Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

[selldoor]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Maybe that was the this one at the other end of the board?
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/fullimage.php?image=9108
Picture from hardware secrets


This is the end you want but I cant make it out - perhaps you can or you can
compare it with the old caps you have?

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/imageview.php?image=9109

[Behemot]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

I thought the EA-500 was a CWT design (Whereas the 500D was Delta)...

It is Seasonic S12-II OEM, that is SST-500HT-F3. Never seen any Seasonic bad because of capacitors. You have ESR meter?

[tazwegion]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Everall says his 3300uf was 16v??

Yes that's the one on the 12 volt line (opposite end of PCB), this circuit employs a mix of...

1000uF 10v
1000uF 16v
2200uF 10v
3300uF 10v
3300uF 16v
330uF 400v

In an effort to cut down on units ordered I used 16v rated (low ESR) units for all the 1000uF capacitors, using a DMM I was able to determine with 100% accuracy the 12v line (capacitor locations), so as I said earlier I'm down to the last 3 capacitors, the one the right is for the 5v line but it's the capacitance I'm looking to confirm on the left 2... although the picture pretty much confirms the larger 3300uF capacitor is behind the smaller 2200uF.

It is Seasonic S12-II OEM, that is SST-500HT-F3. Never seen any Seasonic bad because of capacitors. You have ESR meter?

The primary input capacitor failed, as I don't have an ESR meter (I have a DSE kit somewhere I need to build) I performed a simple capacity test charging up the capacitor with a low voltage then reading what remained with a volt meter, the fuse also went open circuit, FWIW I live in a high temperature climate reaching in excess of 42c during summer (which last for 2 weeks or more).

The OST capacitors were replaced out of prejudice and I might alter the fan speed control arrangement as well...

[predator0357]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Yes that's the one on the 12 volt line (opposite end of PCB), this circuit employs a mix of...

1000uF 10v
1000uF 16v
2200uF 10v
3300uF 10v
3300uF 16v
330uF 400v

In an effort to cut down on units ordered I used 16v rated (low ESR) units for all the 1000uF capacitors, using a DMM I was able to determine with 100% accuracy the 12v line (capacitor locations), so as I said earlier I'm down to the last 3 capacitors, the one the right is for the 5v line but it's the capacitance I'm looking to confirm on the left 2... although the picture pretty much confirms the larger 3300uF capacitor is behind the smaller 2200uF.




The primary input capacitor failed, as I don't have an ESR meter (I have a DSE kit somewhere I need to build) I performed a simple capacity test charging up the capacitor with a low voltage then reading what remained with a volt meter, the fuse also went open circuit, FWIW I live in a high temperature climate reaching in excess of 42c during summer (which last for 2 weeks or more).

The OST capacitors were replaced out of prejudice and I might alter the fan speed control arrangement as well...

Hi,
First: u CANT check CAPS with VoltMeter!
Second: if u have in summer 42C so put a fan the thakes out the air from the PSU,Put outside the PSU on the grill of it, cuz the PSU take his air from the case and if u help the hot air to get out of the PSU fast equel faster Circulation of cold air that cooling the componnets and exhaust faster the HOT air.
that what i did cuz me 2 living in hot area, and in the my PSU the temp drops 38\39C to 36\35C

[selldoor]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

"First: u CANT check CAPS with VoltMeter!"

That is not really correct - there are limited tests that you can do to test if
a cap is shorted or open. They are not accurate enough to decide if a cap is
suitable for its application but it is a valid test. - see here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDuN7QHn1-s

[Behemot]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Well if primary cap like this wen bad, it is not just like that. I would check PFC, especialy the coil, that may be responsible for baking it.

As for other caps, if you ordered from me, I have close to everything PSU-wise on stock, for better prices than most world e-shops. Drop me a PM next time you need something, you can also check my website for capacitor stock.

[tazwegion]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Hi,
First: u CANT check CAPS with VoltMeter!

Actually you can and I do using a slightly different process to that illustrated in the video above (thanks selldoor), remember capacitors are like batteries in the sense that they can accept, hold a charge and then discharge, what I do is use a 1.5v battery and determine if the capacitor in question can still accept, hold and discharge that current... simple but effective, the test will not however determine the capacitance value.

Second: if u have in summer 42C so put a fan the thakes out the air from the PSU,Put outside the PSU on the grill of it, cuz the PSU take his air from the case and if u help the hot air to get out of the PSU fast equel faster Circulation of cold air that cooling the componnets and exhaust faster the HOT air.
that what i did cuz me 2 living in hot area, and in the my PSU the temp drops 38\39C to 36\35C

Yes that is my intention but I was contemplating going further and adding an intake to the front face as well to create a push-pull air flow scenario.

Well if primary cap like this wen bad, it is not just like that. I would check PFC, especialy the coil, that may be responsible for baking it.

I'm thinking it was simply an extreme overheat as I also run a 9600GT card in a Mid sized case, the airflow from these PSU's in standard trim is pretty mediocre (my TrueBlue 480w PSU's are far superior), I should also note the primary cap was only rated at 85c whereas the Seasonic variant used a 105c spec component.

As for other caps, if you ordered from me, I have close to everything PSU-wise on stock, for better prices than most world e-shops. Drop me a PM next time you need something, you can also check my website for capacitor stock.

I have (your eBay store) and will happily do so again...



Still looking to verify beyond all doubt those 2 capacitor locations

[Behemot]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

There's not everything on eBay and the stuff there is more expensive due to al those fees and other ransom.

Interesting fact somebody pointed to some time ago is 85 deg. caps usually handle higher current than 105 deg. So considering same current, it is not that much worse it would seem.

[tazwegion]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

There's not everything on eBay and the stuff there is more expensive due to al those fees and other ransom.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind... I used to get most of my SamXon gear through Big Pope (on these forums) a few years back and am always looking for a reliable supply of good quality capacitors.

Interesting fact somebody pointed to some time ago is 85 deg. caps usually handle higher current than 105 deg. So considering same current, it is not that much worse it would seem.

That is interesting I had not heard that one before, from what I had read the 105c components were the ones to have because their service life was significantly longer than an 85c running at normal operational temps.


FWIW I've given this PSU a little additional "bolt on" cooling assistance (as you can see below)

[Behemot]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Joe disappeared so I took over I'd say I will get some new caps tomorrow and more KYA 3300 uF/6,3 V are on the way. Soon I should also finally get the price of KZN 3300 uF/16 V D10x40 mm from my distributor.

Check for example NCC KMQ vs. SMQ: 2000 hours@105 °C, 2000 hours@85 °C. SMQ has aprox. 35 % higher ripple current in same capacity/voltage and can dimensions.

[mariushm]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Actually you can and I do using a slightly different process to that illustrated in the video above (thanks selldoor), remember capacitors are like batteries in the sense that they can accept, hold a charge and then discharge, what I do is use a 1.5v battery and determine if the capacitor in question can still accept, hold and discharge that current... simple but effective, the test will not however determine the capacitance value.

That's not enough to test if a capacitor used in a switching power supply or motherboard is good or not.

The capacitor has some characteristics that change with the frequency the circuit operates in. You get one set of specifications when you measure by hand or using a multimeter (which uses 50-100 Hz) and you'll have another set of results when running at 60-150 kHz (typical of motherboard vrms, switching power supplies etc).

ESR, ESL etc, these will change. A capacitor can be bad yet still show capacitance within 10-20% on your multimeter or when doing charge time tests using your oscilloscope (or by hand)... you'll only see them bad with a LCR meter with ESR function, or using a cheap esr meter (which will give you an approximation of the real esr).

[tazwegion]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

That's not enough to test if a capacitor used in a switching power supply or motherboard is good or not.

Maybe... but it will certainly indicate if the capacitor is bad when no charge is held won't it? I'm not advocating it as the be all and end all of capacitor testing.

[momaka]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Maybe... but it will certainly indicate if the capacitor is bad when no charge is held won't it? I'm not advocating it as the be all and end all of capacitor testing.

Yes, if you charge the capacitor to 1.5V and very little of that appears on the meter after a little bit, then the cap is likely bad. Keep in mind, though, that low-capacitance caps (such as 220 uF and lower) would loose charge very quickly when you connect your multimeter probes.

A more conclusive test I've found is to charge the capacitor in question to as high of a voltage as it can take (though if it is a capacitor rated for 35V or more, you need NOT go higher than about 20V). Then take a metal object and carefully and slowly short its leads. If the capacitor is 470 uF or more, you should be able to see some sparks. If you don't, try the test a few times. If you still don't see any, then it's probably bad. Just FYI, a 1000 uF capacitor charged to 20V would make quite a big POP when discharged like that.

Obviously for this test, you will need to have the capacitor in question removed from the circuit. The test may not reveal too much about the capacitance of the capacitor, but it will certainly tell you if it has higher-than-normal ESR.

I regularly use 5V on 2200 uF and 3300 uF caps from PSUs. If it sparks, ESR is okay (I confirmed this with an ESR meter too). No spark - high ESR, likely dried up.

[doru2304]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

So where is the heat sensor on the EA-500???????????

Did I miss something in the schematic?

HardwareSecrets (February 18, 2008)
<< This power supply uses a semiconductor thermal sensor, which is very small and installed on the solder side of the printed circuit board, between the transformer and the +12 V rectifiers. This sensor is used to control the fan speed according to the power supply internal temperature. >>
https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/ante...pply-review/5/

I can confirm this. It seems it is a NTC.
On the PCB the code is TR901 and on my EA-500 PS has around 4.5k resistance at room temperature (it may be a false measurement because was not removed from the circuit).
So the speed of the FAN is controlled by the PCB temperature from that area.
I marked up main components on PCB side. I will try to complete the drawing developed by everell in post #8.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...15&postcount=8

[momaka]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

I can confirm this. It seems it is a NTC.
On the PCB the code is TR901 and on my EA-500 PS has around 4.5k resistance at room temperature (it may be a false measurement because was not removed from the circuit).
So the speed of the FAN is controlled by the PCB temperature from that area.

Indeed it is.
And that NTC is connected to the same ground pad as the 12V rail's rectifiers. Since this is a more modern PSU meant for 12V-based PC, obviously the fan is made to be controlled by the rail that draws the most load... which is indeed the 12V rail. Hence the location of the NTC.

[dreamlayers]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

I just had to open up my EA-500 because the fan wasn't spinning. I don't think the power supply was overheating, but I was pretty sure the fan used to spin all the time. I guess some intermittent fault happened in the transistor or its solder joints because it runs so hot. I replaced the transistor with a 2N3053, which is in a metal can case that can dissipate heat better. Now, a few comments about the circuit.

The fan is obviously supposed to spin all the time. The 390 ohm and 150 ohm resistors connected to the transistor base form a voltage divider, so even if the AZ431 tries to pull the base down there is sufficient voltage to spin the fan. (If you want to calculate voltages, consider effects of base current, Vbe, and how the AZ431 can't pull its cathode all the way to ground.)

The Vref terminal and the combination of thermistor and resistors there determine the transition from low to high speed. Both the slope and where the speedup starts can be altered there. I suggest playing with it in a circuit simulator like LTspice if you want to examine changes. Note that R901 connects Vref to +12 V and there's also a 22 kohm surface mount resistor (labelled 223) which connects to fan positive voltage.

The general intent of the design seems to be that the fan usually spins at a low, quiet, constant speed, as determined by the resistors connected to transistor base. It speeds up with a steep slope if the thermistor area gets very hot. So probably during normal usage you'll only see the low constant speed. At https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2007/...ower-supply/2/ you can see that the fan was not audible until 415.9W and reached full speed 517.5W, both in the hot box.

Before I fully understood the circuit I made the mistake of adding a 2.4 kohm resistor from Vref to ground to speed up the constant speed a bit. But that meant the ramp to full speed happened just above ambient, and after a few minutes there was an annoying loud hum from the fan spinning fast. Right now it's running with no modifications except the transistor replacement.

[momaka]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Thanks for the explanation, dreamlayers, and welcome to the forums!

Yes, I've noticed that on both my EA-500 and EA-430 units the fan never really spins up faster. I think I measured the running voltage going to the fan to be around 4.2-4.3V, if I remember correctly. So for both of my units, after I recapped them, I added a small diode from the 5V rail to the fan (+) connection. This brought the fan voltage up a little by about 0.1 or 0.15 (again, IIRC) and eased the heat off of the H8050 transistor slightly. What inspired me to do this more was the fact that if the H8050 fails open-circuit, say from overheating, then the small diode will continue to supply the fan with power and the PSU won't overheat. Also, it was very convenient. I found that SOT-23 SMD diodes that have pin 1 as anode and pin 2 as cathode will fit perfectly on the back of the board to supply 5V from a nearby 5V rail trace right to the fan (+) wire. I detailed the fix here:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...87&postcount=5

That said, I've been thinking about re-designing the fan controller circuit in mine... but just haven't had the time and both of my Earthwatts PSUs are installed in PCs right now.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Antec Earthwatts EA-500 500w PSU

Fan issues? That reminds me of the ill-fated SmartPower series, which the last one, was probably manufactured in 2005, maybe 2006.

I think the fan controller failed in my 2005 SmartPower 2.0 500W.
(The last known Antec series to be CWT-based.)

And in 2011, when it was super quiet in the house, I heard a whining sound with the Acer Aspire M5630 (ECS motherboard, IIRC) powered off, except for 5V-standby of course and pretty much as sure as dog shit, saw a bulged Fuhjyyu cap, looked like it probably was the 5V-standby cap.