Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

[goodpsusearch]

This power supply powered a c2d 6400, 2x512MB DDR2, Sapphire X1650 PCIE, WD SATA 200GB 7200, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, Hybrid PCI TV Card and 2 led fans without a problem for 5 years.

My friend brought it to me to upgrade the RAM and take a look at it. I checked the voltages and they were all ok. It passed every test that I did to it. There are no bad caps on mobo.

So, I opened the psu to take a look inside, being confident that everything would be ok.... I was wrong. There are 2 TEAPO 820uF 200V primary caps and 1 of them is bulging. I pushed the top of the cap with my finger but it doesn't get flat like the other...

Why that cap failed?? There is no APFC, neither high frequency ripple, the input filtering is great and the capacitor is a Teapo, not some fuhjyyu or Capxon...

[c_hegge]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

I hate teapo.

Also check the caps near the PFC Coil plug. They have two very hot resistors near them and can also go bad.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

I hate teapo.

Also check the caps near the PFC Coil plug. They have two very hot resistors near them and can also go bad.

The good thing about those small caps is that, if I am correct, they are part of a circuit that acts like a voltage booster for the main primary caps. Those caps always fail and when they fail nothing happens, the voltage booster circuit just stops working! In fact I take them out from the Jou Jye psus that I recap. More info here:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...&postcount=109
some pics and diagrams:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1268336235
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...2&d=1268336235
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...9&d=1268165068
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...0&d=1268166583

[Shocker]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

So Teapo really is just another of the many Taiwanese manufacturers of crapacitors.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

neither high frequency ripple

Oh yes there is high frequency ripple. Doesn't the SMPS draw power in high frequency pulses? You forgot about that one.

[c_hegge]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

So Teapo really is just another of the many Taiwanese manufacturers of crapacitors.

Yup. They aren't as bad as Fuhjyyu and GSC/Sacon, but they are still to be avoided. They are about on par with OST and CapXon.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

They used 85C caps in a psu

2x 47uF Teapo SK 85C

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

Just measured the Teapo 820uF 200V Primary caps:


non bulging: esr: 0.05 capacity: 812uF

bulging: esr: 0.64 capacity: 772uF

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

Can I replace the Teapo primary caps with Capxon? Those caps are really expensive and I thought that the primary caps don't fail often...

Going up from 820uF to 1000uF, will it hurt?

[mariushm]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

Yes, you can replace them with 1000uF, won't be any problems.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

I have recapped the power supply and it is now working, but.. the plastic holder of the fan is touching the top of the caps.. I managed to close the case and didn't tighten the screws too much... I hope it's ok.

Some photos attached

[dmill89]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

So long as the blades are not obstructed and it spins freely you should be ok. I have a TR2-550w (not currently in a computer, kept as a spare), it has Rubycons on the primary but JunFu (rebranded Fuhjyyu) on the secondary. I'd probably rather have it all Teapo like the one you have since Teapos tend to be more reliable than JunFus, of course 100% Japanese Caps would be even better. What is it with CWT, so many of their PSUs are good designs but are let down by the crap caps they use.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

Here it is, powering again my friend's PC. Thank you for your help

[tom66]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

I had a similar PSU (I think 480W, I gave it to my friend). It was even worse, because there's a secondary board crammed with an active PFC stage. Almost no space in it for airflow.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

Impossible... My friend called me complaining that his computer would not start. I went there only to find that the psu acted weirdly and when I opened it I had a deja-vu. One of the 2 primary caps bulged again and drained to the point that it measures completely open at the ESR micro meter...

This is very strange, primary caps rarely fail, especially without APFC. All I can think is that something in the power supply makes that primary capacitor bulge.

Sorry, didn't take pics of it yet.

[tom66]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

It IS a CapXon. They can fail with no apparent cause...

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

It IS a CapXon. They can fail with no apparent cause...

I wish you were right but I think it's the power supply, not the cap.

Same brand, series and uF-V caps are running in Jou Jye power supplies without a problem for years.

[dmill89]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

It could be an underlying issue with the psu but those caps are in a bad location between the primary heatsink and PPFC coil. CapXons are not very durable so it wouldn't be unreasonable for them to have failed again after 5mos. especially if it was heavily loaded and/or poorly cooled. High quality japanese caps could posibly solve the issue.

[Pentium4]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

I wouldn't use CapXon caps as primaries in a PSU with PFC

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Thermaltake TR2-500 Primary cap bad?

I wouldn't use CapXon caps as primaries in a PSU with PFC

This psu doesn't have active pfc. As far as I know passive PFC doesn't boost voltage neither stresses the cap.