A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

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  • Topcat
    The Boss Stooge
    • Oct 2003
    • 16955
    • United States

    #1

    A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

    This power supply is about 3 months old, you guessed it, roasted caps. I was repairing a PC for a woman, who was told by billy joe bob fly-by-night working out of his parent's garage PC tech that the power supply in her PC was bad. After waiting over a month for him to replace it, she brings the PC to me, along with the "high quality" power supply he sold her for $100.00. The PSU was new, still sealed in the box, cables all banded up, so atleast I know he didn't slip her a used one. Anyway, I swapped the PSU's out for her, PC worked again, and she went on her way.

    She calls me Tuesday, just mad as hell, telling me when she hits the power on her PC, it comes on, and then immediately shuts back off. She claims she has to hit the power button 10-15 times before it'll actually stay on, She continues on to say that she'll be in the middle of doing something, and the power just shuts off, and it won't come back on at all. She brings it over, and sure enough, she's telling the truth. The system was a P4 2.6GHz, 512mb RAM, onboard everything, pretty simple system....

    Of course that PSU was my first suspect, so with her standing right here, I removed it and opened the PSU, and sure enough.........roasted caps. This brand is a new one on me, I've never seen them before. The primary HV filters are fuckyou brand, no surprise there, but the secondaries are all "CHMEC" brand, one I've never seen before. Normally, I recap PSU's and reuse them, but I wasn't even messing with this shoddy pile of shit. It claims to be a 500 Watt, yet I've seen heftier heatsinks, FET's, and regulation on a cheap-o 300 watter...

    I had a new Enlight 450 watt supply lying around that I bought for someone and ended up not using, so I sold her that one, installed, PC worked great again. I explained to her the shoddy garbage that other guy sold her (which made her even more angry). She insisted that she was going to take that PSU over to his house and shove it where the sun don't shine. Before she left with it, I asked if I could take a few pics of it.

    This is the worst I've ever seen, even worse than a Deer or a powmax..... The absolute most shoddy cheap piece of garbage PSU I've ever encountered! It lived a little over 2 months in a normal working environment, powered up maybe 3~4 hours a day (according to her). PC had above average cooling, and all fans were working. It didn't overheat.








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  • linuxguru
    Badcaps Legend
    • Apr 2005
    • 1564

    #2
    Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

    I've seen those cross-drilled heat sinks somewhere before - just wondering which brand. Perhaps it is a Powmax variant? What were the rectifiers like - the usual wimpy 3A ones on +12v?

    Comment

    • starfury1
      Badcaps Legend
      • May 2006
      • 1256

      #3
      Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

      I am sure there is a few in the photo psu post of that style heat sink.
      (cant recall which brands psu but)

      I would hate to be the dude that sold her that....
      "Tech's ? " like him make it look bad for the rest of us, although sometimes there just no convincing people to buy something of quality
      You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you may be swept off to." Bilbo Baggins ...

      Comment

      • 999999999
        Badcaps Veteran
        • Sep 2006
        • 774
        • USA

        #4
        Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

        It's typically what you'd get from Raidmax, rated at 400W but worth about 230W for short term use. On second thought, this does have marginally larger caps than the 400W version, but obviously still not good enough.

        As much as I'd like to bash the tech that sold it to her, this is an industry problem more than a technician problem. Specs are supposed to be scientific, qualification factors and a PSU that is so blatantly deceptive shouldn't even be let into any 1st/2nd world market, should be seized at the docks.

        Comment

        • billse
          Member
          • Jan 2006
          • 15

          #5
          Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

          Interesting, i got a a-power Ultra Edition rated 550W new in box a few years back (paid $29 CDN) and never used it, looking in through the 120mm fan it looks almost identical to topcats pics. Maybe i should sell it in the BST
          Last edited by billse; 08-30-2007, 02:50 AM. Reason: added the price i paid

          Comment

          • kc8adu
            Super Moderator
            • Nov 2003
            • 8832
            • U.S.A!

            #6
            Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

            i just gave 8 of those to the local scrap guy.
            not even any parts worth saving.
            those are replace on sight units do not pass go.

            Comment

            • Newbie2
              Badcaps Veteran
              • Sep 2005
              • 885
              • Canada

              #7
              Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

              $100 for such a POS PSU? She got ripped-off there.

              That PSU is even worse than my recapped L&C. My L&C was used since 2005 and got recapped in 2007, and between 2005 until its recapping in 2007 its original caps didn't fail. My L&C came with a case that I bought, typical case-PSU combo.
              Last edited by Newbie2; 08-30-2007, 06:52 AM.
              My gaming PC:
              AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition 3.3GHz Six-Core CPU (Socket AM3)
              ASUS M4A77TD AMD 770 AM3 Motherboard
              PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB GDDR5 PCI-Express x16 3.0 Graphics Card
              G.SKILL Value Series 16GB DDR3-1333 RAM (4x4GB dual channel)
              TOSHIBA DT01ACA200 2TB 3.5" SATA HDD (x2)
              WD Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB 3.5" SATA HDD
              ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channel PCI sound card
              Antec HCG-750M 750W ATX12V v2.32 80 PLUS BRONZE Power Supply
              Antec Three Hundred Mid-Tower Case
              Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
              Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit

              Comment

              • Oklahoma Wolf
                Badcaps Veteran
                • Dec 2005
                • 353

                #8
                Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                That's a Leadman Power aka Powmax unit if ever I saw one... and I have two dead ones sitting next to me

                One's even identical, right down to the cap brands.
                Last edited by Oklahoma Wolf; 08-30-2007, 07:31 AM.

                Comment

                • Sparky
                  High voltage
                  • Jan 2007
                  • 234
                  • USA

                  #9
                  Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                  ha it is even so cheap that the fan doesn't have a full frame

                  Comment

                  • Maxxarcade
                    Badcaps Veteran
                    • Jul 2006
                    • 973

                    #10
                    Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                    I have one of those too, but now I can't remember which PC it is in

                    Good thing I took it out of my Sister's PC when it was only a couple months old and replaced it with a Sparkle.

                    Comment

                    • hardwareguy
                      Badcaps Veteran
                      • Jun 2006
                      • 405
                      • USA

                      #11
                      Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                      Originally posted by Oklahoma Wolf
                      That's a Leadman Power aka Powmax unit if ever I saw one... and I have two dead ones sitting next to me

                      One's even identical, right down to the cap brands.

                      You are CORRECT sir! That IS a Leadman/Powmax unit in the flesh, good for 150W or so BEFORE the caps pop.

                      Comment

                      • Newbie2
                        Badcaps Veteran
                        • Sep 2005
                        • 885
                        • Canada

                        #12
                        Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                        Originally posted by Sparky
                        ha it is even so cheap that the fan doesn't have a full frame
                        Fans in L&C and probably DEER power supplies also are like that.

                        They probably guessed that putting dirt-cheap unreliable fans in their PSUs would save them big money.
                        My gaming PC:
                        AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition 3.3GHz Six-Core CPU (Socket AM3)
                        ASUS M4A77TD AMD 770 AM3 Motherboard
                        PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB GDDR5 PCI-Express x16 3.0 Graphics Card
                        G.SKILL Value Series 16GB DDR3-1333 RAM (4x4GB dual channel)
                        TOSHIBA DT01ACA200 2TB 3.5" SATA HDD (x2)
                        WD Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB 3.5" SATA HDD
                        ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channel PCI sound card
                        Antec HCG-750M 750W ATX12V v2.32 80 PLUS BRONZE Power Supply
                        Antec Three Hundred Mid-Tower Case
                        Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
                        Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit

                        Comment

                        • mercenary
                          New Member
                          • Apr 2007
                          • 1

                          #13
                          Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                          I've bought several of those from geeks.com . they are junk . also i've seen them under other names . one incarnation had a chromed case and a led fan .i have recapped them for reuse, though they are good for light duty only.i actually heard the cap pop in one while bench testing . it is as we have all heard before, good and cheap and power supply should not be in the same sentence .

                          Comment

                          • B3Nut
                            New Member
                            • Apr 2007
                            • 7

                            #14
                            Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                            I've got a couple Codegen PSU's that came with cases on my bench with hacksawed heat sinks exactly like those, I kept the units just to laugh at. Removing those heaps of trash was my first process upon unboxing those cases (ARK). I swear those shoddily-sawn heatsinks are some Chinese high-school's shop-class project.

                            Gotta love that race to the bottom...what a joke.

                            Todd in Cheesecurdistan

                            Comment

                            • Fatal0E
                              Badcaps Veteran
                              • Jan 2004
                              • 252

                              #15
                              Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                              We get those in the "gamer edition" with lighted fans for $8. I hate them but my boss keeps ordering them, we sell them for $29.96. They always fail in a couple months with blown caps, the distributor doesnt even want them back, we just tell them we have 20-30 bad ones and they send more no questions asked.

                              Comment

                              • kc8adu
                                Super Moderator
                                • Nov 2003
                                • 8832
                                • U.S.A!

                                #16
                                Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                                Originally posted by Fatal0E
                                We get those in the "gamer edition" with lighted fans for $8. I hate them but my boss keeps ordering them, we sell them for $29.96. They always fail in a couple months with blown caps, the distributor doesnt even want them back, we just tell them we have 20-30 bad ones and they send more no questions asked.
                                your boss should be concerned with liability issues.
                                those things are a fire hazzard.
                                i have seen several that did a flameout when they failed.2 of them spit flaming debris through the fan and set fire to the office carpet.
                                we replaced and shitcanned about 50 of those piles fo dangerous junk in that office.
                                we sledgehammered them including some new in the box before tossing into the dumpster.

                                Comment

                                • Brian C
                                  Senior Member
                                  • Dec 2006
                                  • 156

                                  #17
                                  Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                                  Look at the size of the transformer... and the small heatsinks... can't be a 500W PSU.
                                  It is better to buy PSU with UL/CSA mark, check the UL file no. for the manufacturer:
                                  http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin/XYV/c...AME/index.html
                                  Last edited by Brian C; 10-18-2007, 08:24 AM.

                                  Comment

                                  • Super Nade
                                    Badcaps Veteran
                                    • Jun 2006
                                    • 294

                                    #18
                                    Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                                    Originally posted by Fatal0E
                                    We get those in the "gamer edition" with lighted fans for $8. I hate them but my boss keeps ordering them, we sell them for $29.96. They always fail in a couple months with blown caps, the distributor doesnt even want them back, we just tell them we have 20-30 bad ones and they send more no questions asked.
                                    It must cost about $2-3 max to make..lol. I'm not even sure if it is an SMPS...lol
                                    Q6700 @ 3.6 GHz
                                    Zippy GSM-6600P
                                    Curcial Ballistix PC6400 (4 x 1Gb) Micron D9GMH
                                    Abit IP35Pro
                                    ATi HD4870

                                    Comment

                                    • Per Hansson
                                      Super Moderator
                                      • Jul 2005
                                      • 5895
                                      • Sweden

                                      #19
                                      Re: A-Power 500 Watt PSU - Record fast dead caps

                                      Originally posted by Fatal0E
                                      We get those in the "gamer edition" with lighted fans for $8. I hate them but my boss keeps ordering them, we sell them for $29.96. They always fail in a couple months with blown caps, the distributor doesnt even want them back, we just tell them we have 20-30 bad ones and they send more no questions asked.
                                      $8 huh?

                                      All things said that is still really impressive.
                                      I was unaware it was possible to construct a SMPS PSU that worked (well for a while) for so little money...

                                      Nekkid pix?
                                      "The one who says it cannot be done should never interrupt the one who is doing it."

                                      Comment

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