Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

[UserXP]

Hi, guys.
As the title says, I have a Seasonic X-Series SS-660KM PSU and GA-Z97X-UD3H motherboard which supports ErP. I was unable to find anywhere in the the PSU's manual or package nor on the Seasonic's website about whether this particular model supports ErP.
I did a test: I entered BIOS and enabled ErP, exited and then shut down the PC. It turned off properly and it looks as if the ErP function kicked in. Without it, my mouse's optical LED would stay on all the time and USB ports also had a 5V standby voltage constantly available. When ErP is enabled, all this turns off and the PC seems to have entered that really low 1W (as advertised by ErP) power consumption.

So, is this PSU capable of providing ErP mode? I mean, it seems that it is judging by the test, but there is no certain mark on it and I wouldn't want to damage it or something else in the PC.

On the long run, is ErP mode safe and healthy for the PSU during the off state (especially if it is not clear whether it supports it or not)?

Thanks in advance for help regarding these queries.

[stj]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

i dont know what ErP is, but standby power to the usb/ps2 is controlled usually by jumpers on the motherboard.

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

The information I found on the internet and in my motherboard's manual says that it saves power when the computer is in standby mode even further. This is a regulation so that the total power of the system won't exceed 1.0W, but you need to have an ErP ready power supply and motherboard to have a ErP/EuP system. Essentially, the aim of EuP/ErP is to reduce "Phantom"/Standby Power draw. When enabled, the computer is in a very low power state, just enough to be started by pressing the On/Off button, but everything else on the motherboard is under no voltage.
In my test, my optical mouse which is always glowing red even when the PC is off, turns off completely after maybe 10 seconds upon PC shut down in ErP mode. I guess it drains the remaining power from the capacitors, and subsequently turns itseld off. So, in ErP state, there is just enough power for the motherboard to operate the On/Off button, nothing else is given power. In this state, even when pushing the Power button, its takes the PC about 1 second to recognize that the button has been pressed, after which it powers on and boots up normally.

So I was just wondering about that ErP feature and is it harmfull to he PSU that is not labelled as ErP ready, even if it does work.

[Stefan Payne]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

i dont know what ErP is

That's the 1W standby shit...

@Topic
There is an easy way with this:
Just ask Seasonic...

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

Hi, guys.
Sorry for restarting this old thread, but I am still at a loss about this matter. I have sent an inquiry to Seasonic about SS-660KM's ErP support but I still haven't got a reply. I am even more curious now because of the following:

My PC has started having power-on delays in a duration of several seconds. By this I mean that when I press the Power button on the PC casing, nothing happens - no fans, no noise, no LEDs, nothing. Then, if left for an arbitrary number of seconds, the PC would suddenly start and boot up with no error messages and work flawlessly under all kinds of loads and time duration. This leads me to believe that all the components are fine, otherwise lock-ups, BSODs or restarts would occur - nothing of such.
Because the components are only 2 years old and the computer is not heavily used, I really doubt that something went bad - except for this PSU, which is over 5 years old. Strangely, this delay happens only after the computer has been down for a period of several hours - like over nights, after which it won't power on normally the next morning/day.

Then, as a desperate measure, I re-enabled this ErP option in my BIOS and the PC now powers on normally regardless of how much time it has been shut down - just as it should be. But because I don't know if this PSU supports this ErP feature, I am reluctant to leave it on as a quasi-solution since I have little knowledge about what it might cause to the motherboard or PSU itself if used improperly. I actually don't know why this behavior even started happening.
I really don't know what else to try as I have no idea where to even begin to look, especially since once powered on, the PC works fine.
Would you by any chance have any suggestions?

[Quaddro]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

Power on delays..
i had this problem once with fsp unit.

Due to low ps-on voltage..

Question.
Do you switch off the psu after use?

Idk, i've found a lot of this series (ss-660km, 1st gen) fail with "success" after a couple month..and have to rma it couple times before end of warranty.

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

Hi, Quaddro, and thanks for the reply.

No, the PSU remains always plugged into the wall socket and the little switch on its back is always in the "I" position, or StandBy. So I do not turn it off while the PC is not in use, never have.

Yeah, it is strange that it started doing this now - assuming it's the PSU. But since you said you had similar issues, my PSU's 5-year warranty expired this April, so I can't RMA it anymore. I've read on the internet that some modern motherboards actually require this ErP mode to be supported. Mine says it just supports it, but it is disabled in the BIOS by default. I know little about that circuitry, and am at a loss as to why the computer was able to start properly before without it, and now starts properly only with it.

I tried resetting the BIOS, I changed the CMOS battery, nothing helped, except enabling that ErP option. My motherboard is GA-Z97X-UD3H with solid Nichicon caps, the board looks as new, other components are fine as I have a non-K Intel CPU so there is no overclocking. I paid good money for this PSU when it came out, I am really disappointed in the prosper of it being the cause, plus the no-repiy policy from SeaSonic.

[stj]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

try warming it through the grill with a hairdryer - then pushing the button.

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

try warming it through the grill with a hairdryer - then pushing the button.

??? Haha, thanks, that is a very unusual piece of advice, but I am definitely going to try it tomorrow morning. At this stage, I shall try anything.

[stj]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

not that unusual.
it's a way to see if electrolytic capacitors are failing - they perform better when warm than cold!!

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

Great! I shall do that tommorow. I have already set the ErP option to disabled in BIOS earlier this day, so the PC has already been several hours off, plus the additional hours it'll be off during the upcoming night. Tomorrow I will do as you suggested.

I have a hairdryer with two speed (and therefore heat) settings. For how much time should I point the hairdryer towards the grill to achieve the warm-up?

[Quaddro]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

You'll not try to burn your components, right?

Btw, you've already out of warranty.
Just open the case, but beware of the electricity.

Take the lower heat, then blow it for at least 5-10 minutes to all of the capacitors.

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

It is a relatively simple hairdryer with two speed settings, whereby each speed comes with a predetermined heat. I will try with the first setting, the air is hot but does not cause the burning sensation on the fingers when pointed into them. I think the second setting might be too strong.

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

I don't know about hairdryers, but I've seen industrial heat guns run on their high setting melt solder. So go with the low heat setting.

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

As suggested by Quaddro, I used a regular hairdryer (for drying hair) for 2 minutes on its lowest setting. The back grill got really warm to the touch. And then, the moment of truth: I pressed the Power button and the computer powered on instantly, like eveyrthing is OK.
What does that mean now? Is it possible that during the nights room temperature drops to a level at which the PSU won't power on instantly as it should, and why it does with ErP enabled? Is there a specific component inside that could cause such a behaviour? Especially since once powerd on it works beautifully. Sorry for all these questions... I'm stumped.

[Quaddro]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

Well, as stj said, this is the symptom of capacitor failing.

The easy way, recaps all of small electrolytic caps first.
And if the problem persist, all of the capacitor, small and big.

The hard way is using esr meter, to measure each of capacitor internal resistance and capacity.
But this effective.

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

Thanks for the suggestion. Not wanting to worry about failing caps and build quality was exactly why I went with SeaSonic back then...

[stj]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

small caps are what they are - even the best brands dont have much liquid in them - so they dry out relativly fast.

[UserXP]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

OK, so I managed to open the PSU. Its interior is very compact and nothing like my previous cheaper PSUs. I don't know how to even begin to remove the PCB as there are a few of them inside. As you can see, it has a bunch of Rubycons and NCCs inside. They all look fine, no bulging. Output caps are all on the daughter PCB with plugs.
Anyways, here are the pictures. You are probably more likely to spot something that I could have failed to notice.

[Quaddro]

Re: Is Seasonic SS-660KM PSU ErP Ready

The caps in red circle for example, or wherever you find it small caps like that in your psu, especially in daughterboard, replace it.