Did I fry my power supply?

[drengr]

I just put in an Adaptec DuoConnect USB and Firewire PCI card into my computer and when I pressed the power button there was a flash from the power supply and smoke came out that smelled like burnt plastic. I'm guessing this was my power supply burning out because I had to many devices plugged in. My question is how can you keep track of how many watts the devices in the computer are taking total so I can moniter it. I was also wondering if something like this could have damaged other parts connected to the power supply.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: drengr
I just put in an Adaptec DuoConnect USB and Firewire PCI card into my computer and when I pressed the power button there was a flash from the power supply and smoke came out that smelled like burnt plastic. I'm guessing this was my power supply burning out because I had to many devices plugged in. My question is how can you keep track of how many watts the devices in the computer are taking total so I can moniter it. I was also wondering if something like this could have damaged other parts connected to the power supply.

Bummer! Sorry to hear about the mishap. When power supplies fail, they can do damage, yeah. My approach is to buy a brand of power supply that's known to be of high quality, and get one that leaves no doubt that it's got the wattage to tow the boat, so to speak. If you want to post the full specs on your system, people can suggest what wattage you might want to buy when you get a replacement unit. Remember that the quality of the unit is important, not just the wattage. Some brands that are standing up to a reality check: Fortron, Sparkle Power, Antec, Enermax, Enlight.

 

[Cheetah8799]

I've never personally had a psu burn up like that due to simply adding a pci card. I think if you were that close to the limit, you would have had other issues, such as not enough voltage to the mobo, hard drive failure/restarts, etc.

My guess is that you happened to fry the psu at the same time as adding a card, just by bad luck. Maybe a screw fell in there, or a bug, who knows.

If you do enough research, you can figure out how many watts your devices uses when in use. Then add it all up. Hard to know though, since some devices won't tell you without asking the manufacturer for more info.

Most people don't need more than 350W in my opinion, 450W is plenty for a power user. Any more than that is probably overkill, but not much more money, so why not buy it anyway.

 

[drengr]

Last night I ordered a new Aspire 520W power supply with 3 fans from Newegg.com. It got pretty good reviews and wasn't to expensive. My system specs are:
Athlon XP 2100+ @ 1.82Mhz
Asus A7V333 Motherboard
ATi Radeon 9800XT w/ 256mb
WD1200 ATA Hard Disk
Seagate 34gb SCSI Hard Disk
ViewSonic 17" VA720 Flat Panel
Soundblaster Audigy Platinum
Pioneer DVD drive
Toshiba CD-RW/R Drive
Linksys Ethernet PCI Card
Zoom v.92 Faxmodem
Adaptec 29160 PCI SCSI Controller
Adaptec DuoConnect Firewire and USB PCI Card
Antec True 480 PSU
Kingwin Case w/ 5 fans
Thermaltake Volcano 9 Fan for PCU

I do have a lot of extras plugged in such as fans and the SCSI drive and SCSI controller, but I did have a big PSU already. I will reply once I have installed the new PSU and checked for any more damage.

 

[mechBgon]

Wait, you have a TruePower480? If you're the original owner, call Antec and get an RMA number, send it back and I'm sure they'll have a brand-new shrink-wrapped retail-boxed one in your hands before long. I'd take the Antec TruePower480 over the Aspire. Hehe, now you'll have a spare, though

 

[drengr]

Thanks, I never even thought of that. I know Antec is one of the best, but the Aspire was only $54 and it was the best I could afford. But if I could get a new Antec it would be great.