Corsair GS 700 PSU failure

[itsakjt]

A few days back, I switched on my computer (perfectly fine even 8 hrs back) and found that it is shutting off after 1.5 seconds. Just the fans spinning for 1.5 seconds and then shuts down. After that, it was not starting at all until I unplugged the PSU, wait for the Standby LED to turn off and plug it again. After that while trying to turn on, the same thing happened. This continued for 3-4 times until I heard a loud pop along with spark inside the PSU. So I removed the PSU and connected an old local (but good-5 years old) PSU and thankfully the system is up and running again. I confirmed that the rest of the components are okay by doing a combined CPU/GPU stress test and verifying all the SSDs and hard drives. Played Rise of the Tomb Raider for well above 5 hours too.
The PSU here is the Corsair GS 700 2013 edition and it is just a little over 2 years old. It it still under warranty and I am planning to take it tomorrow. The thing is, do any of you have any similar experience like this? I am kinda shocked that the secondary side failed which was actually quite dangerous for the components and unexpected from a power supply of this tier. There are no problems with the household AC line (grounding is also working). The system is as mentioned on specs.

 

[R-T-B]

Probably a capacitor went.


Can happen to anyone, but low end corsairs (and in some instances, even high end ones) can have some iffy capacitors in them. This doesn't make it a widespread issue but it can happen, yes.

 

[itsakjt]

Probably a capacitor went.


Can happen to anyone, but low end corsairs (and in some instances, even high end ones) can have some iffy capacitors in them. This doesn't make it a widespread issue but it can happen, yes.

I see. Actually was finding it hard to believe because otherwise, the GS 700 is a solid unit and I checked the reviews before buying and it seemed like a good mid-end PSU that was enough for powering up my system.

 

[R-T-B]

I see. Actually was finding it hard to believe because otherwise, the GS 700 is a solid unit and I checked the reviews before buying and it seemed like a good mid-end PSU that was enough for powering up my system.

I think in most cases, it is. Corsair makes some iffy capacitor choices but also is good at designing circuits in such a way that usually, they aren't stressed enough for it to matter. It's probably not a very common issue, you just got unlucky, as it were.

I'd definitely try and get it replaced.

 

[Frick]

I think in most cases, it is. Corsair makes some iffy capacitor choices but also is good at designing circuits in such a way that usually, they aren't stressed enough for it to matter. It's probably not a very common issue, you just got unlucky, as it were.

I'd definitely try and get it replaced.

They really don't make iffy choices. Maybe on the very low end units, but that is the purpose of low end. The days when everything not made in Japan was crap by default are over.

 

[R-T-B]

The days when everything not made in Japan was crap by default are over.

They are if you get one fresh off the presses. In India and elsewhere they are still selling a lot of very old Corsair units. Some of the older high end ones (early HX comes to mind) did use iffy capacitors no doubt about it, and not just because they are made in China.

Heck, even my recent AXi had a single CapXon electrolytic. That's pretty piss poor even by chinese standards. Jonny himself stated that capacitor was not stressed hard though and as such was ok.

 

[Mussels]

you can have the best PSU in the world, and a random failure can still happen.

RMA time!

 

[itsakjt]

Will be returning it tomorrow. I don't know if the GS 700 2013 edition is still in production and/or still in stock. So if they can't offer me another GS 700, what would be the equivalent/next better replacement that I should expect?

 

[Frick]

The GS line was a oneoff IIRC, for some reason. I have no idea what replaced them, if anything. Corsair CS maybe?

 

[Bill_Bright]

They might simply repair this PSU and send the same one back. Or they may have several "refurbished" GS 700 units sitting on the shelf just for RMAs. Either way is fine, but if me, for curiosity's sake, I would record the serial number before returning it, and maybe put a small mark with a magic marker in a obscure location on the primary PCB just to see if they repaired the board or replaced it.

Corsair keeps changing their series line up (and sub-series) they offer. I do note the Bronze certified GS series was short lived and supposedly sat somewhere between CX and TX (which is also gone but did sit directly below HX at the time). So if they don't repair yours or have a refurbished unit to send you, a CS would be a nice step up - especially since it is 80-PLUS Gold certified. But they might also send a refurbished TX. A decent supply but a Bronze like your GS.

As long as they don't give you a supply out of the CX series, or worse, VS series, you should be fine.

I am kinda shocked that the secondary side failed which was actually quite dangerous for the components and unexpected from a power supply of this tier.

Scary but probably not as dangerous as it sounded or looked. The PSU was shutting down after all - a good thing in the event of a failure.

While disappointing when something you pay good money for fails, until Man can create perfection 100% of the time, there will always be samples that don't measure up or fail prematurely - even from the best makers. And I note, it is likely a single component out of dozens that failed.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

put a small mark with a magic marker in a obscure location on the primary PCB

That would void the warranty. Opening the PSU that is.

 

[Keullo-e]

you can have the best PSU in the world, and a random failure can still happen.

RMA time!

Yep, in one Finnish forum one user had two faulty EVGA Supernova G2 PSU's, the second one was DOA when he had it straight from EVGA.

 

[EarthDog]

I see. Actually was finding it hard to believe because otherwise, the GS 700 is a solid unit and I checked the reviews before buying and it seemed like a good mid-end PSU that was enough for powering up my system.

Stuff happens man.. .don't start looking at the brand because of one failure. RMA it and enjoy your next one.

While disappointing when something you pay good money for fails, until Man can create perfection 100% of the time, there will always be samples that don't measure up or fail prematurely - even from the best makers. And I note, it is likely a single component out of dozens that failed.

 

[itsakjt]

Looking forward to a good experience. Thanks everyone. Will update on what happens.

 

[Bill_Bright]

That would void the warranty. Opening the PSU that is.

Hmmm, yeah. Good point. Skip that then. No need to risk voiding the warranty.

 

[itsakjt]

Little update here:
Before giving it, I checked it as much as I could by peeping in through the fan holes and found two burnt MOSFETs on a sub-PCB. Things happened after that. I fed it power and manually tried to turn it on by shorting the Green and Black wires and obviously it did not start. But I could hear a noise similar to boiling water inside the PSU and guess what happened within seconds!
*BOOM*
White smoke was then coming from the PSU. I cut off power and found that the vent capacitor had exploded. There was oily stuff (probably the di-electric material) coming out which even hit the fan and some part of it came outside also.
Nevertheless, wiped off everything from the outside and gave it to the service center (Kaizen Infoservices) last Monday. They said I would get a replacement and asked me to call them after 15 days.
Will update on the progress.

 

[cdawall]

As long as they don't send you an RM you should be good. That is probably the most commonly failed "good" PSU I see come through the shop.

 

[R-T-B]

As long as they don't send you an RM you should be good. That is probably the most commonly failed "good" PSU I see come through the shop.

RMi's are pretty decent however, right?

 

[cdawall]

RMi's are pretty decent however, right?

They aren't old enough for me to comment on them.

 

[R-T-B]

They aren't old enough for me to comment on them.

Fair enough. I just know a lot of PSU failures are within the first 48 hours, but obviously not all...

 

[peche]

Stuff happens man.. .don't start looking at the brand because of one failure. RMA it and enjoy your next one.

Agreed, dont blame corsair for a faulty unit,

Regards,

 

[cdawall]

Fair enough. I just know a lot of PSU failures are within the first 48 hours, but obviously not all...

Most survive that I'm talking long term stress loads are what I see.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Fair enough. I just know a lot of PSU failures are within the first 48 hours, but obviously not all...

This is very true. In fact, generally speaking, all electronics will fail within the first 24 hours of use (powered on time), or it will last an average life expectancy. Fortunately, even cheap electronics are generally very reliable so if they survive the power surge that occurs the very first time power is applied, there's a good chance (if not abused) it will last a normal life span.

I note this failing within the first few hours is why all computers and major consumer electronics used to go through a quality assurance "burn-in" period before leaving the factory. This was very costly, and a logistics nightmare for manufactures. But it necessary in the early days because high return rates was even more costly.

As designs, "solid-state" reliability, and component manufacturing techniques improved, burn-in failures dropped so dramatically, burn-in testing was no longer necessary. So now manufacturers only burn-in and quality test a small "sample" from each production run.

There will always be some DOAs and pre-mature failures, but generally (there's always exceptions), electronics have a very high (at least 95%) success rate and frankly a large percentage of those items are retired/superseded/replaced before they actually die.

 

[qurotro]

While disappointing when something you pay good money for fails, until Man can create perfection 100% of the time, there will always be samples that don't measure up or fail prematurely - even from the best makers. And I note, it is likely a single component out of dozens that failed.

Hm...my AX1200i just failed on me. And take it to RMA cost me like a month... I just bought a RM750 for use. And too lazy to switch it back... They send me a new one, still unboxed till now, sitting at the corner of my room.

As long as they don't send you an RM you should be good. That is probably the most commonly failed "good" PSU I see come through the shop.

I'm using a RM750 with no problem... is there any bad stuff would happen to the RM series?

 

[Frick]

RMi's are pretty decent however, right?

They do have a ten year warranty so Corsair seem to be confident in them