psu

[RJ_Hythloday]

I was finally getting my kubuntu install straightened out and working on some custimizations when... My psu died. It's just over a year old, no rma from the egg, the seasonic online rma tells me my serial is no good! This is my 4th psu in less than 2 years! Fortunately I have a psu to use but it's got no sata so I'm not able to continue custimization. I am going to get around to a friends build that I have the psu for but my edubuntu dl wouldn't install!

[bonso]

Besides my Antec Sonata PSU that decide to be a poster boy for unsafe operation I've never had one die on me.

[RJ_Hythloday]

I've been completely surprised recently, When I first joined this and other forums, antec was getting flamed all over the place. I recently came across an antec psu praise thread. :lol: I did purchase an antec solo and it's great, but I'll avoid their psu's for a while longer. btw, my first dead psu was 3 years old and no name sister built my first pc. second dead psu was a coolmax should've known better than to buy a $20 psu that wasn't a sparkle. I like my seasonic but am surprised it died so soon!

[Synapse13]

Not only are Rosewill power supplies stunningly beautiful, but all you do
is install them and forget about it. I have two of them that have been
humming along for over 3 yrs.

[toadman]

I've only had 1 ps ever go bad,alot of pretty colors and smoke.This was a antec true control 550 ver1.I got very lucky that it didn't take anything else out with it.Think my ups helped me there also.Antec rma was really easy and sent me a new tc 550 ver 2,which had better specs and has been running great.I think I'm going to try another mfg next time though, because of looking at alot posts on forums where they have compatibility issues with certain hardware.

[Spankin Partier]

I've had a few die on me. But most of them lasted well beyond 3 years.

I had an Enermax PSU that used to give me a problem with an old Epox board. But then I found out it was a common issue with that match up. For some reason Enermax and Epox just don't mix.

But other then that, no real issues at home.

Now at work, that was another story. I was the system admin of a small office (15 workstations). About once a month I'd have to change a PSU. It didn't seem to matter whether we 'decent' brand name PSUs, or cheepo $25 PSUs. I think the biggest issue was the building's power. We were on the end of the city's grid (by a harbour), and we had lots of heavy industrial machines and high frequency TIG welding machines. The TIG machines used to play fun tricks to the old CRTs as it would cause their images to rotate!

So if you're blowing a lot of power supplies, it probably isn't the power supplies them selves that are the problem. They may just be a symptom of issues with your house's electrical supply.

One of the houses I used to live in had some electrical issues. The ground actually had a voltage on it. Good thing I didn't have any money for computers back then!

[Atomic Rooster]

I never really had a PSU die. I did have to RMA an Antec SP500 because it was having cold boot issues. We have a mixture of Enermax and Antec units in this house all going strong.

Heck, I even had an old 350W Deer unit that ran great for years.

[Trollby_IRON]

I have only had 1 PSU die, but had 2 starting to act flaky so I $h!t-canned (out of some 40 or so PSU bought over the years).

I just replaced a ANTEC 430 truepower that died for a co-worker. Just would not power up, the unit was 3+ years old on a nForce 2 Gigabyte board.

Just an FYI....

I have a Allied PSU that is over 5 years old that is working strong!

[Jackal]

PC Power & Cooling, 'nough said.

[Parn]

I've only bought Antec and Enermax. While both brands produce high quality PSUs most of time, so far I've got two failures, one from each brand. My Enermax 431W(3 yrs old) blew up and my Antec TP2.0 430W(2+ yrs old) melted inside.

[Trollby_IRON]

I've only bought Antec and Enermax. While both brands produce high quality PSUs most of time, so far I've got two failures, one from each brand. My Enermax 431W(3 yrs old) blew up and my Antec TP2.0 430W(2+ yrs old) melted inside.

That is what happened to co-workers TP2.0 430w I just replaced for him

[supercat]

Make sure the line you are using is not crappy, and use a good surge protector and conditioner. I would avoid outlets near any device that may be linked to large motors cutting on and off such as washing machines, large refrigerators or freezers, etc. Replace old surge protectors every two years or more often if you are in a location with brown outs, power failures, or frequent summer storms. Well worth the money, and poor power can easily damage a PSU and cause failure. Dirt and dust is another factor, blow em out with 40 psi once or twice a year.

[Electric Bill]

Fortunately I have a psu to use but it's got no sata so I'm not able to continue custimization.

Why don't you use a Molex to SATA converter like these from NewEgg





or buy one from a local computer store?

I've had Antec 330, 430, 480 True Powers and 2-480 Neo PSUs all 3 to 5 years old and still running.
3 Enermax 500 Liberty PSUs - bought 2 for a customer and one died within a week. The other 500 and the RMA replacement have been going for a year and a half.
1 OCZ 520 PowerStream that died recently after 2-1/2 years and OCZ replaced it with a 600 GameStream.
1 PC Power & Cooling 470 Silencer going now for 1-1/2 years.
1 Sparkle 350 about 2-1/2 years old and still going.
And various other PSUs I lost track of.

I'd check the power at your house as suggested by others and perhaps invest in some new outlets.
Loose connections in outlets can wreak havoc with PSUs.
Line conditioners are also a good investment and you can buy them at Home Depot.

Bill

[GTwannabe]

I was finally getting my kubuntu install straightened out and working on some custimizations when... My psu died. It's just over a year old, no rma from the egg, the seasonic online rma tells me my serial is no good! This is my 4th psu in less than 2 years! Fortunately I have a psu to use but it's got no sata so I'm not able to continue custimization. I am going to get around to a friends build that I have the psu for but my edubuntu dl wouldn't install!

What is the quality of your wall current? Do you have numerous brownouts or voltage sags from high-draw equipment on the same circuit? Are you using a surge strip or Automatic Voltage Regulating UPS?

[RJ_Hythloday]

backups, wish it was a smart ups. brownouts aren't too frequent, but they do happen.