antec nepower DOA?

[Corporate Thug]

a friend of mine gave me a neopower. i used it in my old rig but i didnt get a chance to install it in my new rig before i had to move. so i came back home for the firstr time in months this weekend and decided that i would grab the neo so i can replace my x-connect with it (there is nothing wrong with teh x-connect, but the cable management is better on the neo). anyway, i pulled it out of the box and plug it into the wall and try to power it by using a paper clip to connect the green and a black wire and i get nothing but a small whizzing sound that lasts for about half a second

is the unit dead? if so, how? it was in the box and untouched when i left it

 

[BonzaiDuck]

There have been zero (0) responses to your question for probably six hours or so.

I, too, want to approach you question with some caution.

Sure -- jumping the green and black wires is supposed to turn the PSU "ON."

But as I understand, you're supposed to have some sort of load on the PSU. Other articles I've read about bench-testing PSUs, evaluating the rail voltages and so on -- caution that you have to have something connected to it -- something powered by it.

Anyone else? I'm no expert on this, but why not just hook the thing up to a surplus mobo with processor and memory? That would be the most reliable test I can think of for whether or not the Neopower is "working properly."

And -- in fact -- you DID have it hooked up to your "old rig." It worked fine then, didn't it?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I do believe you have to have some sort of load on there. I always atleast plug in a fan or two to test my PSUs (same method, albeit with a switch across the green and black leads). I'd try that before trying to make a determination about it being DOA or not.

 

[Zepper]

It is possible that it has some sort of no-load protection - though I didn't see anything about it in the spec sheet (correction - this might be it: " Voltage-feedback circuitry improves system stability by delivering extremely accurate power.") I would suggest trying one of those PSU testers that put a bit of load on it. They are usually under $10. for a usable one. This style is pretty neat: PSU tester. It will also test 24-pin PSUs as there is room for the connector to hang over - only one way to plug 24 into 20 (and vice versa) unless forced, and all lines of a given voltage in the ATX/EPS12V connectors emanate from the same point within the PSU.
. -- OTOH, you could just plug it up to your mobo, drives, etc. and do the old "smoke test". I seldom hear of an Antec PSU taking other equipment along with it when it goes bad - if that's any comfort... -- I have rethought this statement - see clarification below.
. You may get an error from the tester because the -5V line is missing - but that is the new standard, so don't fret it. The -12V will be the next to go.

.bh.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Is/was he a trusted friend and why did he give you this Antec PSU. Open it up and look very closly for a leaking cap. The caps may have a barreled apperance from swelling or leaking a reddish brown colored electrolite. I've only seen pics and have no direct/hands on experiance with bad caps(yet).

I have limited experiance. i have bench tested 4 PSUs all powered up with no load by jumping the center blk to grn. 2 older Fortrons,1 old Works Power(iirc) that is now used to run fans at full speed for 24 hours prior to install. All three of these are ATX and 400watt.
The Sunbeam can be turned off and the 4pin Molex unplugged, the PSU fan will remain powered. One of the Fortrons i nudged up the voltage setting to the top of spec with no load on the bench. The last PSU that was powered up on the bench was a Zippy HP-2 6460 just to check the factory voltage settings w/DMM all were at the top of spec and the fan made it's presents known. This PSU is a EPS(24pin)spec.

Offer to return the PSU to your friend and see what the reaction is like ;-)


Galvanized

I did see this right after it was posted and not being an EE let it rest awhile.

 

[Zepper]

I guess I erred in my earlier post. I have heard that at least one model of Antec PSU may have fallen prey to a bad batch of electrolytic capacitors - which condition HAS caused damage to attached equipment. So it would be wise to check your PSUs to see if they contain same. Antec wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on if you choose to open your PSU for the purpose of inspecting your caps in advance of a possible RMA.
. Antec's main OEM, Channel Well, has always been a very reliable manufacturer - apparently Antec's price pressure has caused even them to cut corners on components.

.bh.

Has anyone spotlighted the brand/recognizable features of the faulty caps yet?

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

dslreports.com/forum/remark,14116577 there are some decent pics here. Not to jump on Antec but i would appreciate further comment on the cap brand and it's application in comp componets, like mainboards and VGA cards.


Galvanized

 

[Corporate Thug]

i really appreciate all the replies guys, i tried loading the PSU by attaching and couple of fans and connecting the green and black wires

the PSU fans doesnt spin, but the attached fans get power just fine!


edit: i cracked open the PSU and all the caps seem fine

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Just as an aside . . . . I keep learning "new stuff."

I got two NeoPower 480's -- one I purchased for my server upstairs, and the other for my bro's Xmas-present-upgrade.

My "MOJO" project -- originally begun with Northwood processors -- found me discarding an ALLIED 510 watt PSU because it couldn't hold the voltage on the 12V rail with only moderate over-clocking. I replaced it wth an OCZ PowerStream 520. Very happy with that.

Now the Powerstream came to me slightly out of adjustment, and the errors in adjustment seemed to be precisely those which had been reported by Maximum PC Magazine in a review of PSU's last year. However, this could not be much of a problem -- the reason I bought the Powerstream in the first place was because the rails are adjustable using pot-screws available on the case exterior. I tweaked them all slightly, and everything was fine -- with my voltages within 1% deviation from the specs. (Supposedly, these sorts of deviations are acceptable within a +/- 2% range.)

I decided to switch from Northwood to Prescott -- causing some chagrin among my AMD-advocate friends, who thought I'd be better off moving up to an SLI-ready AMD mobo and processor. But the Prescott was always "in the cards." MOJO was an "exercise" in air-cooling.

When I made the switch, I had everything in a temporary ATX midtower case fitted with one of the Neopower PSUs. And suddenly, I see that the voltages were "different." Not "out of spec," but different. Obviously, I would think that this was a difference of the PSUs -- but not so.

When I relocated everything to the original full-tower case with the PowerStream -- the voltage readings appeared to be identical to those taken with the NeoPower!!

The PSU? NOT!! I had also replaced the mobo with a newer version of same. It was either the processor, the mobo, or both -- not the PSUs.

So far, for the purposes I chose for deployment of the Neopower PSUs, I'm quite happy with them. I DO believe the OCZ is a "better" PSU, but there's nothing wrong with these Neopowers.

 

[Zepper]

Some of the Antec PSUs have fans that don't spin up until the PSU reaches a certain temperature. Yours may be one of them.
But good to see that at least the +12 rail works. The PSU is probably fine.

.bh.