Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

[Toasty]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

That is a reasonable suggestion and I had considered it and then abandoned it. My reasoning (based on many years in electronics design and repair of smps) is that while the lower voltage will provide a suitable margin above the working voltage, the physically smaller size of these caps means they have less volume of electrolyte. As it is, manufacturers are constantly trying to reduce the volume of their capacitors in order to occupy less board space and this means there has to be some compromises. Less volume = less electrolyte = less ability to disperse heat = faster drying out and earlier failure.

If you think about it, so did the originals. That is why it's an acceptable practice. Plus, the PSU companies -would *never* lie- about what those caps are. They would *never* deliberately mislabel a cap just to sell it...



These are limited lifetime units to boot. They are not intended to last 10 years. 3 years tops unless you go to the uber supplies, which few can afford. Just remember that many of those are built by the same companies that build the HKFA* supplies.

Installing even a mm larger cap in a lot of these supplies is just not physically possible. Personally, I want to recap it, get it running properly and move to the next item. Redesigning some numb-nuts engineer's wet dream of a PSU, just to fit the proper cap, is not on today's ticket.

My 2¢

Toast

*( HongKongFlyApart Company, LLC. ® )

[Rulycat]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

These are limited lifetime units to boot. They are not intended to last 10 years. 3 years tops unless you go to the uber supplies, which few can afford. Just remember that many of those are built by the same companies that build the HKFA* supplies.

Thing is though, if you bought a really good PSU like the Seasonic X Series or the OCZ Z Series or whatever, that will outlast many cheaper and even mid r ange PSUs and see you through many builds. So unless you're doing as we do on here and recap and modify for maximum lifetime then getting one of those uber PSUs can be worth it if all you want to do is install it and leave it for the next 10 years.

[Toasty]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

True, from our perspective.

The general public does not have a clue, nor do they care. You start running that spiel about how good it is and it will do this-or-that, and their eyes glaze over. "It's $50, right?" No, they want the whoopee! system that does all this-n-that for $200. They could care less about the power supply. "Well, QVC had it for $425" Don't even try to explain that this system is 3x faster, does more, and will still be running 6 years from now.

The uber supplies are not readily available at the local computer shop. Most won't carry any unless by special request for a customer. There's no money in it. Especially when the online shops are -selling it- (with FREE shipping) for less than the local shop will -pay for it-. Therefore, exposure to the good stuff is limited. Custom shops are a rarity, and are limited to the garage builder rather than the one in the strip mall.



Toast

[Rulycat]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Good points Toasty, this is why I think warranties should be legally required to be 2 years instead of the 1 year it is over here, and that PSU manufacturers should have to display real (not peak) power. Would take a lot of the crap off of the market. Also means that joe bloggs won't be able to get his 550w EZCool or whatever it is these days. Though Dodgy Dave would still be able to get you one down the pub for a tenner that a guy got off the back of a romanian lorry the day before.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Here all warranties have been already extended to 2 years minimum. And romanian lorries sometimes smuggle good stuff.

[Rulycat]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Here all warranties have been already extended to 2 years minimum. And romanian lorries sometimes smuggle good stuff.

I forgot there was a Romanian member on here. Sometimes they do, got to be careful what ends up in the UK though, we get the leftovers.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Well a lot of Romanian women have married UK citizens and moved there... one of my english teachers back in grade school did so. There's a lack of pretty girls in your country. Or shall we call 'em lasses mate?

[Rulycat]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Well a lot of Romanian women have married UK citizens and moved there... one of my english teachers back in grade school did so. There's a lack of pretty girls in your country. Or shall we call 'em lasses mate?

Lack of pretty girls? That's why we have so many pubs! Beer goggles.

And as for what to call them, most are pretty lacking in any kind of morality, so you probably won't even need to say much.

[tazwegion]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Thing is though, if you bought a really good PSU like the Seasonic X Series or the OCZ Z Series or whatever, that will outlast many cheaper and even mid r ange PSUs and see you through many builds.

That's why I replace those dodgy capacitors because I can't afford an All-Star-U-Beaut-Top-Of-The-Range PSU... wish I could but them's the breaks eh?


Thought I'd pop in to mention that this PSU is still running flawlessly powering a new (slightly updated) system, on it's second or third system build

• A64 3000+ (s754)
• Asus KV8-Pro
• nVidia Ti 4200
• Corsair XMS DDR400

Which according to the PSU calculator found HERE requires a 314w peak capacity unit well within the humble output of this rejuvenated Antec

[kaboom]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

.... according to the PSU calculator found HERE requires a 314w peak capacity unit well within the humble output of this rejuvenated Antec

Them's Tandy watts, buddy.

[tazwegion]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Them's Tandy watts, buddy.

Nah... them's theoretical 100% maximum loading watts, that calculator is only meant to be used as a reference guide

[tazwegion]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Just a quick update, PSU and s754 system still running without issue well after industry dictated obsolescence... it's been 8 years since the initial recap with Samxon Capacitors was carried out.

[eccerr0r]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

I think most of the 24/7 PSUs I've had to deal with end up spinning a fan bearing before frying caps... but yes plenty of bad caps killing psus too.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Just a quick update, PSU and s754 system still running without issue well after industry dictated obsolescence... it's been 8 years since the initial recap with Samxon Capacitors was carried out.

Yea it's amazing isn't it?
I helped a friend recap his Antec PSU many years ago, this one here:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...ower#post25911

The original did not even last 1.5 years!
The recapped PSU with Samxon caps has now been going strong for ca 7.5 years!

I did actually cheat on the small caps tho (didn't know better back then)
So in November last year I had to replace all small caps, 1uF > 220uF
Because the PSU would not start at all.
Let's see if it will live another 7.5 years now

[tazwegion]

Re: Antec TruePower380 & the Fuhjyyu Syndrome

Yea it's amazing isn't it?
I helped a friend recap his Antec PSU many years ago, this one here:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...ower#post25911

The original did not even last 1.5 years!
The recapped PSU with Samxon caps has now been going strong for ca 7.5 years!

That is pretty good isn't it? the low air flow can be an issue as we live in a pretty hot part of the country and experience high 30 and low 40's (Celsius) each summer, unfortunately something obstructed the fan on this unit and it began making some odd noise, on disassembly it was nothing more than a stray wire which required a replacement cable tie.

I inspected the capacitors whilst blowing 8 years of dust out and noted the 2200uF 16v had a misshapen top (as seen below), a 5 minute fix and all was well although the capacitor hadn't become flaky at this point...


Current System (powered by this PSU)

AMD 4800 x2
MSI K9AGM2
2 x 1Gb DDR2
PCI-E 6600GT