Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

[ben7]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

I would replace the OST primaries asap, they almost always go bad.

[Pentium4]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Nice power supply there, overall.

Aren't many primary caps rated at 85C (if I'm not mistaken)? ^^; I don't think that would bee too much of a problem in the long run (provided the primary caps aren't on the echelon of Crapxcon or Failujju ) because (correct me if I'm wrong on this as I may well be), to my knowledge, primary capacitors are not subjected to as much heat as secondary capacitors (or as much of a risk). Nevertheless, the heatsinks are very close to the fan, too close for my tastes. Usually I see the heatsinks further away from the fan than that in PSUs. Anyway, every old (and even high quality) PSU I've seen from say, Newton Power, Astec, Hipro, or whichever brand has had the primary capacitors rated at 85C, so I don't think it should be too much of an issue if ever.

Well, an old Dell Dimension 8200 (from the end of 2001) I have has a NPS-250GB (Newton Power) with a mix of Nichicon and Ltec capacitors (and Taicon as well; Nichicon on the primary, Ltec/Nichicon/Taicon/maybe Rubycon on the secondary), along with a Sunon sleeve bearing fan (, but at least it's a powerful 80mm fan, rated at 3000RPM/40CFM, and the heatsinks are very thick), and it's never given me any sort of instability (though the fan does have an usual rattling sound after 20 minutes of being on, but it's been that day since day one). It even becomes a bit hot at the fan grille after a while of intense usage. It's had ~17,000 hours of on time and ~4,500 power cycles, still doing fine (though the fan sounds a bit worse for wear so I won't be surprised if it seizes at any fleeting moment). I see no indications of failed capacitors in that PSU, though it doesn't mean they can't fail very silently, of course, but hopefully that puts your mind to ease. If I'm not mistaken (PCBONEZ said something about this, to my recollection), in 2001, Ltec 'stole' a formula from Rubycon and that improved upon the reliability of their capacitors. Even then, I would imagine the longevity of their capacitors depends greatly upon heat and stress as with any mediocre capacitor.

As has the Newton above. The fan still looks kinda baked with dust. :-P

One other thing I noticed is the yellow glue on those primary capacitors, in your Liteon. Is it safe to have that in a PSU? I've heard it can eventually eat components off the PCB, kinda like the tan/brown glue in some PSUs, though I hope that doesn't hold so (not to scare anyone, just something I read).

Also, even though the heatsinks are bunched up together, that fan does look and sound nice. What brand is it (if I may ask/if you know)?

Thanks for the long reply Yeah the caps should be okay in it. The fan is Adda. I didn't check the model of it though. I think it's thermally spun because it's very silent all the time. I'm guessing another reason it's doing so well is because that rig even under benchmarking would probably only be around 220W.

[Wester547]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

If it's an ADDA sleeve bearing fan, it may eventually be seized (though, from what I can tell, the earlier ADDA sleeve bearing fans seem to be well lubricated with an abundance of oil). If it's a ball bearing fan, the bearings will eventually sound worn.

And well, 220W is ~59% of the full load that PSU can handle, which is good, since I think anything more than 75% load on a PSU isn't a good thing to push that often.

[Behemot]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

I run mine on as high as 100 % and it does not seem to have any problems with that Well, it's Enermax Liberty (original one) with complete recap after all

[Agent24]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

I run mine on as high as 100 % and it does not seem to have any problems with that Well, it's Enermax Liberty (original one) with complete recap after all

Of course, Enermax are very nice

[Pentium4]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Got a computer for free, a Gateway with an Intel DX2 50MHz!!! Pulled the stock 145W Power Tronics PSU. Check out the manufacture date!! Caps are Marcon on the Primary and Cehtr on the secondary. Either these companies got bought out or stopped making caps, never heard of them.

[Scenic]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Caps are Marcon on the Primary and Cehtr on the secondary. Either these companies got bought out or stopped making caps, never heard of them.

I've seen Marcon caps before in a proprietary Commodore PC30 III PSU (Phihong PSM-1123). Still working just fine.
The computer itself is obviously quite a bit older than yours, being a 286 12MHz

[ben7]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Yep i believe Marcon was a very good brand. They were established by toshiba in 1942, and bought up during 1995 by Nippon Chemi-Con. Not sure about the cehtr caps,but i suspect they are lower quality.

[Pentium4]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Sweet. This thing still works just fine. It came with an old Voodoo 2000 16MB graphics card too, which is pretty cool. That thing runs HOT though!

[momaka]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Got a computer for free, a Gateway with an Intel DX2 50MHz!!! Pulled the stock 145W Power Tronics PSU.

That's the same PSU brand my Gateway P5-100 had (except mine was the 200W version). I found that computer about 7 or so years ago, but unfortunately my dad threw away that computer. Wish I still had it - everything was of high-quality inside it. The only thing I saved from it was a Nidec fan and a 2 MB PCI S3 Trio 64+. I remember the Power Tronic PSU in it also had either a Nidec or a NBM fan.

Sweet. This thing still works just fine. It came with an old Voodoo 2000 16MB graphics card too, which is pretty cool. That thing runs HOT though!

Cool
AFAIK, older games with "3DFX" rendering options should look great and run well on this card.

[Pentium4]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

That's the same PSU brand my Gateway P5-100 had (except mine was the 200W version). I found that computer about 7 or so years ago, but unfortunately my dad threw away that computer. Wish I still had it - everything was of high-quality inside it. The only thing I saved from it was a Nidec fan and a 2 MB PCI S3 Trio 64+. I remember the Power Tronic PSU in it also had either a Nidec or a NBM fan.

That's too bad!!! I would have wanted to see some pictures of that thing.

Cool
AFAIK, older games with "3DFX" rendering options should look great and run well on this card.

Oh really? Like Doom?

[Scenic]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

I remember playing Need for Speed II SE in Glide with my Voodoo II 12MB
Looked sooo much better than in the regular mode on my Matrox Mystique 4MB. Perfectly smooth at all times too.

Oh and BTW: yours is a Voodoo 3 2000. I've got the slightly beefier Voodoo 3 3000 floating around here somewhere. Mine also runs ridiculously hot (around 60°C/140°F seems to be "normal"). The tiny passive heatsink isn't really up to the job IMHO. Still works just fine though..

[Behemot]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

And it even has BGA package

[Pentium4]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

I got this $6 free shipping online! What a deal, looks like a great little supply. All caps are OST





680uf 200V primaries, not bad






Compaq pulled from a S478 build I'm recapping. All Rubycons. Looks like it can easily do its wattage and then some.

[Behemot]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

The InWin looks like some very old FSP design. It may even be FSP based from the label (same font and layout as on FSP models).

[Pentium4]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

It's definitely an FSP. How do I know? the "W/ NOISE KILLER" sticker on it it has an OLD P8 connector, but no -5V rail....12V isn't too powerful but I bet this thing could easily do its wattage. The fan is a Delta ball bearing

[c_hegge]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Wrong. It's an In Win. Note how there are no "SPI" markings on the transformers. Also, the FSP-built power men usually had FSP model numbers. A model number starting with IW or IP indicates an In Win build. Also, it doesn't have those horrible fin-less heat sinks

[Wester547]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

I'm guessing that Compaq fan has an ADDA sleeve bearing fan. Needless to say, both PSUs are rather nice. And FSP's heatsinks looked big and nice, at least - I guess they coveted the fin-less heatsinks underneath the large roof of them. Good thing that PSU isn't from FSP, though... usually their choice of capacitors (in my experience) are worse than all OST. And it looks like CEHTR are no good based upon this thread. I could be wrong, but I think the OEM For that Compaq PSU is Pioneer based on the "PDP" text.

Oh really? Like Doom?

I'm thinking the original Unreal. 3DFX looked amazing with that game (as well as the original Quake, for which the first Voodoo was famous), and still looks quite good with a Glide wrapper for those who don't have a 3DFX Voodoo card of sorts. As for getting hot, thankfully, it's leaded solder, so it can take some abuse, even with a BGA core/RAM chips. 60C isn't terribly hot for a load temperature in graphics cards. People are used to 70C/80C load today, something I could never be accustomed to. :P

[mockingbird]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Compaq pulled from a S478 build I'm recapping. All Rubycons. Looks like it can easily do its wattage and then some.

I spot an LTec in the picture... This reminds me of a Delta I pulled out of a Rambus Dell, most of the caps are Rubycon, but there are a few questionable Taiwanese caps I plan on replacing.

Good thing that PSU isn't from FSP, though... usually their choice of capacitors (in my experience) are worse than all OST.

I think FSP now uses all Teapos in their PSUs... They're pretty reliable. You can get a 350W for around $30. Their current model is 350PNT. I've never seen the new T models but I've opened up quite a few PN/PN-B... The primaries are sometimes OST, 5 of the big secondary caps are Teapo SC and the sixth is a Teapo SEK (GP cap), and all but three of the small caps are a mix of Teapo/OST.

The "THN" variant of the 350W model is almost identical, except for a smaller value big cap on the secondary, a slightly different 5VSB circuit, and a slightly different primary layout. I initially thought that THN was a later iteration of PN, but now I think it's the other way around.

The 300W model "THN" has a mix of Teapo/Jamicon/Capxon/OST, so those should be preemptively repaired.

[Behemot]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Prepare your vomit pail

This is older revision, I will also talk about newer one which I got to my hands a year ago. This thing is still sold for like 24 USD/19 Eur incl. VAT. I tried to get local inspection to forbid that, you will see how many things it violates, but I think the „engineer“ dealing with me was both morron and on paycheck of the manufacturer.

Pic 1 and 2 shows nothign spectacular, just remember the values

Pic 3 - overall looks. This thing even has PFC, the newer revision got absolutelly tiny coil and ceramic cap - most likely PFC imitation, usefull for 5 W max PSU. According to inspection, PFC is not a must, the European norm actually talks about harmonics radiation - you can use just good ol' input filtration for this! No PFC is required in EU! Thats common mistake from those who actualyl never read the norm But when they write PFC in the name, there should be one, right

Anyway, filtration is on daguhter board, but nobody would be harmed if they used the free spots too. Thermistor and varistors nowhere to be found. I will add all the things missing. Newer revision actually has two varistors.

Tiny diodes, newer version even has rectifier, but 2 A labeled with rubber electrodes. The things is really small and starts dropping current at just 50 °C. Basically no difference here.

Input caps are 470 uF, Fhy, never ever heard of that. Never revision has similar crap. Transistors are Toba T3866 and T13007-R. Found only bullshit, no actuall datasheet. Transistors seem OK, both heatsinsk really thin (2 mm) and tiny.

Ordinary diode on +5 V SB. 20A schottky for +5 V, 12A fast-recovery for +12 V and 10A schottky for +3,3 V. Do you still remember the values from pic 1? But according to inspection: it is OK, the values on casing are just peak ones, manufacturer cannot expect you will connect it somewhere else than ordinary computer so it does not need to provide the wattage specified for longer period of time (longer than like 1 second).

Only coils there are on +3,3 V rail, otherwise plain wire or stuff. Notice the termistor on common coil - seems that rectifiers are not the hottest things in this PSU, considering no coils and small Asia'X caps -5 V rail is not occupied by components

Overall soldering quality is mediocre, PCB is not worst. Newer revision has even thinner PCB and casing. They most likely have one engineer for researching how these things can be cheaper because I found something new every time in there