"Pop"

[Uranium-235]

Transcription: "Paul, do you still do housecalls? I heard a single pop and the computer you made for me turned off and won't turn back on"

What do you think people? I honestly don't remember what I built. It was like, four years ago? I know it was new, and I know I don't skimp on power supply for new builds. I think it was a Antec earthwatts? I have no many newegg emails I can't put it as when I bought it

Your guess is as good as mine

[Topcat]

Re: "Pop"

PSU would be my guess.... Caps and transistors like to pop.

Motherboards can pop for sure....but the PSU is always suspect # 1.

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

Winners will get a framed glossy 4x6 of my taterhole

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

I'll be looking at it tomorrow after six. God I hope its the PSU

[Topcat]

Re: "Pop"

Winners will get a framed glossy 4x6 of my taterhole

Could I take a cheeseburger from McDonald's instead?

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

Trust me, what you get from me has less bacteria

[stj]

Re: "Pop"

the only times i'v heard a "pop" from a pc, the VDR had exploded.
be nice if they put heatshrink on them more often because they make a huge mess.

[ratdude747]

Re: "Pop"

Could I take a cheeseburger from McDonald's instead?

I'll take something of taco bell's dollar menu!

---

[Dan81]

Re: "Pop"

Since you said something about an Antec, I'll give a good guess it's this:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=50613

"Antec eartwatts 380, 8GB crucial ddr4, i3 6100, asus dvd burner, 850 Pro 512GB. Win 7 home prem. " As for mobo, your first post says MSI B150 Pro.

[momaka]

Re: "Pop"

Yeah, I'm throwing another vote for PSU. I've heard mobos and video cards pop, but only if connected to really high-power PSUs. Most of the time, a shorted FET on a mobo or GPU just produces a faint *tick* sound when it shorts (accompanied with a funky smell), and that is all. Rather uneventful, usually.

On the other hand, if that PSU really is an Antec Earthwatts 380 (and by that, I mean one based on Seasonic S12II platform and not Delta), I can almost guarantee you it's either an APFC-related failure (more likely) or 5VSB IC failure (a bit less likely.)
Reason I say this is because those particular Antec Earthwatts use OST caps and also have APFC, but their main cap is rated for 400V only. Build quality of the 430W and 500W models is posted here:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...tec+Earthwatts
... and the 380 is pretty much the same thing inside as those.

Although I haven't posted an update in that thread about my EA430, it had tan conductive glue on its APFC coil, and it was starting to brown/blacken and almost at the point of going conductive. That alone would probably have caused it to pop if I left it like that (but I didn't - I scrubbed the glue away.) The 400V input cap is not great either, considering the APFC boosts quite high.

So between the tan glue, the 400V input cap, and bad caps on the output / 5VSB gone out, any of these could be the reason for the pop.

I'll take something of taco bell's dollar menu!

As long as you're willing to clean the toilet/bathroom afterwards.
The few times I've had Taco Bell, it never ended well.
(^ And that line even rhymes )

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

Oh my god guys, it's been so long since I built her that system (haswell celeron), the motherboard was a MSI pro, solid.

But the case, I recognized. It was an old one, I don't remember putting it together, but now that I looked the cpu up on my newegg history. I got the parts 4/10/2014

The case wasn't ordered from newegg. Must have been one I had around, with the power supply too. I recognized it as the same one another customer of mine that after eight years before the fan seized and caught fire

May I present...after six years...an oversight of mine an rx-380k (and yes LOL I see the four diodes instead of a rectifier).

Still I can't deny how long these lasted. Eight and six years. Luckily this one died with a pop and not smoke. Was a low wattage, but still.

Put an antec 380 in there to hold her over.

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

Oh yeah if you notice, a small cap popped, one next to the bloated one

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

I'm thinking of this one to replace

https://www.newegg.com/evga-400-n1-1...9SIA2F84BC9963

[momaka]

Re: "Pop"



Dude, this thing is beyond gutless. The diodes in place of the bridge rectifier are least of its problems. Look at those tiny output caps and toroids! I don't even want to know how much ripple this was outputting... or EMI/RFI for that matter. Looks like the 5VSB went over-voltage, making that cap burst (which is the second 5VSB filter cap.) Be glad it didn't take out the mobo.

Yes, it's a miracle those PSUs survived that long. But really, I wouldn't put that even in any of my own PCs, let alone someone else's. With that said, I do have one of these RX-380K PSUs as well (acquired from replacing a family friend's desktop PSU over a decade ago), except mine is made by Sun Pro. Still gutless, though. I removed some parts from it and disabled it from working, so that no one can mistakenly take it and use it again. I also used the 5VSB circuit to drive a flyback traffo from a CRT TV for some high voltage fun.

*EDIT*
I don't know about that EVGA.
I mean, I'm sure it will at least do its rated specs on the label. And no voltage selector switch = no APFC, which is good, because budget PSUs tend to fudge APFC with cheap parts otherwise. I just wonder what caps you'll get in that one and whether or not it will come back in a few years. I'd personally grab something cheap 2nd hand and recap it... but that requires more time, of course, so I understand that's not a route most would take. Otherwise a used HiPro or Delta for $15-20 and $10 worth of caps will get you a bulletproof tank.

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

Must have been a time I wasn't particular about PSU's

[momaka]

Re: "Pop"

Must have been a time I wasn't particular about PSU's

Good thing you didn't run across any Powmax units then.

BTW, here is the review of the 400W EVGA:
https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2015/...-power-supply/
Looks like a decent unit.
Only major concern about it is the capacitors - you get JEC (Johnson Electric, whoever that is), AsiaX (a.k.a. Fuhyyu), and the worst of the worst: ChengX - right on the 5VSB too (the same thing that got your Raidmax PSU blown.)

If you have any good caps in stock, at least replace those crappy ChengX caps on the 5VSB, and that should make this PSU easily outlive whatever rig it's meant to power (and maybe the next one.) Should be easy to work on too, given it's not too cramped and PCB is single-sided. Not a bad buy for $40, in all honesty.

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

Here is a $29 one, can't find any reviews or board shots

https://www.newegg.com/apevia-astro-...9SIAH41A7Y1490

[ratdude747]

Re: "Pop"

As long as you're willing to clean the toilet/bathroom afterwards.
The few times I've had Taco Bell, it never ended well.
(^ And that line even rhymes )

Funny, Taco Bell doesn't specifically give me any issues. Depends on the person I guess...

[Uranium-235]

Re: "Pop"

Funny, Taco Bell doesn't specifically give me any issues. Depends on the person I guess...

You must have adapted. Kind of like how mexicans can drink the water with very few problems

[momaka]

Re: "Pop"

Here is a $29 one, can't find any reviews or board shots

https://www.newegg.com/apevia-astro-...9SIAH41A7Y1490

Yeah, I'd stay away from Apevia. They've never been known for making good quality PSUs. I don't expect this one to be better. If anything, it's going to be a lot worse than the EVGA, and that's only $10 more.