K.i.s.s.

[Elitist]

Do not believe all you read on the InterWeb! Got an expensive Antec PSU here. State of the art design, stuffed out with chokes, varistors, all the things demanded in the textbooks on theory. They've fitted Fuji-haha caps, which, guess what, have failed.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR DOSH. El cheapo Chinese power units with all the design corners cut, weighing in at a few ounces (remember those?), no or minimal protective circuitry - mostly still running perfectly on PCs from Cx300 all the way up to 2Ghz 939 s. Yes, same 300W units on all of these machines; mostly you do not need 600W blockbusters unless you have exotic video cards and are a power gamer. Even CAD/CAM doesn't need oodles of power. When one of the budget supplies goes bad, quick, cheap and easy to swap out the caps, plus maybe a fuse, rarely a varistor.
There's theory, then there's reality.

[370forlife]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Do not believe all you read on the InterWeb! Got an expensive Antec PSU here. State of the art design, stuffed out with chokes, varistors, all the things demanded in the textbooks on theory. They've fitted Fuji-haha caps, which, guess what, have failed.

Then probably not state of the art. A lot of advancements in psu technology with the efficiency craze, if this is old enough to be a CWT built antec then it is far from state of the art. More of a beefed up AT psu with a 5vsb and 3.3v.

[c_hegge]

Re: K.i.s.s.

I no longer trust Antec (other than the high end series like signature). I've seen that many with bad caps not that it's not funny.

[Agent24]

Re: K.i.s.s.

I never liked Antec despite so many people claiming they are the best ever made

I don't like anyone who uses Fuhjyyu, end of story.

I read on the internet where a few years ago people started complaining about the abysmal capacitors and Antec started getting better and I think even offering repairs but now it looks like they've gone back again.

Friend of mine bought an Antec Basiq recently, I took a look through the ventilation holes - Fuhjyyu! And this is not a well-cooled PSU either, it's got one 80mm fan and not many air vents.

I know Basiq line is low end but they could have gone with something better. Samxon would have been cheap too but I'm sure far better.

In saying that, I think that the PSUs themselves are OK, just let down by the capacitors, If you were to replace all the capacitors you'd have a pretty decent PSU in most cases.

[Scenic]

Re: K.i.s.s.

I know Basiq line is low end but they could have gone with something better. Samxon would have been cheap too but I'm sure far better.

even Teapos would be high-end compared to the fuhjyuhyhjhjyjhzgzifgkfaödf crap antec keeps using..

i'm quite happy with my NeoPower/NeoHE 430 though.. reason being: its a seasonic OEM

[Agent24]

Re: K.i.s.s.

even Teapos would be high-end compared to the fuhjyuhyhjhjyjhzgzifgkfaödf crap antec keeps using..

i'm quite happy with my NeoPower/NeoHE 430 though.. reason being: its a seasonic OEM

I can't say I'd be happy with Teapo either. I think there may have been some Teapo in the Basiq as well though (can't really remember though and he wouldn't like me opening it due to warranty)

What brand capacitors does your NeoPower use?

[Elitist]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Twin-fan, SmartPower. With the difficult-to-access input-side varistors blown, this may not be worth repairing? Has there been front-side silicon damage, too? Even the exploding wire failed to explode. This is a bad design, badly executed. No excuses. Sinocheapware wins every time. Let's all stop using expensive boxes as bragging rights (rites?) and filling the pockets of charlatans. An wholesale shift to Linux might also help on the hardware side, although not necessarily with PSUs.

[Agent24]

Re: K.i.s.s.

You can say what you like about how good cheap PSUs are but I can tell you they are still bad.

I've got a system here, Sempron 2800+ Socket 754 - It's had a Colorsit and some other no-name brand PSU, both started causing lockups and now I've finally replaced it with a Corsair CX400 and guess what? No more lockups.

These PSUs both using ultra cheap capacitors (the ones with LOW ESR written on them) - If you have to say your capacitor is a Low ESR then it isn't. Or if it is, it won't be for very long

I've also got 2 machines running Enermax, I recommended Enermax to all my friends, guess what? They have no problems.

On the other hand, I have loads of crappy Hyena (Deer) PSU which all run great in Pentium 3 rigs but all have bulging capacitors.

Only one I've actually seen fail was one in a Pentium 4 machine where the capacitors were so bad the computer wouldn't complete POST. Put in a new PSU and guess what? Worked fine.

[Elitist]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Yes, they are not all tinged with gold. Deer and Color-anything are definitely ones to avoid, although Deer units with the critical caps (I'm sure readers of this column know exactly which ones!) replaced seem to run satisfactorily in perpetuity. Suntek (nominally US), Seventeam (nom. Taiwan) and SCL (nom. UK) have been especially robust in my armoury. Are these actually made in China? Probably, yes. The smoking gun doesn't point at the PRC, they just do the biding of the greedy Westerners who should know better!

[Agent24]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Yeah it's pretty stupid, everyone wants the cheapest thing but they expect it to never break as well... but then when someone makes something decent they complain that it costs too much

[370forlife]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Quite interesting power supply i have here. It's a R-senda EPSpower-660, a 80plus sample so yes it should be safe to use to it's rated wattage, but it has Fuhjiyyu on the secondary with a twist.

BTW, if you buy a brand new antec, you will not get Fuhjiyyu's. Seasonic and delta do not use Fuhjiyyu/asia-x. Only CWT DID. CWT now uses samxon and UCC.

The worst you will get in a Antec now is OST in a seasonic made.

[seanc]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Aye, the 2006/2007 era Antec Earthwatts I'm repairing are Seasonic built with OST & Teapo. All work fine after a recap.
My Seasonic S12 of the same era uses exactly the same PCB, just with better caps, even a polymer!

Newer Earthwatts seem to be using (at least one) UCC, as you mentioned.

The Basiq models I've looked in (through the vents) seemed to have Capxon, could be wrong though.

[Scenic]

Re: K.i.s.s.

i'm quite happy with my NeoPower/NeoHE 430 though.. reason being: its a seasonic OEM

What brand capacitors does your NeoPower use?

Hitachi grain silo on the primary side, OSTs on the secondary side. with lots of airflow though.

The worst you will get in a Antec now is OST in a seasonic made.

which isnt really a problem as those seasonic built PSUs usually have very good airflow.

my Neopower/NeoHE 430 is in my main computer since feb. 2009 now (bought it used, resoldered some not-so-good-looking joints, fan oiled). no probs at all so far.

edit: and never opened up again since then.. it's about time.. dusty as hell.. lol

[c_hegge]

Re: K.i.s.s.

I see new CWT-built PSUs with cheapo Teapo in them. The ThermalTake Toughpower series claim to have Japanese caps, but on opening them up, they are full of teapo.

As for the seasonic-OEM antecs, the single 80mm temp controlled fan doesn't cool them well enough IMHO. I've had a couple of them with bad caps. The PC that is powering this post has a re-capped SU-380.

[370forlife]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Teapo is actually pretty good in psu's. PC P&C has been using them for quite a while, so has many server grade OEM's like Etasis, CWT, Enhance, AcBel, Andyson, Sirtec, ATNG, FSP/sparkle, etc...

[Scenic]

Re: K.i.s.s.

the Antec TruePower 550EPS i've got here to fix up had fuhjyyuhhju's everywhere, except for the secondary side on the 12V rail.
2x 3300uF 16V Teapo SC there.

guess which 2 caps were the only ones that were *not* bulging/leaking.. ?
i'll replace them anyways.. not bulging but probably baked dry. if that's not the case, they've most likely degraded a lot (being 6years old)

[c_hegge]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Teapo is actually pretty good in psu's. PC P&C has been using them for quite a while, so has many server grade OEM's like Etasis, CWT, Enhance, AcBel, Andyson, Sirtec, ATNG, FSP/sparkle, etc...

Disagree. I see lots of PSUs with failed teapo. If I get my hands on a PSU with teapo, I always re-cap it if I intend to use/sell it. They are definately better than Fuhjyyu and G-Luxon, though.

[Elitist]

Re: K.i.s.s.

OST - nothing but trouble. I always replace them. As bad as GLuxon and Fujihaha.

[mockingbird]

Re: K.i.s.s.

Disagree. I see lots of PSUs with failed teapo. If I get my hands on a PSU with teapo, I always re-cap it if I intend to use/sell it. They are definately better than Fuhjyyu and G-Luxon, though.

I concur. Teapo PSUs will give you only a few years, if you're lucky. And I prefer OST in PSUs to Teapo.

[c_hegge]

Re: K.i.s.s.

OST = Teapo for quality. I find both about as reliable as each other.