A Look At Computer Power Supplies, Part 2 of 2

[MegaZeromonkey]

Any info on DYNEX DX-PS400W2 power supply. It has fan control fan stop fan is dead not sure when it died. The pc just shut down today, it has some caps that look bubbled wondering if just recapping will fix.

[Maxxarcade]

@MegaZeromonkey Sounds like it might have been a cheap one... Probably better just to replace it in this case.

[Maxxarcade]

More than likely it is just the power supply that is bad. Depending on how big the surge was, there may be damage to the motherboard, but it is fairly rare.

[vestern22]

hi, i may sound naive, recently there was a power surge in my home and an old crt and desktop pc stopped working, crt tv got fixed by a friend of mine who fix tv and said one big capacitor and 2 diodes were bad, it would be helpful if i get to know is it the smps of the pc which has gone bad or entire motherboard and cpu got fried up,, how can I test smps?

[xterminator069]

What is considered good non-Japanese caps? Is there any bad Japanese cap brands? Is Hitachi still making caps for PC PSU? I saw them back in 07 but not anymore.

[Maxxarcade]

@xterminator069 Non-Japanese? Maybe Cornell-Dubiler, Panasonic, Sprague and a couple others. It's hard to say these days though, because most companies make parts in various countries. Most Panasonic caps I've used were from Malaysia for example.

[an65001]

@Maxxarcade Panasonic is from Japan. :P

[Maxxarcade]

@an65001 I know, but like I said, most of the Panasonic branded caps I've used come from Malaysia. Mainly the FC series.  I think some other like the FM series still come from Japan, but I'm not sure.

[xterminator069]

@Maxxarcade I have a PSU with TK caps in them. They are Taiwanese IIRC. Are they any good?

[Maxxarcade]

@xterminator069 I haven't heard of that. Are you sure they are not Teapo SK?

[xterminator069]

@Maxxarcade Toshin Kogyo sounds like Japanese, but it's Taiwanese. I have a Silverstone Decathlon PSU with them inside. Don't know if they would last as long as Rubycon or Chemicon.

[IzzyDude45]

Nice!!!!

[loljaosi]

Nice video.. What do you think about samyoung capacitors?

[Maxxarcade]

@loljaosi Those are generally cheap junk.

[loljaosi]

@Maxxarcade OK!

[gabrielcararo]

I have a Dell Studio 540 I put the computer in hibernate. It turned off like normal. Later I went to turn it on, nothing, no fans no lights. How can a power supply die 'just like that'?

[djblackarrow]

@gabrielcararo: How old was the computer power supply? This can have many causes.

- Poor or aged capacitors, which have little capacity yet.

- Blown fuse in the power supply. (Glass fuse, be etched conductor fuse looks like a breaking point at the bottom of the electronics board. Semiconductor fuse that looks like a capacitor. Etc.)

- Defective optocouplers or other defective circuits

- Faulty components on the motherboard.

Look over the board of your defective power supply.

[djblackarrow]

@gabrielcararo: But be careful. The large capacitor loses its charge very slowly. The loaded "DC" voltage is much higher than you get from your wall outlet! The risk of electric shock is very high.

If the computer power supply for a long time was not in operation, you can touch the inside parts without problems. You also might want to lick the solder side without problems. :-)

But it tastes a bit strange. Yes, I have tasted it.

[Bylga]

Amazing videos!

[LellePrinter82]

I have been using an Tagan Dual Engine TG700-U25 700W power supply for about 3 years. Still works like a charm. I use it with 13 harddrives, gtx260 black edition and core2duo E8400 clocked to 3,6 ghz. Rock solid power supply. The price was about 1400 SEK or approximately $220 or 140€.

[rezident13n]

Hey, good video. :) What do you think about Capxon and Teapo capacitors ?

[Maxxarcade]

@rezident13n Capxon are so-so, Teapo is generally crap :-)

[MixerVM]

What power supply would you recommend for a low-end budget PC?

[MixerVM]

What kind of capacitors were used in the Vantec PSU?

[Maxxarcade]

@MixerVM This particular one had crappy Fuhjyyu caps I think.

[linagee]

Speaking of cheap PSUs having no voltage protection circuit - I had two cheap power supplies in my RAID box. Ran great for about 10 years. Had to replace drives every once in a while, but nothing big. Then one day, the system stopped working and EVERY hard drive died! The diode in them popped. I am still in the process of repair, some 6 months later. :-/ Don't cheap out on the PSUs.

[labobo]

this was also very interesting, thanks for the info

i hope to see more :)

[Tomthetoolman100]

what have you heard about the thermaltale lite power 700watt psu $80

[Maxxarcade]

@Tomthetoolman100 Haven't seen one yet.

[xbsoft]

Great video m8! One noob missed the "LIKE" button.

[agentc0re]

So what do you think of the PC Power and Cooling PSU's?

[Maxxarcade]

@agentc0re I've never owned one, but from what I've heard they are good quality. Some of them use cheap caps, but the circuits are well enough designed that they still last a while.

[uzaiyaro]

@agentc0re PC Power and Cooling were bought by OCZ not long ago. Seasonic and Delta power supplies are really good.

[Aussie50]

very good info!, I always go mid to high end on my PSU's for my PC. they do fail after so many years, but I have never had one take out otehr hardware in the process!

IMO, dirt cheap PSU's are false economy!, you'd be wishing you had spent that extra $40 on a good one when the cheap one fries your mainboard!.

[HDXFH]

Great advice, I found this quite interesting

[icguilty]

great psu brand are Silverstone, Enermax, Xfx 850 Only, Pc Power n Cooling like 910 silencer, Seasonic, Tagan.

[Dragonsrule89]

could you do a video about modular power supplies?

[Maxxarcade]

@Dragonsrule89 Modular as in the cabling, or do you mean server power supplies with multiple units in one package?

With normal PC power supplies, modular simply means that most or all of the output cables can be detached, so you only install the ones you need. It is to cut down on case clutter from unused power cables.

[brunoshow08]

Delta seems to use good fans in their power supply units.

[MechaNintendoMast]

Could you give me a list of good powersupply brands?

I need a at least 400wt one for my computer.Current 250w.

I know.....sad.....

[Maxxarcade]

@MechaNintendoMast What motherboard do you have? Just need to know what types of power connectors it has.

[youtubasoarus]

Very informative. Awesome videos.

[brunoshow08]

In my Delta Electronics psu has the fan running on full speed all the time. I also have a very quiet fan. They did it the right way.

[Maxxarcade]

@brunoshow08 Yep, Delta is usually good. Even the cheaper ones last a long time. I have a few from the 90's that still work fine.

[37474748]

what do you think about the corsair hx1000watt powersupply and the corsair 850watt psu? :)

[Maxxarcade]

@37474748 I haven't seen one of those in person yet. Hopefully they use a different design!

[37474748]

@Maxxarcade i hope so... mine lasts and i pull allot of power i would say my pc uses about 600watts to 950watts depending on load :) But i was intrested sens you know your stuff...

i got an flatscreen tv witch has sound but no picture and the backlight does not turn on. What do you think is broken in that one? :) Sound and remote and everything works.

[stillfindingmyway]

Very good video. When I repaired Tv & VCR equipment for a living a few years back I found that many cheaper brands of equipment would use filter caps in their switch mode psus with such poor ESR values that they'd simply overheat in a couple of years, making the equipment fail too soon. Looking at that Seasonic psu, I don't like the use of that yellow sealing glue on the wiring I recall that as it ages it tends to turn darker and become conductive with heat - not good with a multilayer PCB!

[Maxxarcade]

Ya, I know what you mean on both instances. And I hate when they slop glue all over everything. It's like they're trying to make up for a poor soldering job or something.

[ComputerGuy193]

cool vids, i don't think there is enough good trustable information on youtube, this video was certainly useful :)

[hp15c87]

I wish I had your knowledge!

[CindyBradyTooh]

That was an OUTSTANDING video! :D

Thank you! ~Cindy! :)

..

[maxischannel]

cool!

[linuxlove4004]

I have one cap on my mobo that looks just very slightly bulged. Should I be worried? It still works perfectly fine and I've had no problems with the board at all.

[muchosa1]

I have an Antec PP-412X 400w running constanlty for 9 1/2 years without issue. I don't know who made it for them.

I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

[CoolDudeClem]

I need a new power supply for one of my computers, the one it has just keeps randomly cutting out and won't go into standby mode properly. What PSU would you recommend I should get? The computer has a second edition ASUS M2V-MX motherboard, an AMD athlon dual core CPU and an Nivdia gt 7600 gfx card.

[Enfeeblement]

I'd like to remind everyone that touching the insides of a power supply like that is VERY dangerous. If you don't know what you're doing I advise you NOT to open your PSU like Maxxarcade does.

[Maxxarcade]

Yes. As I stated on my main Youtube page, these videos are purely for entertainment and should not be taken as advice. I do these things so you guys don't have to :-)

[AllAmericanFiveRadio]

Great information! Useful and interesting too.

[kmi187]

Very informative, nice work Maxxarcade.

Do you happen to have any knowledge about the quality grade in Industrial PSU's? I wonder if the ones used for servers and such also have the same quirks, I hope not since high up times tend to have a rather high priority for such systems.

[Maxxarcade]

The only server grade stuff I've really worked with that used "normal" ATX power supplies was around 10 years old or more. The main difference I noticed with those, was that they had better quality fans, thicker metal on the case, and at least half decent caps. But if they are a custom design for a given system, they are usually high quality.

The unique form factor 190W Lite-On power supply in my Compaq Proliant DL360 has been running for years. It has 3 fans, and uses all Rubycon caps.

[TheDevilBurning]

i have a Corsair TX 750w model: CMPSU-750TX

just curious what your thoughts on it would be, if you are bogged down with stuff I understand. Read a ton about it and it seems to be pretty solid.

[Orcinus24x5]

I had a good PSU die on me in the most peculiar way. One day my PC wouldn't turn on after having fiddled with it the day before. Thinking it was a loose connection, I reseated the MB connector, plugged it back in to AC, clicked the power switch. Still nothing. I stared at it for about 30 seconds, trying to figure out wth was going on, then the damn thing turned on by itself. :P A few days later it died completely. It just goes "tiktiktiktik" about 4 times per second when I hold the power button.

[Orcinus24x5]

Incidentally, it's a Thermaltake Silent Purepower 480 watt. It's a 2-fan unit with an external speed control dial that sits either on a backplane slot or a front drive bay, with a thermal override that increases fan speed if it gets too hot, regardless of what you have the dial set to. I've had it for probably 5 or 6 years now. Upon a cursory inspection, I've found one swollen capacitor. I might re-cap it and see if I can resurrect the thing from the grave.

[Maxxarcade]

If you need help locating caps for it, message me on FA. Sounds like a fun project :-)

[genie92]

great insight into what's going on inside the PSU. great video 5*s

[Madness832]

I have this Tagan 600W 80+ modular unit that I bought from Newegg 3 years ago. Died about 6 months ago & is collecting dust in a closet. Won't fire up @ all.

[Maxxarcade]

What is the number printed under the UL symbol on the side of it? The symbol looks like RU, but with a backwards R.

[Madness832]

I just dug it out. Model is: TG600-U35. And the number is: E223995 (in tiny print under the "RU" symbol).

[Maxxarcade]

Wow, that's a Topower like the Vantec I showed, only it's a later version from a different line. I wonder what kind of caps it has? My Vantec had Fuhjyyu caps, which are one of the worst...

[Madness832]

You got me curious, so I took the cover off. On the input side, there's two huge 680uF's that have a "TK" logo & then "LG" in small text to the right. Looks like nearly all of the caps on the output sides say, "Asia'x." I found one (1000uF @ 10v) w/ a bulging top).

[Maxxarcade]

Yep, if it's bulging, it's toast :-)

[BrianBalding]

That Was Very Informative & Interesting Iv'e Been using antec power supply's For years in my computers because when I build my system I always buy a 500W antec power supply to put into the new case what is your take on the antec power supply

[Maxxarcade]

The earlier Antec's had bad caps in them, but I'm not sure about the new ones.

I have an Antec TruePower 550 in my computer at work that I replaced all the caps in, and it runs great now. They were decent quality aside from the bad choice of caps they used at the time.

[darky10121987]

first viwer and commenter

personal im still on the ones that came with my computers

[k3vanoo]

@darky10121987 of cares?