Antec SmartPower P.O.S

[finnland]

Hello everyone.
New here but with old problems it would seem.
Hav hade some problems with some Antec SmartPower PSU this week and was hoping for some inpur. The first one developed a typical squeeling noise of something oscillating in the Stand-By cirquit and had ad drop in the +5V but it was rma yesterday. While that one is away i was lent another SmartPower psu which was said to be in working order. Well, this one is a bit knackered too. Firstly when it was plugged in it made some erratic ticking noises and when fired up it fried my 6 month old hard drive. All the magic blue smoke escaped so its a gonner. :\ Well after that i've measured all the outputs of the psu, unlaiden, and it all seems to bee in spec (3.32V, 4.8V, 12.4V) but if i measure the AC output i get (7.4V, 11.2V, 25.3V). I may be getting this a bit wrong but this doesn't seem to be alright or is soem resistance needed in order to measure it properly?

//Henrik

[shadow]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Well when measuring AC voltage, it should be very close to zero.
So I think that power supply is supplying very very dirty power (something that is nowhere near DC).
One reason for this that I can think of at the moment is shorted capacitors.

If it killed your hard drive then the voltages definitely are not 3.32V, 4.8V and 12.4V. That is for sure!

Oh and welcome to the forums!!

[finnland]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Thanks.
Well there is a big chunk missing from the diode at the +12v input of the hard drive so there must have been a lot of current going trough there. So nice of the shop to lend me a defective one. >:-|

[gastorgrab]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

The first one developed a typical squeeling noise of something oscillating in the Stand-By cirquit and had ad drop in the +5V but it was rma yesterday.

Awww, shit!

I just agreed to look at my fathers machine and the squeel is the first thing i noticed. It's doing some pretty weird things including a sudden reboot during Memtest86.

This is the PSU i put in only a few months ago;
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=26400

I thought that Antec only made quality equipment until i came to this site.

Are these common occurances for Antec Smart Power PSU's?
.

[Sparky]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Antec smartpower, smartpower 2, truepower, and truepower 2 PSUs have crap caps in them (fuhjyyu). The truepower trio, quattro, and neoHE series are fine. Their basiq series are OK as well.

You can recap the bad cap PSUs and have a decent PSU. I've recapped 2 antecs so far and they work great now. I have a 3rd waiting for a recap. All of them are over 4 years old (two are at least 5 if not older).

[gastorgrab]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Antec smartpower, smartpower 2, truepower, and truepower 2 PSUs have crap caps in them (fuhjyyu). The truepower trio, quattro, and neoHE series are fine. Their basiq series are OK as well.

You can recap the bad cap PSUs and have a decent PSU. I've recapped 2 antecs so far and they work great now. I have a 3rd waiting for a recap. All of them are over 4 years old (two are at least 5 if not older).

Are the caps related to the noise coming out of it or are there other parts to worry about?

Would the 'fuhjyyu' caps actually be bulged in such a new power supply?
.

[Sparky]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Sometimes they can be related to the noise. A bulged/failing cap can be arcing inside or something causing hissing/buzzing/squealing noises, or possibly cause another component inside the PSU to make some noise (coils for instance).

I used to have a Truepower 2 PSU in my rig. It was only 9 months before it vented one of its fuhjyyu caps. Some last even a shorter time. It wouldn't surprise me if your dad's PSU has a failing cap in it.

[gastorgrab]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

[Sparky]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

That PSU should be under warranty. You could RMA it and see what replacement you get. Or you could just forget the warranty, open it up, write down all the values of the secondary caps and the other 3 or 4 smaller ones (around 1000uF 10V or so for 2 and the others would be like 680uF 16V and 470uF 16V, or something like that). PM topcat with what you need, he can supply you with replacements. Sometimes he doesn't have something exact, but you can deviate from the original ratings a little. Example is the 10V caps, most that goes through those is 5V so 6.3V caps are fine.

[gastorgrab]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Two problems with warranty.

1. By the time i shipped the part off and got it back i could have ordered a known good brand, or rebuilt this one.

2. Unless i open it up, how do i prove to Antec (and myself) that it's faulty?


I bought a Thermaltake cheapie about two years ago for around 30% less and had no trouble at all with it.


.

[Sparky]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Take a peek through the grills of the PSU to see if you can spot bad caps.

Use a DMM to test the output voltages.

If nothing else, the PSU shouldn't make awful squealing noises.

[gastorgrab]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

I see one 8mm Teapo but i can't see the value from this angle.

Two tiny, around 5mm diameter, caps are visible. They are either dark blue or black with a white stripe. I havn't figured out what brand they are yet. I may have to crack the case open.

One of the two small caps is leaning about 60 degrees but i think the manufacturer did this accidently. A blob of rubbery glue is at it's base so i assume that its position hasn't changed since it was manufactured.



Are the Antec Basiqs OK, or just mostly OK?

It never fails that whenever i start one project, another one breaks down......

I was considering replacing this power supply with a known good one and then diagnose-repair the Smart Power for use with the VP6 i recapped.
.

[Sparky]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

AFAIK the basiqs are made by FSP. Someone here cracked one open and it looks to be of decent quality.

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Thanks.
Well there is a big chunk missing from the diode at the +12v input of the hard drive so there must have been a lot of current going trough there. So nice of the shop to lend me a defective one. >:-|

Does anything else on the hard drive look burned? You might be able to replace the diode and get it running again. I did this with a 10 gig Western Digital once. Though the second one I did still didn't start up.

[finnland]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Well well, loosing faith in antec rapidly. Just got a new power supply from the rma and this one squeels just as bad right out of the box. It isn't the same one tough. Damn I'm getting a headache already. The voltages are stable and ok with this one tough. They lent me a no-name supply before and that one was quiet an worked ok.

[finnland]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Does anything else on the hard drive look burned? You might be able to replace the diode and get it running again. I did this with a 10 gig Western Digital once. Though the second one I did still didn't start up.

Thought about it but It still was under warranty so I got a new one no questions asked. Had fairly recent backups so it wasn't really worth it.

[gastorgrab]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

I see now what will eventually happen.

One weekend, i'll get drunk and order PC Power & Cooling for every PC i have..................then i'll have to pay for them all....

My internet orders seem to be larger when i have plenty of beer for some reason.
.

[willawake]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

My internet orders seem to be larger when i have plenty of beer for some reason.

hahaha i am glad i do not have that problem. i do make some emails and forum posts i regret though

vendors should check the time of orders though

sir did you really want that 8000 euro Canon 600mm f4 lens you ordered at 03:45?

[Sparky]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

I see now what will eventually happen.

One weekend, i'll get drunk and order PC Power & Cooling for every PC i have..................then i'll have to pay for them all....

My internet orders seem to be larger when i have plenty of beer for some reason.
.

Maybe before you do that you should just order some Enhance ENP-5140GH or ENP 5150GH units while you are sober. Get good quality without spending an arm and a leg, even if by accident

[gastorgrab]

Re: Antec SmartPower P.O.S

Maybe before you do that you should just order some Enhance ENP-5140GH or ENP 5150GH units while you are sober. Get good quality without spending an arm and a leg, even if by accident

Enhance must be a supplier for other brands. I've never heard of them until your post so i did a little digging.


http://forum.ncixus.com/forums/index...&pcbuilderid=0

Now we move on to the heavy-hitter of the bunch: the Enhance 400W power supply. This power supply is based around industrial-grade components (read: server-grade). Enhance makes their own power supplies and has long been known for making high-quality server grade power supplies. This unit is also used for the Silverstone ST40EF 400W power supply which has a few additions like dual PCI-E connectors and more Molex connectors.

Enhance 400W: How can someone not love this power supply? It has high efficiency, great ripple suppression and can power at least two 7900GS cards in SLI…all from a 400W power supply. Yes, you pay for this type of performance and with the $75+ price tag you may think you are better off finding a cheap 500W power supply. Let me tell you, there are very few 500W power supplies available that will out perform this unit and most of those are in the $100 range. Is this the perfect budget power supply? Yes and no. I say yes for all the reasons I have already stated but I say no because of the price and the fact that it has a serious lack of Molex connectors. The Silverstone ST40EF makes up for these shortcomings but I did not get my hands on one of those. Overall a great power supply and the best I tested in this roundup but it is pricy and hard to find in stock.

A good review for the brand is here; http://jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=24



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