Which of these psus is the safest?

[larrymoencurly]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

That MaxPower PL-300 has no EMI filter on the AC lines, meaning it's going to wipe out any AM radio reception in the same room, as my older model 300W MaxPower did before I replaced its AC receptacle with one containing an EMI filter. OTOH many of its HEC or JEE caps on the low voltage side started to bulge while in storage.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

That MaxPower PL-300 has no EMI filter on the AC lines, meaning it's going to wipe out any AM radio reception in the same room, as my older model 300W MaxPower did before I replaced its AC receptacle with one containing an EMI filter. OTOH many of its HEC or JEE caps on the low voltage side started to bulge while in storage.

Indeed. It's missing input components. Too bad...

Capacitor list:

2x560uF 200V HEC

2x4.7uF 50V Fuhjyyu
1x47uF 50V G-Luxon
1x2.2uF 50V JEE
2x1uF 50V JEE
1x10uF 50V Fuhjyyu
1x4.7uF 50V GL

+5vsb
1x680uF 10V G-Luxon
1x330uF 10V CS

-5V
1x470uF 10V CS

-12V
1x470uF 15V(yes, the cap said 15V!) G-Luxon

3.3V
1x1000uF 10V CS
1x1000uF 10V GL

5V
1x1000uF 10V CS
1x1000uF 10V G-Luxon

12V
1x1000uF 16V GL

[370forlife]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

Still think the 400W pfc was the good choice.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

Still think the 400W pfc was the good choice.

That psu had problems unfortunately.
There are no 820uF 200V caps in rs store and if I was able to order from somewhere else, their price would be 14 euros for each one...
All secondary caps needed replacement too..

That MaxPower PL-300 has no EMI filter on the AC lines, meaning it's going to wipe out any AM radio reception in the same room, as my older model 300W MaxPower did before I replaced its AC receptacle with one containing an EMI filter.

Looking back at premier photos I think it also lacks a ferrite coil at its input filter:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...?t=8171&page=1
Please tell me if I am wrong...

I think that from the psu list, only macron power, codegen and linkworld have complete input filtering.


Tomorrow I am going to search another psu at uni's useless stuff. They have many Jou Jye psus rated at 400w and more. The tech guy said they have a very high rate of failures and adviced me not to take them. I also saw an antec 450w, but dead. Also saw linkworld 250watt decent working psus, but not enough powerful. Some LC ones too. Don't know which one to choose! They will throw them away anyway soon.

[370forlife]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

The other maxpower's caps are probalby bad also, just not showing it yet.

[momaka]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

Don't know which one to choose! They will throw them away anyway soon.

Take them all if you have the space . Then you can take the best components from the crappies PSUs and make the other PSUs complete.
Should be a fun project for a rainy day.

Also, only buy caps for the PSUs that you're going to use. For those that you don't plan on using, just keep them as spare parts.

[kc8adu]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

at least grab the antec.its the best of the lot once new caps are installed.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

I recapped macron power 300watt!

list of original and replacement caps:

2x680uF 200V saturn logo--> 2x680uF 250V TEAPO

+12V
1x3300uF 16V saturn logo--> 1x3300uF 16V panasonic fm series

+5Vsb
2x2200uF 10V saturn logo--> 2x2700uF 10V panasonic fk series

+5V
2x2200uF 10V saturn logo--> 2x2700uF 10V panasonic fk series

+3.3V
2x2200uF 10V saturn logo--> 2x2700uF 10V panasonic fk series

1x470uF 25V saturn logo--> 1x 470uF 25V panasonic fm series

4x10uF 50V saturn logo--> 4x10uF 50V rubycon YXF

not replaced caps:

1x1uF 50V saturn logo

3x1uF 50V jpce-tur

possibly -12V and -5V:
2x220uF 16V jcpe-tur

the psu is running ok! I tested it on pentium 4 1.5GHZ that previously did not boot at all with this psu and now it boots ok. soon I'll post voltages.

2 points that I need some help:
1) The psu makes a high-pitched sound. I noticed that the sound is less when system is in full load, and gets more noticeable when idle.
2)Is it necessary to put some glue at the caps? I have no idea of the type of glue needed and when to find it.. Can I omit this part?

[370forlife]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

Looking back at premier photos I think it also lacks a ferrite coil at its input filter:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...?t=8171&page=1
Please tell me if I am wrong...

Actually, it has a full input filter. 2 Y caps, 2 X caps and a coil.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

Actually, it has a full input filter. 2 Y caps, 2 X caps and a coil.

Acording to this article the input filter includes a MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor), 2 Y caps, 2 X caps and 2 ferrite coils. Premier DR-8400BTX and Maxpower 300 no pfc have only 1 ferrite coil in input


And what about the sound and the glue questions above?

[370forlife]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

Ohh ya, forgot about mov's. They are what allow the psu to survive input surges.

Glue-not needed. They are used from the factory just to hold the caps and other parts in until they are soldered in. No need for it.

Whining-Probably coil while, maybe a coil on the secondary side is vibrating at a audible frequency. This happens from time to time, it should be fine. I don't know if you can pour hot glue or something on the offending coil to secure the coil to stop it from whining.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

I have tested the 4 psus in 2 different systems: One is 5v based (athlonXP 2200+, 250watt peak consumption according to http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp) and the other is 12V based (P4 1.5GHz 215W peak).

P4 Tests(12V based)

Linkworld LPQ6-300WP
V-----------------------Idle---------------3DMark01
5vsb---PCoff:4.94----4.93---------------4.92
12V--------------------11.60-11.61------11.50-11.53
12VB*-----------------11.61-11.63------11.50-11.55
5V----------------------5.05-5.08--------5.06-5.10
3.3V--------------------3.33--------------3.32

Macron Power MPT-301 recapped
V-----------------------Idle---------------3DMark01
5vsb---PCoff:5.09----5.09---------------5.09
12V--------------------11.84-11.85------11.72-11.73
12VB*-----------------11.85--------------11.70-11.73
5V----------------------5.08---------------5.10
3.3V--------------------3.32-3.33---------3.32-3.33

Maxpower 300W
V-------------------------Idle---------------3DMark01
5vsb-PCoff:5.09-5.10- 5.09-5.10---------5.09
12V----------------------12.02-12.03------11.92-11.94
12VB*-------------------12.01-12.02------11.88-11.92
5V------------------------5.14-5.16---------5.16-5.20
3.3V----------------------3.34---------------3.34-3.35

Codegen 300W
V-------------------------Idle---------------3DMark01
5vsb-PCoff:4.96-4.97- 4.95-4.96---------4.95
12V----------------------12.10-12.14------11.94-11.95
12VB*-------------------12.09-12.11------11.90-11.94
5V------------------------5.16-5.17---------5.18-5.19
3.3V----------------------3.24-3.25---------3.24-3.25

12V on codegen was very unstable, so unstable that you could hear the fans speed change instantly when going from idle to load and inverse..

Athlon XP Tests(5V based)

Linkworld LPQ6-300WP
V-----------------------Idle---------------3DMark05
5vsb---PCoff:4.93----4.89-4.90---------4.88-4.89
12V--------------------11.89-11.93------11.92-11.98
12VB*-----------------11.94-11.96------12.01-12.04
5V----------------------4.95-5.01--------4.92-4.98
3.3V--------------------3.30--------------3.29-3.30

Macron Power MPT-301 recapped
V-----------------------Idle---------------3DMark05
5vsb---PCoff:5.09----5.09---------------5.09
12V--------------------12.22-12.23------12.26-12.28
12VB*-----------------12.23-12.24------1229-12.30
5V----------------------4.96-4.97---------4.93-4.96
3.3V--------------------3.32-3.33---------3.32-3.33

Maxpower 300W
V-------------------------Idle---------------3DMark05
5vsb-PCoff:5.10--------5.10---------------5.10
12V----------------------12.28-12.30------12.32-12.33
12VB*-------------------12.30-12.33------12.33-12.35
5V------------------------4.98---------------4.93-4.94
3.3V----------------------3.30-3.31---------3.30

Codegen 300W
V-------------------------Idle---------------3DMark05
5vsb-PCoff:4.96-4.97- 4.93---------------4.92-4.93
12V----------------------12.59-12.63------12.67-12.8
12VB*-------------------12.64--------------12.76-12.78
5V------------------------4.99-5.00---------4.94-4.96
3.3V----------------------3.32-3.33---------3.35-3.36

*motherboard

From the results I see that quite all psus were designed for a 5V system. Only Maxpower300pfc and maybe Macron Power seem to be good when tested @pentium4.

Linkworld is decent but generally low power, however I think it could be used at pentium3 with no problem.

Macron Power gave very steady output voltages and I am using it right now at my basic system (athlonXP) until I recap antec truepower380 (see here )

Finally, Codegen in my opinion is clearly the worse of the team, not safe to use in anything...

Thank you all for your help... I am waiting for your opinion, cause you guys are the experts

[momaka]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

Excellent work on the Macron!
As for the high-pitched noise, I'm not sure what is causing it (could be a loose coil somewhere, could be the fan). But if the voltages are stable it's probably okay. Also, don't worry about the 1uF caps either - those are not that important.

As for the other PSUs - the Codegen's 12v rail is out of spec for the Athlon XP test. But that's not surprising considering it's built like crap. Those 330uF HEC primary caps along with the two regular diodes for the 12v rail is just asking for trouble. This is likely what's causing the voltage fluctuation too.
Probably not a good idea to use that Codegen in any computer unless you do a major overhaul on it like change all the capacitors, secondary rectifiers, etc. (in other words, pretty much everything of importance). If you have lots of time and junk PSUs, though, go for it.

The Linkworld is definitely meant for a 5v system since it has a big rectifier on the 5v rail. If you decide to fix it up for either your P3 or Athlon XP system, make sure to put bigger caps in the 5vsb filter and add the missing coils in 5vsb and 3.3v rail.

[370forlife]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

12V on codegen was very unstable, so unstable that you could hear the fans speed change instantly when going from idle to load and inverse..

Linkworld is decent but generally low power, however I think it could be used at pentium3 with no problem.

Finally, Codegen in my opinion is clearly the worse of the team, not safe to use in anything...

Actually, from the pictures I think the varying fan speed was caused by thermal fan control, as there is what looks like a thermistor in there next to the secondary heatsink (silkscreened TR2)

I think the maxpower is probably the best for your "backup" power supply after a recap, as it seemed to have the best voltages out of all of them actually.

[POM_MJ]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

>> 1) The psu makes a high-pitched sound. I noticed that the sound is less when system is in full load, and gets more noticeable when idle.

I think the noise was came from 5VSB transformer, I have one unit like this.

When I've changed 5VSB cap (before Pi filter, circled) to Panasonic FJ, I heard the noise too.
After I've changed to Chemicon LXZ (higher ESR, longer life), the noise is gone.

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

Actually, from the pictures I think the varying fan speed was caused by thermal fan control, as there is what looks like a thermistor in there next to the secondary heatsink (silkscreened TR2)

I was reffering to the cpu and system fans. The fans speeded up and down for seconds during boot up and when going from idle (windows) to full load (3d mark 05) and vice versa. Haven't experienced something like that with any psu before... kind of scary..

Today I donored codegen to a friend telling him it's completely unreliable. He will use it in a pentium 3 800mhz. He doesn't care about safety a lot. I will not spend any time in that psu. It does not worth it.

The others (premier deer 400, maxpower 300apfc and linkworld 300ppfc) will be recapped sometime in future when I have some free time...please don't be mad with me


Also, I noticed today that scrolling up and down at firefox or minimising/maximising windows can be heard inside the psu! LOL Incredible!! That happends with macron @ athlon xp and linkworld @ pentium 3. Is it a feature? special effects

I think the noise was came from 5VSB transformer, I have one unit like this.

When I've changed 5VSB cap (before Pi filter, circled) to Panasonic FJ, I heard the noise too.
After I've changed to Chemicon LXZ (higher ESR, longer life), the noise is gone.

I can live with the noise (macron is temp at athlon xp until antec gets recapped) unless you think it is unsafe to keep FK caps there...

[momaka]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

I was reffering to the cpu and system fans. The fans speeded up and down for seconds during boot up and when going from idle (windows) to full load (3d mark 05) and vice versa. Haven't experienced something like that with any psu before... kind of scary..

It's not uncommon for that to happen actaully. It just means that the PSU is cross-loaded (one of the rails is loaded more than the others). This can happen even on good PSUs. As long as the voltage is stable once the system is under full load or idle, then that's fine.
But if the voltage is constantly fluctuating regardless of the system's state, then that's a problem.

Today I donored codegen to a friend telling him it's completely unreliable. He will use it in a pentium 3 800mhz. He doesn't care about safety a lot.

It's not just about the safety protections of the power supply. Hard drives are usually the first to go bad when the voltage is unstable like that.

[i4004]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

>When I've changed 5VSB cap (before Pi filter, circled) to Panasonic FJ, I heard the noise too.
After I've changed to Chemicon LXZ (higher ESR, longer life), the noise is gone.

what if the situation is the same on other rails too, ie you've put better caps, but what if you now actually have more noise (electrical noise this time) than before?

[POM_MJ]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

stay with that noise.

[momaka]

Re: Which of these psus is the safest?

but what if you now actually have more noise (electrical noise this time) than before?

More noise than bad Fuhjyyu caps?