Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

[Yatti420]

Hi Everybody,

It looks like Ultra strikes again.. First some history.. I've been using Ultra power supplies for the past few years.. My first ever purchased PSU was a Ultra modular PSU.. It was defective with the fan ticking something inside.. Replaced without issue to have this X3 die less then 2 years later..

I'm almost certain the RMA unit was repaired and then sent out to me.. It looks like it has an issue as the PSU runs it creates a nice hotspot for C30 and it cooks it.. With Ultra not using the best caps the PSU was bound to fail.. I don't (I hope) as it looks without a full teardown have serious issues.. It just appears that C30 finally gave up.. Oddly it looks like its been replaced already (with same junk as stock) It's barely even in place.. Must be half an inch off the pcb.. I can easily move it with a finger.. I thnk I might aswell give it a shot and replace it as this is a decent PSU other then the caps..

The only other visual issue I can see is a mosfet that looks like it's missing a heatsink? Or was missed / never reinstalled? It is pretty close to other components however.. It does look highly discoloured though.. See pics..

This PSU doesn't look fun to breakdown fully as its' modular with wires direct from PCB to modular plate.. I'd prefer not to do so to just do the 1 cap... Basically I had a 20min sleep cycle on this comp/psu.. It went to sleep and then refused to come back out and was basically dead.. I'm thinking C30 but definitely wanted others input as I don't frequently work on a PSU unless I really want to keep it.. Which with this 1 I would..

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

From what I can tell the X3 has

1 x 420V 390uF Teapo LG 105C Big boy
4 x 10V 3300uF JungFu (secondary)
3 x 16V 3300uF Teapo (secondary)
1 x 16v 1500uF Teapo (bulged) (near power switch) (C30)
2 x 25V 220uF JungFu (secondary) (I think values accurate)
2 x 50V 10uF Teapo ( Can't tell but their is a second cap same size in the middle of the psu)
1 x other Teapo slightly larger in the middle aswell..

Not great capacitor names.. Kinda sad for the money you pay Ultra for these..

Resistors and everything else top side look fine except for the mosfet (in picture above) and the cap C30 which has blown.. The build quality is ok I suppose except for having caps that far off the PCB? Why are they this high? Improved airflow? Looks like some coils around it so.. But heat rises.. Time to source a quick replacement if possible.. Too bad the Sanyo's I have here are suspect counterfeits..

[LDSisHere]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

The bad capacitor is probably for the 5vsb. I cannot tell from your pictures but most likely there is another capacitor for the 5vsb in the same area. Usually there is one on each side of the inductor. As long as none of the standby circuitry is damaged then replacing them should get the supply working again. Replacing all the caps is you best bet for longevity of the supply.

If the stand alone TO-220 is actually a FET then it is most likely for the 5vsb and it could have been damaged by the bad caps. When you remove the supply from its' case you should check to see if it is shorted.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Thanks for the reply.. Things have certainly progressed alot since I last broke down a PSU.. Id rather not have to take out the main lines off the PCB but I do want to do the full recap..Hmm..

I was with the computer when it went down.. Just went to sleep normally then hitting a keyboard button etc wouldn't bring it back.. Neither did a power cycle.. It was over 6 months ago.. It's just been sitting around since.. The blown cap is right near the power switch.. There is a second cap just underneath the power switch.. Hidden in the pictures.. I missed it first pass over.. Visually it looks ok.. It seems smaller then the bulged one size wise..

Edit: I wanted to fix this to get rid of the Lite-On PSU I have in my desktop currently.. Which certainly wont stack up to the Ultra.. What kind of cap series are suitable for PSU use? This is a filtering cap I think? There is a vertical PCB right infront of the blown cap and the other good cap just beside it.. A wire harness goes into it.. Not sure if this is the standby circuitry or not.. There is another vertical PCB in the middle of the PSU..

[LDSisHere]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Desoldering the PCB from the mains is not a big deal and it will make working on it much, much, easier.

The cap you found hidden is probably the second 5vsb cap as it looks like it is next to the purple 5vsb wire. You will want to replace it. You will most likely not be able to use just one series of capacitors for the recap. It looks like the big secondary caps are 10mm in diameter so getting replacements will not be easy. Getting the 3300uF 16V 10mm capacitors are going to be your biggest problem.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Hi,

It will definately make it easier to desolder from the mainboard... I might just have to go this route and do the full recap.. You unsoldered from the main board and not from the module cable plate?

I noticed some caps seem to be a little harder to source.. with exact specs.. I'm just begginning to take a look now.. Hoping to get everthing from 1-2 places max..

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Assuming I have the correct specs for everything.. Would these be suitable? Do I want

1 x 420V 390uF Teapo LG 105C Big boy replace with 420V 390uF Panasonic
(Not sure on the difference with these 2? Big caps considered snap-in?)
Digi-Key Part Number P13262-ND P14093-ND
Manufacturer Part Number EET-HC2S391DA EET-HC2S391KA

4 x 10V 3300uF JungFu (secondary) replace with Rubycon PX Series?
Digi-Key Part Number 1189-1056-ND
Manufacturer Part Number
10PX3300MEFC10X20

1 x 16v 1500uF Teapo (bulged) replace with Rubycon ZLJ ZLH?
Digi-Key Part Number 1189-1881-ND 1189-1152-ND
Manufacturer Part Number 16ZLH1500MEFC10X20 16ZLJ1500M10X20

2 x 25V 220uF JungFu - Replace with these?.. Should I be increasing the lifetime? Gonna have to look over some threads..


Quickly ran these searches.. Looks like digikey has mostly everything I need.. I should be able to confirm everything once I take the board out.. Just trying to get an idea for what kind of caps I can use to replace Teapos and the Jungfus..

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I think that TO-220 thing is not FET but diode rectifier. They tend to use both diodes inside the package in paralel lately. Still better than one medium-sized diode but even that it might get pretty hot on full load. And I took that measurement in Huntkey's FX500SE which has almost 80% efficiency of +5 V SB, this thing will probably be around 70 %.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I'm surprised it doesn't have a heatsink.. There looks to be another 1 with a small heatsink mounted.. At the minimum looks like its running pretty hot.. Once I get the board out I'll see about testing/recapping.. I've amended the caps I located above..

Edit: Whoops looks like I lost edit on that post..

1 x 420V 390uF Teapo LG >>>> 1 x 420V 390uF 20% SNAP Panasonic EET-HC2S391DA DK=P13262-ND (2000 @105C) Height.Diameter.Lead confirmed?

4 x 10V 3300uF JungFu >>>> 4 x 10v 3300uF Rubycon 10PX3300MEFC10X20 DK= 1189-1056-ND (2000 @ 105C)

3 x 16V 3300uF Teapo >>>> Still looking..

1 x 16v 1500uF Teapo (bulged - C30) >>>> Replace with Rubycon ZLJ ZLH? 16ZLH1500MEFC10X20 16ZLJ1500M10X20 DK=1189-1881-ND 1189-1152-ND (10,000@105C)

2 x 25V 220uF JungFu >>>> 2 x 25V 220 uF Rubycon 25YXG220MEFC6.3X11 DK=1189-1233-ND (3000 @ 105C) (Confirm Lead Spacing 2.5mm?)

2 x 50V 10uF Teapo >>>> Leave these in?

2 x Unknown Teapo C38/C23?(C2?) 6.3V? Can somebody please confirm these.. Ones in the middle of the PSU.. One right beside the purple wire.. The one I believe LDSisHere.. referenced earlier..

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

If it had heatsink, it won't bake that much and kill the caps so soon. You would buy a new one much later than.

[LDSisHere]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I'm surprised it doesn't have a heatsink.. There looks to be another 1 with a small heatsink mounted.. At the minimum looks like its running pretty hot.. Once I get the board out I'll see about testing/recapping.. I've amended the caps I located above..

Edit: Whoops looks like I lost edit on that post..

1 x 420V 390uF Teapo LG >>>> 1 x 420V 390uF 20% SNAP Panasonic EET-HC2S391DA DK=P13262-ND (2000 @105C) Height.Diameter.Lead confirmed?

Capacitors of this size are the snap in type. You should measure the dimensions of the original cap to make sure the replacement will fit. I would also like to point out that although the 105C caps will tolerate heat better, the 85C caps usually have a higher ripple rating. (I went with a 85C for my X4.)

4 x 10V 3300uF JungFu >>>> 4 x 10v 3300uF Rubycon 10PX3300MEFC10X20 DK= 1189-1056-ND (2000 @ 105C)

The PX series is not recommended for power supplies, however I have used them in the past myself but I now avoid it. For 10V 3300uF caps I use Samxon RS that I bought from Badcaps, but I do not see them on the master list any longer.

3 x 16V 3300uF Teapo >>>> Still looking..

Behemot is the only source I know of for these, check out the for sale section of this forum.

1 x 16v 1500uF Teapo (bulged - C30) >>>> Replace with Rubycon ZLJ ZLH? 16ZLH1500MEFC10X20 16ZLJ1500M10X20 DK=1189-1881-ND 1189-1152-ND (10,000@105C)

If you go with Rubycon then I would choose the ZLJ over the ZLH, I would also look at the UCC KY series 565-1530-ND.

2 x 25V 220uF JungFu >>>> 2 x 25V 220 uF Rubycon 25YXG220MEFC6.3X11 DK=1189-1233-ND (3000 @ 105C) (Confirm Lead Spacing 2.5mm?)

If these are 8mm caps then what about the following caps?
NCC KZE 565-1674-ND
NCC KY 565-1546-ND

2 x 50V 10uF Teapo >>>> Leave these in?

I use Nichicon PW series for <= 47uF 50V caps and I do replace them but some on the forum leave these alone.

2 x Unknown Teapo C38/C23?(C2?) 6.3V? Can somebody please confirm these.. Ones in the middle of the PSU.. One right beside the purple wire.. The one I believe LDSisHere.. referenced earlier..

You probably should just pull them to verify the values if you cannot make them out while in the supply.

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Yeah, wanted to add a link to my sign but than, don't want Topcat get really mad. I know he is forbidding selling caps here and people offering servicing but I am definitelly not the first doing this here and as hell not last and it seems most of them haven't been banned so

Just for the record, I offered him the Samxons RS as probably the first of all people. Multiple times. So he could have been selling them on his own the whole time and I won't have bad feeling because of walking in his shoes. We could both be happy. But I haven't got any response from him since I got the caps. So I am just making people happy by having good caps into their PSUs, eh?

As for the small caps, not all PSUs like changing general purpose for low-ESR caps. That's why I keep stock of both Nichicon PW and VZ and select each based on the previous capacitor type used.

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Thanks for all the info.. I'm going to have to get a decent iron for this project it looks like.. LDSisHere did you desolder from the main pcb? it would almost seem easier to desolder from the module terminal plate.. I think I'm gonna wait before doing anything to ensure I pick up proper caps...

At the bare minimum I might see if I can get the bad one swapped out quick to ensure operation then do a full recap if I can..

[Yatti420]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

I've confirmed size of the main 420v cap.. It's sitting directly beside a big coil and heatsink.. I'm not sure about moving to 85C with this kind of proximity..

I think I'm gonna pick up some 16v 1500uF to test the PSU with the 1 cap swapped..

I guess I need to change my thinking with regards to PSU.. Would low impedance caps go in a PSU with low ESR on the motherboard? I found some 16v 1500uF on ebay from a source I've used before that appears to be legitimate.. What would you recommend from this list?

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

NCC KZE. But it's so expensive per piece…

[domas]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

not sure about the caps themself, but the seller is most likely to be Chinsese/HK/TW etc. (regarding language skills), and caps are shipped from HK...
You sure they are not counterfeit?

[mockingbird]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Nichicon HD and NCC KZE are equal in spec, and you get 12 Nichicons for the same price as 6 KZE series caps.

[Behemot]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Oh, your right. I am still getting lost in the Nichicon's Hx series.

Anyway, they are suspiciously same, don't they use the same electrolyte?

[c_hegge]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Those KZEs are 12.5mm diameter, and the HDs are 10mm diameter, so if the originals are 10mm, then use the HDs

not sure about the caps themself, but the seller is most likely to be Chinsese/HK/TW etc. (regarding language skills), and caps are shipped from HK...
You sure they are not counterfeit?

PCMCS is one of few good ebay sellers. His caps are all genuine, but they are NOS.

[LDSisHere]

Re: Ultra X3 ULT-XC600W Teardown & Repair

Thanks for all the info.. I'm going to have to get a decent iron for this project it looks like.. LDSisHere did you desolder from the main pcb? it would almost seem easier to desolder from the module terminal plate..

I always desolder the mains wires from the PCB. Once you get all the screws out, it is not much of a problem to flip the PCB over to get at the wires. I also attach a power cord directly to it so I can make sure it is working properly before I bother putting it back in the case. (I am not telling to do this, it is just what I do.) It may actually be easier to desolder from the back of the input but I think that would be much harder to put back when you are finished. Some people do not bother to remove the wires at all, so my suggestion is to do what you think will work best for you.

I've confirmed size of the main 420v cap.. It's sitting directly beside a big coil and heatsink.. I'm not sure about moving to 85C with this kind of proximity..

I did not realize that this cap was a 105C, the one in my X4 was rated at 85C. Normally I prefer to use 105C myself but since ripple is a factor with an APFC I stuck with a 85C in my recap. Since yours originally had a 105C cap that is what I would stick with if it was mine.

I think I'm gonna pick up some 16v 1500uF to test the PSU with the 1 cap swapped..

You could scavenge something close enough from some old electronics headed to the landfill just for temporary testing purposes. Just make sure it is an undamaged quality brand and do not use your motherboard as a load test. (Ebay is not a good place to buy your electronic parts, I know from experience as I did this myself before I knew other options existed.)