away with a new one.

If possible and if the pricing is reasonable I like to support local hobby shop instead of some global distributor / online shop.

I have contacted Horizon Hobby few times for a product support and the support is just bad. The only thing their support seems to do is to replace faulty items, but it’s useless to ask anything else.

It seems like with tech questions the people on the phone are completely clueless most of the time, but they are great at replacing stuff that is broken for sure.

 

[basher27]

Thanks man!

Let me explain it like this. If you buy some thing at a place like target or Best Buy for example and go home use the product and in three days discover there is a problem you will go back there give them the product back and either return it or exchange it for the same one. The thing that annoys me about Horrizon Hobby is that I have to go through the same hoops sending it in waiting two weeks to get it back on something I just bought three days ago. Obviously I would give them back the defective one and they could hold my credit card to make sure I do so. Similar to what Amazon does in a similar situation. At the end of the day I’m not going to play their games. My alternative method is to go on Amazon purchase it from Horrizon Hobby and when it gets delivered I will return my old one through Amazon and get my money back. I guess if that’s the game I have to play I will do so. Amazon will always have your back that’s the biggest difference.