Cooler Master RP 500 PCAR with bad caps

[maddog310]

Picked up this psu, plugged it in......... nothing. took the cover off and found two bad caps.
Both are Samxon, 4700uf 10v GF 10mm x 30mm approx.
47uf 50v KM 6.3mm x 11mm approx. Ripple 133

Couldn't find any other specs, read that panasonic FR may be good as a replacement and these are gp caps. I have a used KME 47uf 50v Chemi-con ripple 110 esr 3.527
Whomever had it never took the time to clean out the dust as you can see. One wire looks like it got hot by the rail and there looks to be a wire on the underside.
Any help is appreciated.

[jazzie366]

Re: Cooler Master RP 500 PCAR with bad caps

Picked up this psu, plugged it in......... nothing. took the cover off and found two bad caps.
Both are Samxon, 4700uf 10v GF 10mm x 30mm approx.
47uf 50v KM 6.3mm x 11mm approx. Ripple 133

Couldn't find any other specs, read that panasonic FR may be good as a replacement and these are gp caps. I have a used KME 47uf 50v Chemi-con ripple 110 esr 3.527
Whomever had it never took the time to clean out the dust as you can see. One wire looks like it got hot by the rail and there looks to be a wire on the underside.
Any help is appreciated.

Well, if I were you I'd toss that PoS. The heatsinking is absolute trash, that's almost as bad as those knock off psu heatsinks.

Not surprised to see failed Samxon caps, probably being used out of spec as usually found in LG tvs.

However, if you're gonna repair it, I wouldn't even both putting good caps in there, they're gonna take an absolute shitstorm of a beating, and that PSU isn't gonna last. That thing got HOT in there, almost EVERYTHING is discolored, the PCB, the coils, the AC in wire (you need to replace that worn wire ASAP), even the temperature sensor wire looks discolored.

Those input filter caps aren't gonna fare very well in there either, unless they're replaced. Also with components getting so hot, it's very likely they're gonna fail before good caps do in that hellish environment.

However, if you wanna save it as a low wattage PSU, go ahead, FR series will be fine. KME series was just a standard series, also that ESR is so on point with spec it's not even funny, that's the EXACT spec number for that cap, I'm impressed. However, that ESR is WAY too high to use in that application, you need a low ESR capacitor. Also KME caps seem to have an insane ESR rating on the datasheet, I'd never use those anywhere with that ESR

In the end, it's up to you man, do what you will.

[maddog310]

Re: Cooler Master RP 500 PCAR with bad caps

Thanks for the reply.......... yes I have to agree with you on the pos and heat issues. Likely not worth the time fixing it.
I like to do some leg work before posting here, you get better responses that way.
Into the e waste pile it goes.

[dmill89]

Re: Cooler Master RP 500 PCAR with bad caps

The heatsinking is absolute trash, that's almost as bad as those knock off psu heatsinks.

While this definitely isn't a "top of the line unit", with modern efficient designs (this one likely isn't particularly efficient though), heat-sink size is no longer an indicator of quality. Here's a pic of a Seasonic X-650 for reference:


For the OP's PSU it is likely an ok entry level unit, but nothing great/special, and being a Cooler Master branded unit you can bet it is overrated, that "500W" PSU is probably really more like a 400W. Given that is about a $30 PSU it probably isn't worth fixing from a pure economic standpoint, though it might be solely for "fun"/experience sake.