Is this oldie a goodie ? - Macron MPT-A230W

[pfrcom]

Needing a power supply to test some older Socket A boards, I dug out and gave this a clean

Was it worth the effort ?

[Stefan Payne]

Re: Is this oldie a goodie ? - Macron MPT-A230W

Not really something I would use...
Doesn't look that bad from a far, but still in the 'avoid' range...

[momaka]

Re: Is this oldie a goodie ? - Macron MPT-A230W

Wow, that's an ancient Macron!
Single-transistor 5VSB without feedback and likely 7805 output regulator for the 5VSB. If the 5VSB section doesn't look too burned/charred/darkened from heat, it should be okay to use. Unlike its 2-transistor cousin, the single-transistor 5VSB with 7805 output regulator usually only kills itself if something goes wrong and not the motherboard.

I should note that this is not the best build quality I've seen from Macron though - in fact this looks a bit gutless. If you do have some spare caps, though, this might make a decent PSU since there is space on the secondary side for 12.5 mm caps (something you don't see very often in PSUs).

As for whether you can use it for testing - that denpends on the output rectifiers and the particular socket A motherboard you are testing. Older socket A boards pull more power from the 5V rail while newer ones with the 4-pin 12V CPU connector pull more power from 12V rail. With that in mind, if testing a 5V-based system, then make sure the output rectifer for the 5V rail is rated for at least 16A. Likewise, if testing a 12V-based system, then make sure the output rectifier for the 12V rail is rated for at least 10A.

Also, I highly suggest using either onboard video card or some low-end, low-power GPU if using this PSU to test. Avoid high power graphics cards or anything with a separate power connector.

Last but not least, if this power supply hasn't been powered in the last 5 years, I suggest to first plug it in the wall and let it sit for something like 30 minutes. If everything is still good after that, then try hooking up either a junk hard drive or a bunch of fans and turn it on (by jumpering PS to ground). If the PSU doesn't make any weird screeching or whining noises, it should be okay to use.

[Pentium4]

Re: Is this oldie a goodie ? - Macron MPT-A230W

Doesn't look too bad for 230W depending on the secondary rectifiers. They're all TO-220 though so it's unlikely that any of them are rated more than 20A, and not even the 5V has two in parallel, usually these old ones do.. Do the matching transistors on the primary heatsink say 13007 on them?

You may want to consider larger input capacitors, and some Y capacitors, and I'm sure almost 100% of the caps are out of spec. Even the large ones that aren't bulging probably read very high capacitance

Going by the first picture, what is that cap directly adjacent to the main toroid coil? It looks like it has a Rubycon vent (It's probably fake)

Is that a Power Logic fan?

[Sparkey55]

Re: Is this oldie a goodie ? - Macron MPT-A230W

200 Watts, top, on a good day IMO.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Is this oldie a goodie ? - Macron MPT-A230W

Don't bother with that!