Is this psu safe?

[elod]

Re: Is this psu safe?

I'd say just use it as it is and do a checkup at 1year for caps. I used many cheap & nasty PSUs in my youth, never had any catastrophic failure. None of them had considerable load though, because I could not buy an overpowered CPU or video card. This particular PSU is way better than those but it sure has some questionable caps on the secondary.

The one PSU that literally exploded (caps) with lights and smoke was a CWT Antec from around year 2001 (burst in 2003). From than on I began having an obsession with PSUs

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

Ahh ok, the photos i posted where 4 months ago and the psu is still the same, i check every 6 to 8 months when i make a deep cleaning and take the fans out and oil them

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

Thanks to all for the help guys, i was a bit unoptimistic (if that is even a word) about this psu but i can see its not that bad after all, i Will just check the caps and if i can upgrade them

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

I dont trust on Antec, i have saw many people with dead pc's and some of them burning on forums that i dont want to see them anymore

[momaka]

Re: Is this psu safe?

I have a pentium e5700 stock vcore @3.6ghz an r9 270 stock, 8 fans, one 7200rpm hdd and a dvd, those have a peak power draw of someting close to 300w i think

More like 250 Watts, so you should be okay.

Where are those?

No I was just making a suggestion what you can use in your power supply for the 12V rail.

I told the cable thing because i saw super flower using it on they leadex platform and that worked there to kept the ripple under control

It can help lower the ripple indeed, but when the caps in the power supply go bad, those capacitors on the cables won't stop the excessive ripple from the power supply.

That's why I say it is better to have the capacitors as close as possible to the power supply.

the psu on the link its not mine, mine its the one on the Pic i posted

Yes, I know.

on the secondary mine uses 2 ym3045n (30A) and it has a hole for other one, i think it shares one of the ym3045n for 5v and 3.3 and one for 12v

Check again what you have.
Your PSU is half-bridge topology, so I do NOT expect to see a 3045 rectifier on the 12V rail. Usually, the 12V rail has a 16C20 or less. But correct me if I am wrong, of course. Anything is possible with cheap PSUs (though, I agree with other people that your PSU here is not that bad at all).

I'd say just use it as it is and do a checkup at 1year for caps.

I used to do that too on some of my really low-power PCs.
In fact, I still do that (more or less) with all of my PCs, as I usually take out the power supplies and heatsinks for a clean-up every 1 to 2 years. That's when I open the PSU and check it.

I have a lot of HiPro PSUs with less-than-great caps (Teapo, Asiacon, and others), but I haven't recapped them because they continue to work well.

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

Those are the only rectifiers on the psu, its something wrong?
And what is half bridge?

[momaka]

Re: Is this psu safe?

There should be three parts on the secondary heatsink/radiator...
typically three rectifiers (like the 3045) for the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V rails
*OR*
two rectifiers and a MOSFET.

In your PSU, I see two output toroid inductors. That means the 3.3V rail is regulated by a mag-amp circuit, so you should have three rectifiers. The rectifier for the 12V rail may be on the other side of the heatsink, behind the red toroid inductor. If you are still unable to find it, let me know and I will try to draw it on your picture.

And what is half bridge?

It's how the main power supply in your PSU is designed. Power supplies that use a half-bridge topology usually have two NPN BJT transistors on the primary side (p13009, in your case) and at least 3 transformers (one for 5VSB, one for main power, and one for driving the NPN BJT transistors). Another distinguishing mark about half-bridge designs is the PWM controller IC: usually TL494/DBL494, KA7500, SG6105, ATX2005, or AT2005b.

more info here:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/anato...er-supplies/7/

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

It has a mbr30h150ct, and a hole for another one on parallel, its 30A and up to 150v, i will see, maybe i can buy some panny fc or fr for the secondary at the end of 2017

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

Btw thanks for the link

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Is this psu safe?

One thing that webpage doesn't make clear is that with a full bridge inverter two MOSFETs are on during an on time (top left with bottom right, and top right with bottom left). This puts the full + Bus voltage across the transformer primary, with alternating polarity.

With a half bridge one end of the primary is connected to the center of two series-connected capacitors. These capacitor are the same value, and + Bus voltage is divided across them close to equally. Thus, when one switch turns on, half the + Bus voltage is across the primary, and when the other switch is on, half the + Bus voltage is again across the primary, but with opposite polarity.

A full bridge inverter is usually used at higher power levels.

The push-pull topology is not used very much.

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

Thanks Pete, so that's why there are 2 caps i thought that they where 2 because it was cheaper than buying a 400v cap.
So half bridge its ok but only for up to 500w but why?

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Is this psu safe?

Thanks Pete, so that's why there are 2 caps i thought that they where 2 because it was cheaper than buying a 400v cap.
So half bridge its ok but only for up to 500w but why?

While it is useful for that, the primary reason is that having two caps in series like that is that it's essential to the line voltage selection function seen on older and simpler PSUs. When the switch is set for 120VAC (e.g. for the US) that connects one of the AC lines to the center connection of the two capacitors. The result is a half-wave (if I recall correctly) voltage doubler.

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

I didn't knew that, here in Venezuela we use 110v, so its close enough, and you're right it is a voltage doubler

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...PhlgL8Ic1K3Vzw
This Antec uses a 35 transformer and is 500w, i think that's pushing too much the transformer

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

So momaka what do you think about the mbr30h150ct for 12v?

[momaka]

Re: Is this psu safe?

So momaka what do you think about the mbr30h150ct for 12v?

That's a pretty good rectifier for the 12V rail. It means the 12V rail should be capable of up to 30 Amps max. Of course, this will also depend on the size of the output toroid inductor and the thickness of the wire used for 12V rail winding in the main transformer. Considering this PSU uses group-regulation, I think 20-25 Amp would be a more realistic rating. But that should still be enough for your system.

I guess the reason why the voltage on the 12V rail dropped to 11.768 V is because this is a group-regulated PSU: with the 5V rail lightly-loaded, the 12V raill will drop. If you add more things to draw power from the 5V rail, then the 12V rail will go up. (But you don't need to do that. As long as the 12V rail stays above 11.6V, everything is more than likely okay.)

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...PhlgL8Ic1K3Vzw
This Antec uses a 35 transformer and is 500w, i think that's pushing too much the transformer

Funny you mention that link. I just bought an EarthWatts EA-500 a few weeks ago (I got it very cheap due to bad capacitors... and now I see an EA-430 again going for a similar price ). Before buying, I read the reviews for it, and the EA-500 can indeed supply 500 Watts of power.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/antec...supply-review/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...=Story&reid=35

The reason why that EE 35 size transformer was able to go up to 500 Watts is because of the switching frequency: higher switching frequency allows the use of a smaller transformer with less windings. Half-bridge topology on the other hand (what your power supply has) usually has relatively low switching frequency (typically 30-50 KHz). So that's why an EE 35 transformer in a half-bridge power supply is generally said to be limited to 300-350 Watts.

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

I was thinking on putting another one, because it has the spot, it will be more efficient and because i can lol
I was thinking on buying an evga 430w but the economy is even worst here, it was 45.000 bsf 1 and a half months ago and now is 179.000 bsf and the average salary is about 90.000 so i am fu....

Btw those antecs are ok but they need some good caps and better soldering job, that's why those go kapoof but in your hands they will be fine, you are the king of badcaps (sorry topcat)

[momaka]

Re: Is this psu safe?

I was thinking on putting another one, because it has the spot, it will be more efficient and because i can lol

You can do that, but the rectifier needs to have the same or better specifications. Otherwise there won't be much of an improvement.

I was thinking on buying an evga 430w but the economy is even worst here, it was 45.000 bsf 1 and a half months ago and now is 179.000 bsf and the average salary is about 90.000 so i am fu....

Wow, that is some pretty bad inflation. I hope your country manages to fix itself somehow, though. My parents went through something like that back in the mid-90's in Eastern Europe, and it was a similar ordeal. One week you have some decent savings, and the next you have just enough for a lunch.

Btw those antecs are ok but they need some good caps and better soldering job, that's why those go kapoof

Good caps I have, thanks to the pile of dead Xbox 360 boards I've acquired.

But yes, the soldering in these PSUs is not that good. The lead-free solder won't melt with my regular 30 Watt iron. And there are some long nasty leads on the primary side. Every time I pickup the power supply PCB, I end up with cuts on my hands.

but in your hands they will be fine, you are the king of badcaps (sorry topcat)

Lol thank you, but I don't think I get even close to the work that TC has done.

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

I have like 38 nichicon se and 12 rubycon ce that i took out of an old dead radio, they are from 1984, they dont even have vents and most of then are ok and others just need to be restored, i will do it following your post.
they are general purposse caps sadly so i dont know if i would use them some day

[Drack]

Re: Is this psu safe?

You can do that, but the rectifier needs to have the same or better specifications. Otherwise there won't be much of an improvement.


Wow, that is some pretty bad inflation. I hope your country manages to fix itself somehow, though. My parents went through something like that back in the mid-90's in Eastern Europe, and it was a similar ordeal. One week you have some decent savings, and the next you have just enough for a lunch.


Good caps I have, thanks to the pile of dead Xbox 360 boards I've acquired.

But yes, the soldering in these PSUs is not that good. The lead-free solder won't melt with my regular 30 Watt iron. And there are some long nasty leads on the primary side. Every time I pickup the power supply PCB, I end up with cuts on my hands.


Lol thank you, but I don't think I get even close to the work that TC has done.

I hate when a pcb cuts my hands.
I will use the same rectifier.
And is Venezuela so i dont know what is going to happen.