Antec Earthwatts 650w

[zCypher]

Hi yall,

I currently have the Earthwatts 650w by Antec which I was sure was a good unit at the time, about 2 years ago. I've checked again and I only see good things about it. A few days ago my system would not post twice in a row, third attempt it started fine and it has been running fine since then. There's nothing overclocked in it. Once in a while I *think* I smell a burning smell but if it's there at all it's faint and goes away. Makes me think I'm just going nuts, but I don't want to damage my hardware if the PSU is going to kick the bucket. I did recently have a bad Vertex2, though I've not attributed that failure to the PSU. Note, the Vertex2 was not in the system at the time of system not posting twice.

I ran some RAM tests when I built the system and again recently and didn't uncover anything wrong there. When I first built the system it was with a single 2GB Corsair and an identical additional 2GB later on, never seemed to have any problems with it and never overclocked.

I used the MSI G31M3-L V2's onboard video for a while until I picked up a GTX460SE 1GB, I never had any problems before or after that point either. I monitor my temps regularly with HWMonitor and I definitely don't see alarming temps for CPU, HD or anywhere.

Given that info... Do you think it's likely that my PSU might be at risk, motherboard might be faulty (despite otherwise flawless experience), or I'm just going crazy?

If it does turn out to be PSU though, I would like to go fully modular and fanless would be good too but the pickings are slim there.

 

[Fallengod]

Everything can fail, regardless of being high quality components. Assuming its still under warranty, RMAing wouldnt hurt, although it would probably cost $10 to do that. It doesnt sound like you are very sure at all that there is anything wrong in the first place though.

However, A PSU going bad can definitely damage components. Years ago I had that old Antec 430 watt everyone is familiar with starting to go bad and I had no clue. It ended up taking out a main backup harddrive and most of the data because it was not supplying sufficient power or something along those lines.

Since you are very unsure if anything is wrong in the first place, I am not sure what advice to give. Maybe spending the money to RMA is worth it to know the PSU is fully functional?

 

[Soulkeeper]

I have the same psu, no problems so far here.

A few questions come to mind:
Do you regularly blow out the dust from your pc (including the psu) ?
have you removed/inspected the motherboard/cables for signs of failure or overheated components ?

Also attempting an old fashion "smell test" with the pc powered off might be effective, ie: if you can pinpoint the location of that "burning smell" and visually inspect it.

If it is infact the psu, i've read forum posts by an antec employee saying they've upgraded the EA series to be "higher quality" since their initial release ... an RMA would likely get you a better/newer unit.

 

[zCypher]

Thanks for the input. I do have quite a bit of dust (and cat fur) in my apartment and I haven't really done much for maintenance of that. I recently did and quite a lot came out. I just moved my PC from the floor to ontop of a filing cabinet.

Haven't experienced any issues since the that time it didn't post twice. I guess I will keep PSU in mind for my next upgrade.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I also suggest possibly getting some air filters to cover the intake grills

you can get a pack of standard electrostatic vent filters at home depot for under $5
A small peice of clear scotch tape or black electrical tape combined with the air pressure will hold them in place.
I do this and wash them in the sink once a week. Has worked great to keep dust and cat fur out of my pc.

 

[zCypher]

I also suggest possibly getting some air filters to cover the intake grills

you can get a pack of standard electrostatic vent filters at home depot for under $5
A small peice of clear scotch tape or black electrical tape combined with the air pressure will hold them in place.
I do this and wash them in the sink once a week. Has worked great to keep dust and cat fur out of my pc.

thanks for the tip, a really good idea considering how fast dust collects here.