Computer Power Supply Meltdown

[starman345]

After getting out of the shower this morning I noticed a really strong burnt electrical wire smell in the house. I tracked it down to my htpc machine which I had turned on about 1/2 hour before. My 1 year old Corsair 620 watt supply had gone south. Thankfully the main panel circuit breaker did its job and shut everything off on that line so there was no damage except for the PS.
I put a 520 watt OCZ in that I had here and will send off the Corsair for warranty.
About 15 years ago, I just happened to be sitting at my desktop, (it was a bbs machine and on 24/7), when its power supply popped. The tower was next to a window and the window curtain was inches from the power supply, you can guess what happened, the overheated wires in the supply ignited and if I hadn't been there my house would have gone up in smoke. Ever since then, I've been very conscious of where the machine is placed and I turn it off when its not needed.
I had thought that modern power supplies would be less of a hazard but from what I can see through the holes in the Corsair, its pretty charred in there.
Anyway, I dont' hear of anyone else having these problems with power supplies and fires, maybe its just my luck but I thought I would post this to let people know, it does occasionally happen and to be aware the potential is there.
BTW, my machines are regularly cleaned inside, vents on the PS are always kept clear.

 

[JamesJ]

thats suprising as corsair is a decent power supply...I have had power supplies go, and like you I was lucky enogh to be home, but it was a cheap power supply that I had, and man the smell was bad, but it did melt my motherboard oh well, glad you are safe, that is my one fear, fire.

 

[Van]

Over the last year I believe that there has been a total of 4 of us that have had ps failures but not to the extent that you had with this one which I'm glad that it didn't turn into something allot worse.

 

[Plazzman]

I purchased a Silverstone 1000 watt from fry's about 2 month's ago. Smoked my motherboard and processor at power up before it tripped it and shut off.. End result was I did receive a new power supply for free at the cost of a new motherboard and processor. Just my 2 cents worth...

 

[mike123abc]

Like everything else they are really starting to scrimp on the power supply components. I have 15 year old computers still working away with their old power supplies. They used to be a different shape (long went front to back of the case), I suppose I would have trouble finding a replacement. Lucky we are finally migrating away from the dedicated application, and should be out of service this year.

 

[Dishpointer]

My 1 year old Corsair 620 watt supply had gone south. Thankfully the main panel circuit breaker did its job and shut everything off on that line so there was no damage except for the PS.
I put a 520 watt OCZ in that I had here and will send off the Corsair for warrently.

Funny that you mention this but my 1 year old Corsair 620HX just went out last week. Nothing smelled burnt, it just wouldn't boot up my system. I upgraded to the 750TX and all is fine. Hopefully this one will last longer than a year.

 

[starman345]

I purchased a Silverstone 1000 watt from fry's about 2 month's ago. Smoked my motherboard and processor at power up before it tripped it and shut off.. End result was I did receive a new power supply for free at the cost of a new motherboard and processor. Just my 2 cents worth...

Sorry to hear that, that turned out to be an expensive PS.

 

[nsaspook]

Sorry to hear that, that turned out to be an expensive PS.

For control PCs at work we have started replacing the power supply with industrial grade models before they fail and replacing the cheap chinese junk before they cause a fire. Even in a clean room we have had the junk fans die in less than a year. Industrial Grade : Power Supplies - Computer Power Supplies - PCPower.com

 

[navychop]

Yep. I've lost several PCs over the years due to cheap power supplies. Another reason why I build most of mine, esp the ones I support at work. I now exclusively use PC Power & Cooling or Antec power supplies. Never had one of them take a mobo with it. In fact, I've only ever lost one PC P & C PS.

But these power supplies cost more than the motherboard, maybe more than the motherboard & CPU together.

 

[starman345]

Yep. I've lost several PCs over the years due to cheap power supplies. Another reason why I build most of mine, esp the ones I support at work. I now exclusively use PC Power & Cooling or Antec power supplies. Never had one of them take a mobo with it. In fact, I've only ever lost one PC P & C PS.

But these power supplies cost more than the motherboard, maybe more than the motherboard & CPU together.

I build my own pc's and have for years, when I bought the Corsair, I researched it and it seemed to be a very good quality PS. Maybe I got a lemon, in any case I have a ticket in and am waiting for Corsair to reply. The PS is only a year old and the box it came in says its warranteed for 5...so we shall see.
Today my 3870HD ATI video card is losing power, dies, then comes back up after a rest and re-boot...I thought I got away with only a fried PS but now I'm thinking other things might have been hosed as well.

 

[nsaspook]

Yep. I've lost several PCs over the years due to cheap power supplies. Another reason why I build most of mine, esp the ones I support at work. I now exclusively use PC Power & Cooling or Antec power supplies. Never had one of them take a mobo with it. In fact, I've only ever lost one PC P & C PS.

But these power supplies cost more than the motherboard, maybe more than the motherboard & CPU together.

One of the things that the junk PSs are missing is good crowbar voltage protection. When they fail I've seen them max out the voltages to twice what they should be before it blows. The Antec earthwatts are ok for a home PC but when a million tool is down because the PC is dead $500 is cheap.

 

[Van]

Yep. I've lost several PCs over the years due to cheap power supplies. Another reason why I build most of mine, esp the ones I support at work. I now exclusively use PC Power & Cooling or Antec power supplies. Never had one of them take a mobo with it. In fact, I've only ever lost one PC P & C PS.

But these power supplies cost more than the motherboard, maybe more than the motherboard & CPU together.

More than the mobo cpu and 1TB HD plus 4gig's of memory with some of the current prices.

 

[14karat]

<RANT>
Biggest problem I've seen with any power supply is the ridiculously cheap cooling fans that are used in them. Even on the 'hi-grade' redundant PS's that come with our servers it seems they always scrimp on the fans.
Why can't they spend a couple extra bucks on a good quality fan and get rid of the nickel and dime jobs...
</RANT>