You may have had a bad PWM. I added one to my bathroom fan (the cheap one that
many here use, but I can't remember the name of) years ago, and it's still going strong, and quiet. Sorry I can't remember much about it beyond that.
I did just add a 2 amp fan to my bed area, and connected it to a PWM controller that seems to be working well so far. It's very over rated for the job though. And annoyingly it doesn't shut completely off, so I need to add a power switch too. Beyond that it's working great so far.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071NQ5G71/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1