3 PSUs dead in the past three months and light bulbs exploding

[Schadenfroh]

I am starting to become concerned. Weird crap is going on at my house.

It started back in December when my Antec TruPower died a quiet death. I RMAed it and bought another (this time an Antec TruPower Trio 430watt) to use and kept the RMAed one as spare.

It was quiet for about a month and a half.

A 2nd PC's PSU blew sparks out the back (generic PSU), replaced it with the RMAed Antec.

Light bulb in the living room explodes (incandescent) and shatters glass all over the floor.

Two weeks later, a light bulb (of a different type) explodes in the dining room and the glass goes all over my Quizno's sub while I was eating and scares the crap out of me. The filament burns the wooden table.

Last night, my AntecTruPower Trio dies.

All the PCs were on battery backups (surge supressed), very odd for an Antec PSU to go bad, especially after just three months. The light bulbs were the proper type and wattage for their socket. Both exploded and shattered glass everywhere and both were different types in different rooms.

Even stranger, all of these things happened in my presence (and none in my absence, I leave the PCs on 24/7, but that is understandable with the light bulbs, as I have a habit of turning them off when I leave the room).

My multimeter shows that the houses wiring is fine and no strange readings.

This a coincidence or is my power company screwing with me?

 

[SparkyJJO]

How old is the house? You could be getting random strong surges or something.

And no, it isn't as odd as you may think for an Antec to go bad. Bad cap problems. My 9 month old truepower 2 died on me. Now not all Antecs are bad - parents' PC has a 5 or 6 year old antec no problems, brother's PC has a 4 or 5 year old antec.

 

[conlan]

You need to call your Power company and explain what's happening. Sounds like your getting some serious power surges.

Do you have a UPS that you run your computers thorugh?? A good one, like a quality PSU, are wise investments.

 

[Ken90630]

:Q

A few suggestions:

1) Call GE or whoever made the light bulbs that are exploding and ask them what, typically, is the cause of bulbs actually exploding. That would freak me out too.

Obviously, if they say, "surges" or something like that, you'll be pointed in the right direction.

2) Not that long ago, a friend of mine's computer had 2 hard drives and 1 mobo kick the bucket within 3 months of each other. (The southbridge decided to die -- that was fun to diagnose. :roll: ) After much head scratching, I finally asked if he had done any electrical work on/in the house recently. He said no, but that Edison (the electric co. here) had been in the backyard, twice during this time, doing some work on the power pole and also where the electricity came into his house. And that the TV and lights had been flickering off & on for awhile. Well, "duh," I said .... :light: I built him a new computer (it was time anyway) and installed a good APC surge suppressor and he's been fine since. And the electic company hasn't been back for any reason, so I'm pretty sure they were the cause of the prob in the first place.

Maybe ask some neighbors if they've been having any weird probs like you have. If so, you'll again have a clue to pursue.

3) There is a device called a "line monitor" that I used a couple times in a previous career. You plug it into a wall outlet and leave it on for 24 hours (or longer if you want). It prints out a tape (like an EKG machine or seismic monitor or something) and you just look for big spikes or dips on the printout. The one I used belonged to the company I worked for, so I have no idea how much one would cost if Average Joe wanted to buy one. If you really wanna monitor your wall current for more than a few seconds with a multimeter, that'd prolly be the way to go. I personally would look elsewhere for the culprit; just letting you know the device exists (if you didn't already know).

I dunno ... weird probs, man. You don't live in Amityville, do you? :evil:

Good luck.

 

[Hemsky]

Dirty power

 

[Schadenfroh]

Do you have a UPS that you run your computers through?? A good one, like a quality PSU, are wise investments.

Yes, all are APC battery backups, even have one on the TV.

How old is the house?

Built in the late 90s

If your UPS' have software, check the event logs.

Installing APC's monitoring software now, going to leave it running 24/7 to see if it finds anything.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

My Belkin has BullDog monitoring software that logs main line fluchuations. If your UPS' have software, check the event logs. Our pole transformer was bad, I talked to my neighbors, we all contacted So Cal Edison and in 30 days had a new transformer.
Voltage is now a rock steady 119.5VAC instead of rocking from 102~130+VAC.

Antec SmartPower and TruePower units are to be avoided.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Check for arrowheads and feathers in the basement.

</poltergeist>

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Our pole transformer was bad, I talked to my neighbors, we all contacted So Cal Edison and in 30 days had a new transformer.
Voltage is now a rock steady 119.5VAC instead of rocking from 102~130+VAC.

Like I said. :thumbsup:

Also, a quick Google search for causes of exploding light bulbs yielded a few possibilities like:

1) The insulation around a fixture not sealing properly, thus allowing moisture/condensation or cold air to come in around the (hot) bulb and cause it to shatter

2) Other source of a sudden cold draft of air hitting the bulb (e.g., a door or window suddenly being opened on a really cold day?)

3) Cheap bulbs

These were mostly things posted on bulletin boards in response to people's questions about why their light bulbs were exploding. There were also a few comments saying that voltage spikes/surges would usually just cause the bulb to burn out instantaneously rather than explode. I'm not an electician, so I dunno.

Just FYI.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Yeah, I've read the stuff about Antecs in the forums, but I disagree. Antec is all I have used in the many rigs I've built for me and my family's personal use. I've used them since a 250W psu was considered big. I have never had a problem. I know of a Duron 800 and an Athlon 1.2 built new still running the original Antecs in them. Recently dropped an old, well used 300w into an Athlon 2500 I had slapped together; worked fine. Currently using a TP430 and a TP480 in rigs.

 

[Ken90630]

With Antecs, it depends on the model. Last I heard, Antec doesn't make their own PSUs -- they OEM them from different PSU mfgrs and then put the Antec name on them. And they don't use just one OEM mfgr, so different models are actually made by different companies, hence the potential for more product quality variance than one might see from a consistent source. There have been good ones and bad ones.

IIRC, an Antec rep even posted a message on this forum awhile back (~ a year ago, give or take), apologizing for all the probs people were having with a certain model (I don't remember which one) and blaming it on bad capacitors. Said the usual, "We're aware of the problem and are taking steps to correct it, we apologize for all the inconvenience, etc." No mention, of course, as to why they put the PSUs on the market without adequately testing them first (they were failing as soon as they hit the market, IIRC).

In short, some Antecs have been better than others, so saying, "Antec PSUs are good" or "Antec PSUs are bad" is not really appropriate. Depends on the model (and maybe even the batch?). JohnnyGuru and others on this site prolly know more about this than I'm posting here, but that's the gist of it AFAIK.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Antec SmartPower and TruePower units are to be avoided.

AFAIK, the 'TruePower' and 'SmartPower' lines have generally been OK; these (along with the newer 'NeoPower' line) are the higher-end Antecs. For example, SPCR reviewed the Antec TruePower 380W back in 2002, and a Smartpower 450W in 2005, and both passed their fairly rigorous testing without a problem. Their 'no-name' Antec PSUs are significantly lower in rating and (from just casual inspection) build quality, and there is a good chance they are not made by the same manufacturer.

Antec got bit by bad capacitors at points, but so did a lot of other big PSU manufacturers/suppliers. These are hard problems to catch before the products hit the market unless you either burn in the PSUs extensively under load, or do frequent randomized quality testing, since you might get a random batch of bad caps at any time.

 

[QuantumPion]

My house was rewired by the previous owner (and certified). However last summer, on at least three occasions I came home to all my blocks blinking 12:00 even though the weather was fair. I've also had light bulbs expire unusually frequently, although since I replaced most of them with CFL's they have lasted. I also had one power supply die on my new computer, although I think that was due to it being over-loaded by components (it died 1 day after I installed an 8800 gtx). I haven't had any other power supply or appliance problems. I don't know whether it is bad wiring, or just the power from the line that is bad.

Try taking a voltage reading of a few of your outlets and tell us what you get. If it is significantly off from 120 V that might be the issue.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: Matthias99

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Antec SmartPower and TruePower units are to be avoided.

AFAIK, the 'TruePower' and 'SmartPower' lines have generally been OK; these (along with the newer 'NeoPower' line) are the higher-end Antecs. For example, SPCR reviewed the Antec TruePower 380W back in 2002, and a Smartpower 450W in 2005, and both passed their fairly rigorous testing without a problem. Their 'no-name' Antec PSUs are significantly lower in rating and (from just casual inspection) build quality, and there is a good chance they are not made by the same manufacturer.

Antec got bit by bad capacitors at points, but so did a lot of other big PSU manufacturers/suppliers. These are hard problems to catch before the products hit the market unless you either burn in the PSUs extensively under load, or do frequent randomized quality testing, since you might get a random batch of bad caps at any time.

Fuhjyyu capacitors will NOT suffer temps of > 45C. Antec uses these craps and under specs the fans for silence. Pretty bad mix imho.

http://www.theflyingpenguin.com/ > My Blog > 09/17/05 read it please, as this is not uncommon. Look over his links please.

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2225
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3246
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3347
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3300
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2022

There are about 190 threads over at Badcaps about Antec PSUs, if you care to search n' read. http://www.badcaps.net/faq/

Google Fuhjyyu for more fun reading. :laugh:

 

[bruceb]

When a light bulb explodes it is usually an overvoltage condition that causes it.

Here is what you need to do:

1): Ask the power company to install a Power Line Monitor at the point of entrance.
This will record all Voltage Variations and it will be easy to tell if the problem is
coming from the power network or not.

2): If the line monitor shows clean at that point, the next thing I would check is the
wiring inside the Main Circuit Breaker Panel. You can do most of this yourself, but
be careful. You want to check that all the wire terminals at the Breakers, Neutral Bar
and Ground Bar are Tight ... a loose wire can cause all sorts of trouble. It can also
be a loose Neutral wire at one of the many junction points in the home. You would
need an Electrician to check all of those and also to check that the wires (usually aluminum)
going into the Main Breaker and in the Meter Tray are not corroded and properly tightened.
You can not touch these yourself as the Current at those locations is Very Dangerous.

Let us know how it works out. I am interested in the final outcome.

 

[Bateluer]

Sounds like you have an angry spirit. You should probably call an exorcist.

 

[ComputerWizKid]

Sounds like an open or loose Neutral wire in your main service enterance or Power Company connection Call the power Company Immediately they will respond ASAP to these type of calls as this can be a very dangerous situation as you probably already experanced

 

[Blain]

If nothing else, install these...
* Delta LA-302R Surge Arrestor
* Delta CA-302R Surge Capacitor

> Installation Instructions Here <

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Sounds like you have an angry spirit. You should probably call an exorcist.

That is exactly what I was thinking. Can't hurt! In the meantime - have your power monitored by your power utility.

 

[firebyyrd]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Sounds like you have an angry spirit. You should probably call an exorcist.

Good call.

 

[firebyyrd]

Two weeks later, a light bulb (of a different type) explodes in the dining room and the glass goes all over my Quizno's sub while I was eating and scares the crap out of me. The filament burns the wooden table.

That's just scary.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Fuhjyyu capacitors will NOT suffer temps of > 45C. Antec uses these craps and under specs the fans for silence. Pretty bad mix imho.

http://www.theflyingpenguin.com/ > My Blog > 09/17/05 read it please, as this is not uncommon. Look over his links please.

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2225
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3246
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3347
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3300
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2022

There are about 190 threads over at Badcaps about Antec PSUs, if you care to search n' read. http://www.badcaps.net/faq/

Google Fuhjyyu for more fun reading. :laugh:

I'd be concerned about the stability/longevity of any PSU if you have ambient temps in the 40+C range in your case. Most PSUs are only rated for operation to 50C! Based on SPCR's data, I wouldn't expect much more than a 5-6 degree temperature increase between the case internal temp and the PSU internal temp -- unless you have a very high-end system that is really pulling 450+W.

Some posts on other sites seem to indicate part of the problem is that poor ventilation design in some of the Antec units is causing the caps to be heating up more than that. If you're trying to build a quiet-yet-high-powered system, this could be a problem.

I knew that Antec cut a lot of corners in their low-end PSUs, but I wasn't aware they were still using cheap/low-grade capacitors in the higher-end ones as well. It sounds like the issues around them are mostly related to longevity rather than sudden early deaths, and it may be more heat-related than anything else, but it's still troubling. The units are definitely capable of delivering adequate power as long as the caps hold out.

From a HardOCP thread on the issues:

I think people are worrying a bit much right now.

1. NeoHE's, Trio, Basiq are Seasonic. Nothing to worry about there.
2. The CWT based units are the main discussion right now, so I'll get right to that:
3. Fuhjyyu capacitors Only plague the CWT units.
4. Whining can be caused by a variety of factors. Loose transformer windings, the acetate air dam, etc.
5. Fuhjyyu's will work fine unless subjected to excess heat. Antec's fan throttling is exactly the reason why the caps burst so fast. MOST other Fuhjyyu capped psu's (nuuo, truecontrol, xclio, Hiper, etc) don't have that problem, since they don't throttle down so much, if at all.

That being said, I don't recommend CWT based Antec's in most cases.

Guess I'm not recommending Antecs that aren't Trio/NeoHE units anymore.

Also:

There are about 190 threads over at Badcaps about Antec PSUs, if you care to search n' read.

Not to try to say that Antec doesn't have problems -- but they are one of the biggest PSU distributors (if not the biggest) in the US. Simply in terms of volume they'll have more complaints and failures than anybody else even if on a statistical basis their PSUs are no better or worse than anybody else's. And several of the threads you linked to above weren't about 'failed' Antecs per se, but just people discussing swapping out the caps in (working) Antecs with higher-quality ones.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: firebyyrd

Two weeks later, a light bulb (of a different type) explodes in the dining room and the glass goes all over my Quizno's sub while I was eating and scares the crap out of me. The filament burns the wooden table.

That's just scary.

Your telling me, when that happened I jumped back over my chair and stood against the wall for about 15 sec. until what had happened sank in and I calmed down. Just glad the filament did not land on me!

Anyways, no strange readings on the APC software so far. Will check the brand of light bulb, still have the box downstairs. Might have been generic, but I usually make a habit of getting GEs when I can. Cold weather is not an issue, no doors were open when the light bulbs blew.

Sounds like you have an angry spirit.

As far as that goes, when the house was built, the Indian (from India not Native American) that had it constructed also had it blessed by some kind of priest and other rituals on the thing, not sure which religion it was, probably Hindu or Islam. He later sold the house to us because it was too small for his growing family. But, I dont believe in that sort of thing, so according to my made for SciFi movies, in order for the force to have power, I must believe. But, if it was something weird like that, should have manifested itself already if it was going to.

 

[crimson117]

The only time I've seen lit lightbulbs explode was when I shot them with a watergun.

To be safe, you should probably consider not using exposed light bulbs - install fixtures or something where the bulb is covered up.

 

[Adul]

any updates?