My PSU smells!

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by Octopuss

While I don't dig in PSU on regular basis, I do know what's inside, and I did touch a bit of hardware in my life :P And are you seriously thinking I'd open the thing switched on or even plugged in a socket? I can't type THAT badly to give that impression.

When it comes to wattage, I strongly believe this whole hunt for astronomical numbers is one huge marketing bullshit and 90% of people including enthusiasts felt for it. I once did very rough calculation before I upgraded to i7, and still wasn't even close to 400W if I remember correctly.
Anyway, next PSU will be Seasonic SS-550RM. It just depends when will I buy it.

to answer your PSU comments: yeah sure, you could probably run your PSU on a 350W. doesnt mean that a quality 700W wont handle it quieter and cooler (and last longer)


note the key word quality in there - wattage isnt as important as the quality of the PSU. (i've swapped PSU's and seen upto 150W differences in power consumption measured at the wall, due to changes in efficiency)

[btarunr]

If a capacitor pops, your PSU shouldn't work. If it smells like burning plastic, it has to be a sheet around the coils that mysteriously burned out.

[Krazy Owl]

Originally Posted by btarunr

If a capacitor pops, your PSU shouldn't work. If it smells like burning plastic, it has to be a sheet around the coils that mysteriously burned out.

FALSE I can say. I seen many psu's still working with popped capacitors. Some of them may have whinning sound or smell but still working. Sometimes depending of the psu company there is always a weakness on certain boards that a resistance start to get old and offer even more resistance then produce heat and burn the board. You could see it by a brown spot around it.

I opened many psu in my life to repair them and some are still working in computers I gave to people. Trust me I'm a "dead" psu mad scientist

[Krazy Owl]

Originally Posted by TheMailMan78

Might be the air handler too!

Air handler? The day you try to handle air you just look crazy waving hands in air.

[RejZoR]

It all depends of the smell. It can range from burned plastic to a typical smell of burned electornics or a smell of a burned flesh with a nasty aftertaste (aftersmell?). In that case you most likely have a bug infestation in your PSU that just got fried...

[Krazy Owl]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

It all depends of the smell. It can range from burned plastic to a typical smell of burned electornics or a smell of a burned flesh with a nasty aftertaste (aftersmell?). In that case you most likely have a bug infestation in your PSU that just got fried...

When your psu serves to cook bacon.

[Octopuss]

Originally Posted by Mussels

note the key word quality in there - wattage isnt as important as the quality of the PSU. (i've swapped PSU's and seen upto 150W differences in power consumption measured at the wall, due to changes in efficiency)

That's why I don't use shit brands Enermax is good, and from what I heard Seasonic is even a tiny bit better.

I will see what's going on inside tomorrow. Hate to disassemble the whole PC, grr...

[brandonwh64]

Cat may have crapped in it?

[qubit]

Originally Posted by Mussels

(i've swapped PSU's and seen upto 150W differences in power consumption measured at the wall, due to changes in efficiency)

Jesus H Christ. That's insane.

I had two cheapies burn out on me a decade ago and from then on it was quality brands all the way.

[Krazy Owl]

So any feedback on the smell ?

[fritoking]

i had the same thing happen on one of my pcs TWICE in three years...just that one pc plugged into the same outlet...could have been coincidence, but both started smelling shortly before the died altogether. Dont know if it was a voltage/current fluctuation issue or just two bad power supplies? none of my other pcs( i have 4 in the same room) have ever had an issue

[Octopuss]

Originally Posted by Krazy Owl

So any feedback on the smell ?

Too lazy, lol.
Hoping to get to it during the weekend. It's probably about time to disassemble the case and CPU fans and see if they need some internal cleaning as well.

[qubit]

Originally Posted by Octopuss

Too lazy, lol.
Hoping to get to it during the weekend. It's probably about time to disassemble the case and CPU fans and see if they need some internal cleaning as well.

It's funny how equipment can get smellier as it ages.

When I was a kid back in the 80s, I used to play around with old reel to reel tape recorders (remember those?!) and they always smelled, especially the really old ones with valves in them. It could get very noticeable when they warmed up and one or two I almost had to hold my nose!

[Octopuss]

Allright, I cleaned the PSU as much as I could. I have to admit I didn't open it, because my friggin' case is a bit awkward and I'd have to remove the CPU cooler, unplug pretty much all cables, remove the memory, graphic card... blabla... before I could move the damn cube one bloody centimeter. I blew most of the dust away anyway though, and checked the state of the intestines with flashlight (so glad PSUs have those large fans these days). Everything seemed perfectly fine.

Well, I immediatelly ran FurMark and Prime95 at the same time, curious about the result, and apart from both crashing several times and Winamp suddenly yelling about no device available, after a while this horrible super hot air smelling somewhat like burning started blowing from the PSU, which, after removing side panel from the case, very much resembled a Boeing taking off, judging by the sounds. No fucking shit, 1700 RPM.

I guess the burning part was a bit exxagerated when I started the thread, because apparently extremely hot air from inside a PC smells that way rather normally - I have probably just never encountered (or already forgotten about it) a case with SO shitty airflow as mine, lol.

It looks like my CPU cooler has way too dense fins, and half the airfrom from the fan is blowing back and to the sides, and with the fan on graphic card blowing directly up, the result is rather interesting mess of air that never reaches the rear case fan. Everything accumulates inside the case and is slowly sucked inside the PSU, which is then being raped for ages until the load goes back to idle values. At least this is what I believe is going on. Yey.

Lesson learned: FFFUUUU!

Things to try: get rid of the rear fan and buy a 140mm monster to mount on the top side of the case (luckily there is a hole just for that).

[Jeffredo]

Had a burning plastic/electrical odor on mine once. Sent it in for RMA/Repair and PC Power and Cooling said it had a bad cap plus some of the glue use in the manufacture had melted over time and was burning on hot parts. They repaired the unit instead of sending me another (which is what I preferred) and its been fine ever since.

[Octopuss]

So I finally opened the thing up after deciding to reorganize disks and cables (finally good reason).
No leakage at all, but there's some weird white shit on the coils, but I believe that's some sort of glue.
I put my nose inside, smelled the parts, and UUUURGH!! If you ever smelled the inside of a very old TV (like one from 25 years ago or something), that's exactly how my PSU smells. I am pretty sure it's just half-burned dust though.

Long story short: no reason to upgrade yet.