New Thrustmaster T300 RS GT- strange whining noise coming from the wheel base (it's not a fan, it's not a buzzing nor rattling)

[Herr Pietrus]

Hi,

I've just purchased new T300 RS GT (WOW, what a change comparing it with DFGT!) but I'm afraid that my unit is defective. As soon as I plug it into the USB port, it starts making a strange, wheezing, whining sound.
It quiets down a bit when the steering wheel is EXACTLY in zero position, as well as when I turn the wheel harder. In general, however, my T300 keeps wheezing, only the pitch fluctuates slightly.

It's not the buzzing sound known from the chargers or some PSU's, it's not a rattling sound of damaged fan bearing, it's not the fan itself ("always on" mode is deactivated). It is about half as loud as a working fan, maybe even slightly quieter.

I can, of course, use the manufacturer's warranty or the store's warranty, but it's always a hassle, besides, maybe it's normal and I'll only waste my time and the service?
Unfortunately, I have not found any information about a similar case on the web. Every similar thread is always about the power supply or the fan.

I'll try to make a video, but it's best to do it at night when it's quiet.

Also, you probably know if your steering wheels make any sounds or not. I would be very grateful for any information.

 

[Herr Pietrus]

Ok, I've found three posts about such sound on the board, and one where someone states that his base is silent... Still don't know what to think

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/t300-gt-coil-whine-humming.217774/

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/thrustmaster-t300rs-problems.188253/post-3237220

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/thrustmaster-t300rs-problems.188253/post-3236994

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/thrustmaster-t300rs-problems.188253/post-3236849

 

[Bob Gnarley]

My T300rs has a slight electrical hum when powered up, audible in a quiet room but not when racing, watching vids etc.

If it is excessive to the being point of annoying it may be worth getting video evidence and e mailing TM for an RMA or repair.

I've had mine for 5 or 6 years now and, apart from replacing a rattling fan, it's been a solid purchase.

 

[Herr Pietrus]

Of course, it is not audible during the game, but it almost as loud as my PC fans.
If it is normal, I will have to get used to it. But it is irritating for me, really...

Does this hum/whine change in your case when you rotate the wheel or is it constant?

OK, I've made some videos.

Whining/humming sound appears when I connect the USB plug to the computer.
It changes a bit (gets quieter, then louder, pitch fluctuates slightly), when I rotate the wheel.
When I unplug the wheel from the electric outlet, the sound disappears.
It seems to come from a running engine (winding?) - it's little bit more audible from the engine side.

USB Connected - sound audible

https://imgur.com/a/SPGjShu

USB Disconnected - wheel is quiet

https://imgur.com/a/FPFBPnC

 

[Bob Gnarley]

It changes pitch slightly if I move the wheel, i guess i've had it that long i don't really notice it. That said i keep it on an easily accessible socket and power it down when not in use.

Yours sounds about the same which is normal i guess. Give it five or six years and you won't know it's there...

 

[Herr Pietrus]

Damn, to be honest in quiet room I'd call it loud now... Fortunately I connect the wheel (on a folding stand) only when I play.

Nevertheless, I feel calmer knowing that this is perhaps normal behavior. However, I also wrote to Thrusmaster support.

 

[Herr Pietrus]

OK, I've made much better recordings using my mp3 player
Perhaps another T300 owners will be able to write whether their device sounds the same.
Ech recording starts in quiet room with the wheel disconnected, then I connect it and the whining sound appears.

Microsoft OneDrive

1drv.ms

Microsoft OneDrive

1drv.ms

 

[sndb]

Damn, to be honest in quiet room I'd call it loud now... Fortunately I connect the wheel (on a folding stand) only when I play.

Nevertheless, I feel calmer knowing that this is perhaps normal behavior. However, I also wrote to Thrusmaster support.

Yeah, I've had my T300 for 2yrs now and in a truly silent room the wheelbases' "tune" is kinda loud. When I'm on my couch sitting about 6-8ft from the wheelbase it's loud enough to be easily heard through moderate-volume TV/streaming viewing, so I normally just unplug the power after giving it 10-20min for cooldown as needed.

Honestly I never thought anything of it--always seemed to me that the the more potential output of energy output (force, heat, or rapid compute cycles) a device has, the more likely it is to produce some whine, humming, buzz, etc. Electricity makes noise, AC in particular, it seems: Electromagnetically Induced Acoustic Noise

Since it is loud enough to be borderline irritating in a 10ft radius, I might pop mine open again and try to ID the offending component and see if it's something easily swapped to see if the noise is a fault in my unit or just a characteristic of the product design. Unfortunately, only a few months back I did a tear-down on mine and replaced the stock plastic spur gear with a nice aluminum one, pulled out all of its driveshaft bushings and replaced them with actual ball bearings, and lastly swapped out the stock internal fan for a Noctua. So my motivation to troubleshoot the humming is non-existent.

In your case though, when you mentioned the USB cable connectivity state and it's impact, it made me wonder if you just have a ground loop somewhere and a wheel component is resonating like a tiny speaker. I know with USB hubs and devices all over the place these days, ground loops over USB are a commonplace nuisance for the audiophile crowd with all the USB connected DACs--streamers too. For around $10-15 you could try one of these little USB-A female-to-female devices that function as a ground lift: USB Isolator (I've seen them as cheap as $2.99 on aliexpress, but they end up causing other issues like USB throughput or latency problemts).

 

[maelstrom]

I keep my T300 in the "forced" cooling mode with the fan on all the time so that's all I normally hear. If I turn the fan off, it makes a very quiet humming noise which I can't hear unless I put my ear close to the wheelbase.