Another bad Antec PSU bites the dust

[Kirby64]

My mother's computer has always seemed to run... inadequately. It seemed slow, always ran crappily, and was just an all around dog.

Well, the last day it's been rebooting randomly for no particular reason, and after some looking I figured it was the PSU, since RAM seemed OK and I doubted it was the CPU. So, open up the box, take a look. I take a whiff of the PSU and it smelled... off. Not burning plastic, but it just didn't smell right. So I convince my dad to buy a new PSU at some place like Fry's where we can get one quickly, and I went to work at disassembling the computer. First things first, disconnect cables attached to box, great. I open the box, first thing I do is disconnect the 20-pin ATX cable. It was strangely warm, never knew a cable to be warm. I disconnect it to find this:

Burnt PSU connector
Burnt motherboard connector
Another picture of PSU connector
The culprit

Well, now we have to go buy a new power supply AND a motherboard. I'm just hoping that the CPU wasn't taken with it. I still don't know how the computer survived so long with the connector being... melted.

 

[amdskip]

Wow, how old was the power supply?

 

[Baked]

Damn. I've been running an Antec TP480 in my AMD Barton system for the past few years, and it's still running strong. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones. Why is the fan grill all rusted on that PSU?

 

[Kirby64]

Originally posted by: amdskip
Wow, how old was the power supply?

Power supply was somewhere around 2 1/2-3 1/2 years old. I honestly don't remember too well.

 

[Kirby64]

Originally posted by: Baked
Damn. I've been running an Antec TP480 in my AMD Barton system for the past few years, and it's still running strong. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones. Why is the fan grill all rusted on that PSU?

It's not actually rust, it's a combination of dust and.. a brass fan grate I believe.

 

[Operandi]

What dose the inside of the PSU look like?

Also the motherboard could have been the source of the problem. Dose it have any bad caps?

 

[0roo0roo]

ah that smell is horrible. it happeend to me once too, but it was melted so much i couldn't remove the plug, like the pins welded together

 

[Kirby64]

Originally posted by: Operandi
What dose the inside of the PSU look like?

Also the motherboard could have been the source of the problem. Dose it have any bad caps?

The mobo looks completely fine TBH, none of the caps are bulging or anything or that sort. As for the PSU, I never really got too good a look at it. I'll have a look-see, since I've finished disassembling the computer. It's now parts on a bunch of paper-towels.

 

[Navid]

Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

 

[Kirby64]

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

What is contacting them going to do? We kinda need the computer up and running by tomorrow afternoon/evening, so waiting forever to get a response isn't ideal at all.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

If it's out of warranty there isn't much of hope of them doing anything.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Kirby64

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

What is contacting them going to do? We kinda need the computer up and running by tomorrow afternoon/evening, so waiting forever to get a response isn't ideal at all.

They may offer something. They may not.
Go ahead and get a new power supply and motherboard to fix it if you are in a rush.
But, also send them a message from their customer support link on their web site. They reply very fast. It is your choice.
They know that they have some bad products out there. They would want to resolve problems that arise from it. But, if you open the power supply, you cannot expect them to do anything since you will be breaking the seal.

 

[Kirby64]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

If it's out of warranty there isn't much of hope of them doing anything.

Not only that, but we don't have any of the papers like the receipt of buying it. And at 2 years old, the warranty probably expired.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

Antec wont do anything if the PSU is out of warranty!!

 

[Bozo Galora]

inside I'll bet there is a filter cap (tall can) blown up like a firecracker
I gave up on Antecs two years ago

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

Antec wont do anything if the PSU is out of warranty!!

If a company that makes one of the most popular cases (P180) causes my motherboard to fry, I will definitely show pictures to them and see what they have to say about it, assuming that I did not do anything to cause it of course.

You can just ask them. You have got nothing to lose by doing that. Or you can say"Antec wont do anything if the PSU is out of warranty". Of course, then, you will never know what they really would have said!.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

And *IF* they do anything it'll most likely be replace it with another one of their crappy power supplies? Toss that in the wastecan and write it off as lesson learned.

 

[fire400]

reason why you don't get comfy with computers, unexpected disasters are the gift to the unwise and often times the unlucky ones.

 

[Blain]

A friend of mine was running an Abit BH7 and 350W HEC power supply that did the same thing, only different pins.

He was experiencing random reboots. Funny thing is the burnt pins on the PS were still outputting the proper voltage.

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

And *IF* they do anything it'll most likely be replace it with another one of their crappy power supplies? Toss that in the wastecan and write it off as lesson learned.

It also took out his mb so Antec might work towards some form of compensation.

 

[orangat]

From the pics, it looks like all the 5V leads are burnt. I'd inspect the drives as well.

 

[ComputerWizKid]

Antecs Have 3 years of warenty so I would try to get ahold of Antec before opening the Power Supply

 

[Hidden Hippo]

Ouch. That looks very nasty. I'd still contact Antec and see whether there is anything they can do about it.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: Navid
Do not open the power supply (yet).
Contact Antec.
Show them the pictures.
See if they have anything to say.

Agreed. There's a good chance they'll offer some sort of compensation. It might also help to link them to this thread. They have an service rep who participates on these forums occasionally so I think they respect it as a means of drawing positive or negative attention to their brand worldwide. I think the rep's forum name is "AntecCSR". In the eyes of the corporation, the brand is gold.

Edit: Yeah, it's AntecCSR. I recommend sending him a PM too.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

All the Antec SmartPower and TruePower units are filled with CRAPPY Fuhjyyu craps.
The ones that don't cause problems at three years service life have been run at low
loads with cool ambients.

Please do some reading over at http://www.badcaps.net/

OP, if AntecCSR does not get back to you, PM me for two internal email addies at
Antec Fremont Ca.


...Galvanized