2 Enermax EG365P-VE PSUs. Problems with "FC" but not "FM" type. Help?

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
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857
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Hmm, I made a trade some time ago, but the Enermax EG365P-VE 350w PSU I got out of it did not work when tested. It would power up, but I would never get any video when using it while the stock PSU from an Inwin case worked fine. I tried it in other computers and got the same problem with slightly different results. Here's my description I sent the guy:

Well, I've got some bad news. I was testing everything out last night and when I got to the PSU, I could get no video. I wasn't sure if it was the new video card or the new PSU. I removed everything one at a time until it was just the mobo, CPU, RAM and video card with no drives. Still powered up, but no video. I reseated the video card & memory and powered up but then only got a twitch out of the PSU fan. I swapped video cards with an MX that was lying around the shop. Nothing. I tested the cards in another PC and they worked. I tested another PSU from a friends PC and mine powered right up. Something's wrong with the PSU

I then tried it on my friend's PC which didn't require the +12v or AUX connectors, and the PSU fans would kick in and the drives would power up just like it WAS doing with mine, but still no video.

The fan I was referring to was the internal fan, which at first would spin, then only twitch. When tried in another system, it would spin but the real problem persisted.

After ordering a replacement from Directron, I got a slightly different type of the same model. The original is an "FC" (Fan Control) type, where the rear fan requires a connection to the motherboard (All three pins). The new one is an "FM" type (Fan Monitor), with only two pins for fan speed monitoring.

Now, after the guy offered me $25 to compensate for the first PSU, everthing seems to work great with both PSUs in the same system I originally had trouble with.

What the heck was wrong before? I don't trust a PSU that didn't work before... So what should I do about the $25? Should I assume there is a short in one of the wires or something? At the time I ordered the replacement, I also ordered a PSU tester from Directron.com. I attached it to the PSU first before finding out it worked (I thought the tester was good for nothing because it said a PSU which was confirmed bad was now good). I doubt it's also a "PSU fixer" but could it be related? I'm sure it had at least a few weeks of off time before the first time I tested it and at least a month after that. I doubt it just needed to discharge a capacitor or something...
 

VansTheMan

Member
Sep 13, 2003
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Does the tester give you individual readings for each rail? If not, you should be able to see them in your BIOS. If each rail is within the +-%5 variance, it should be fine. If those readings are fine, I would say go ahead and use it. So it just randomly started working after being connected to the tester? Did you check and make sure no wires were exposed? There might have been a bent pin inside the ATX connector. I had that problem the other night. The connector seemed like it was seated fine, but upon closer examination, one of the spots that the motherboard pins slide into was bent and being crushed up into the connector. And what's with everybody suddenly posting about having problems with the components I have and am about to assemble... it makes me nervous...
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
The tester just has green LEDs for each rail. There is one red "Bad" LED and if it lights up you have no idea which rail is at fault. It doesn't light on known bad PSUs though... Hmm.

Thnx for the info.
 

VansTheMan

Member
Sep 13, 2003
131
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Well, if the tester says it's fine now, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be fine. If you have a multi/volt meter and you know what you're doing, you could test each rail that way. If you don't have experience with that sort of thing I wouldn't try it, though since you can easily be shocked. :)
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
I do have a multitester, but I'm more concerned about other issues like overheating or not booting than rail stability (Like the problem I had before).

This is the "Powmax" tester I have. Looks pretty simple huh? Alsmost as if all it does it throw load to turn on the PSU and use resistors to drop the voltage enough to light the LEDs. The Red one probably only lights during an over-voltage on one of the rails. The Engrish label and instructions sure don't describe much. They just say not to use it if the red LED lights (Well, they didn't know how to spell "light" exactly ;))
 

VansTheMan

Member
Sep 13, 2003
131
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lol, engrish is hilarious! That tester does look kind of shady. From my experience, when power supplies go bad, they go bad. The reasons they go bad vary, but it's usually from something burning/shorting or the like. Those things don't fix themselves and work fine after a few days. You could try shorting the green wire with a black wire or connecting the supply to a board and let it run for several days without stopping. It seems to me that if it will run for that long without problem, you've got nothing to worry about.