Failing Power Supply 3 times

[accordpower99]

I built a system for a friend abotu 3 months ago. I dont know the exact specs but this is what i can remember. It was a higher end Phenom Quad core with an MSI mother board 4 gbs of memory nice vid card ATI Hd 4XXX cant remember.

The problem: 3 failed PSU's
1 came with case cheapo-500 watts
company sent another one-550 watts - the PC kicked on if he held the power button down but then it finally quit
Then my friend bought a 600 watt OCZ and it just failed on him. - was in safe mode then it just shut down.

These power supplys last about 2 weeks then die. I have built at least 10 pc's and worked on close to 100 computers with my experience and never experienced this.

I am leaning towards bad motherboard??? anyone? i can get the exact specs if needed. I calculated the watts required and the calculator came back at 400 watts needed.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

check local power circuit

 

[MRCL]

Lemme get this straight; Two el cheapo PSUs died, and the OCZ one, that died on your friend, died in your rig too, do I get this right?

 

[accordpower99]

no only in his rig, and your refering to the power outlet?

 

[accordpower99]

wow you guys are fast,haha! thanks!

 

[Kantastic]

It may just be very, very bad luck.

^_^ Try another power supply? =]

 

[newtekie1]

check local power circuit

Going to be my suggestion also. I was blowing power supplies every couple of months. Turned out we were getting frequent brown outs during the day while everyone was at work, and they were killing my power supplies. Added a UPS/Line Conditioner to every computer and haven't had a PSU die in over a year.

 

[MRCL]

It may just be very, very bad luck.

^_^ Try another power supply? =]

And NOT an OEM one. Don't save money on PSUs, its not worth it.

 

[newtekie1]

And NOT an OEM one. Don't save money on PSUs, its not worth it.

The first two were OEM, the third was an OCZ, it definately shouldn't have died in only a matter of weeks. I think there is something else going on here that isn't the PSU's fault.

 

[MRCL]

The first two were OEM, the third was an OCZ, it definately shouldn't have died in only a matter of weeks. I think there is something else going on here that isn't the PSU's fault.

It is not known if that OCZ was on the same circuit as his rig; as he said its a friends one. Now if that friend fried that PSU in your house, Newtekie's right.

 

[Geofrancis]

get an uninterrupted power supply to smooth out the power and protect the power supply. i think most power supply's are designed to sacrifice themselves to protect the computer when spikes and brownouts happen.

 

[accordpower99]

yes its only happeneing at his house but i havent kept it hookedup to my house for weeks wither. he has it hooked up to a lil surge protector that i remember. i have both 4 pins connected to the motherboard thats correct right? and the motherboard pinout for the switches etc even hookedup backwords wouldnt cause this right? just trying to test all possiblities.

 

[newtekie1]

The switches hooked up backwards wouldn't cause this.

They kind of make thing idiot proof, so you can't really plug anything in backwards or in the wrong place anymore. Though I'm not sure if the 4 pin connectors can be plugged into the wrong place...

Edit: I just looked it up, and the 4-Pin connectors can't be plugged into the wrong place, they are keyed to prevent this.

 

[accordpower99]

correct and i never ran into this problem on my machine either that i built. Like you said its idiot proof and im no idiot haha, so what could be the deal here?

 

[newtekie1]

correct and i never ran into this problem on my machine either that i built. Like you said its idiot proof and im no idiot haha, so what could be the deal here?

It has to be something outside of the power supply. The problem is that it could be anything. I've seen bad Optical Drives kill power supplies by having a short, and like I've said, I seen bad power coming from the outlet kill them also.

 

[Conflict0s]

Just to add to these comments..
I would try taking your motherboard out of the case onto a non static surface, connect only your essential hardware. And try and boot up. But before this I would definitely agree with checking your main power to your house.

 

[accordpower99]

heres an update called my friend and he said that he had the computer before this one i built him on the same surge protector for the last 2 years with no problems. so i dont believe the supply of power is an issue here wight?

 

[accordpower99]

Just to add to these comments..
I would try taking your motherboard out of the case onto a non static surface, connect only your essential hardware. And try and boot up. But before this I would definitely agree with checking your main power to your house.

are you thinking the case is bad? now i had his computer at my house when the 2nd psu failed and hooked up MY Power Supply out of my rig to it and booted up with no problems thats with all the componets still attached.

 

[Bundy]

heres an update called my friend and he said that he had the computer before this one i built him on the same surge protector for the last 2 years with no problems. so i dont believe the supply of power is an issue here wight?

The power supply quality can be affected in the house via installation of additional load e.g. air conditioners. Also locally, if he lives in an area where some new houses are being built, the power could be affected. Lastly, the power company may be not keeping up with demand. In some areas, power quality varies by the hour.

Right at the moment I have a laptop pulled apart trying to bring it back from the dead. It was taken on a boat cruise, plugged into the ships power supply....pppfffffttt.

 

[mordant80]

Motherboard is possible. I have actually seen a motherboard that would kill power supplies. Would work for a little bit then the power supply would just give out. We killed two power supplies that day, the customers was already dead and we killed two new supplies we had in stock before we figured out what was going on. Only seen it once though.

 

[accordpower99]

Motherboard is a K9n2 SLI platinum, the motherboard manual wants at least 450 watts, so im sure that 600watts should be plenty. anyone else have any suggestions? Does local electric companys come out for free and test the power to see if its clean or whatever?

 

[newtekie1]

That doesn't rule out that the Motherboard is faulty, or something else is faulty causing the issue.

I think it depends on your local power company. Mine will come out and test the lines, if there is a problem the call is free, if they don't find a problem it is a $35 service charge. You will have to call and find out. I just put the $35 towards a decent UPS instead...

 

[accordpower99]

thanks alot for that info, ill let him know.

 

[trickson]

Try this . Take the computer apart one more time look at all the stand off's on the case and were they touch the mobo make sure they are not shorting out , You can get some that do this and they can cause short's . clean every thing off good reinstall making sure that the screws are also not shorting out . Also make sure that the stand off's are long enough as to keep the mobo from touching the case . some times this can happen as well . Also make sure now mollex or power cables are shorting out against the mobo or case . If all is well get a new PSU hook it up to a APC battery back up .

 

[accordpower99]

thanks for the info, ill check it out but the chance of the same thing shorting out on 3 power supplys with 3 different cable mangements might be slim but you never know. i know the motherboard isnt touching the case. Also the wired part is its going out after 2 weeks. installation error like that will be done faster i would think. good news is he just bought the psu so he should be able to warranty it out. Hes lookin into a UPS right now to. I agree with your advice, thanks man!