Enermax Galaxy 800W
Hi all,
just thought I'd let you know about a problem I had with a new Enermax Galaxy 800W. Out of the box, the PSU shut down (with diagnostic indication on the rear LED) due to the fan not working. I decided to open it up (voiding the warranty) because it was fairly obviously just the fan that was at fault, and I didn't have the time to wait for a replacement. The fan wires were bundled with the output cable and the cable ties were attached in such a way that the wires to the fan connector were under tension and the connector had popped out. Simple I thought - just plug it back in, put it back together and job done!
So I did that, connected it back up and BANG! Blown mains fuse, house circuit breaker trip, head in hands. I opened it up again and discovered that the mains common mode choke had come into contact with a stud at one end of the nearby heatsink. The heatsink is connected to the negative end of the rectified mains, so it was a virtual short through the rectifying diodes. :o(
I checked the diodes (there are two bridge rectifiers in parallel, so fairly beefy). The choke was slightly damaged but OK. I found a suitable piece of plastic to put in as insulation and powered it up again. All OK this time.
I must have disturbed the choke slightly when opening the unit up, but there was nothing to prevent the contact. Looks like a design flaw or manufacturing error - the choke could come into contact with the stud at any time if, for example, it was joggled around in transit. Maybe there was supposed to be an insulator there and someone forgot to fit it.
So I used that PSU for a while, but replaced it with a Seasonic as soon as I could. Much cleaner design internally.
I won't be buying Enermax again.
just thought I'd let you know about a problem I had with a new Enermax Galaxy 800W. Out of the box, the PSU shut down (with diagnostic indication on the rear LED) due to the fan not working. I decided to open it up (voiding the warranty) because it was fairly obviously just the fan that was at fault, and I didn't have the time to wait for a replacement. The fan wires were bundled with the output cable and the cable ties were attached in such a way that the wires to the fan connector were under tension and the connector had popped out. Simple I thought - just plug it back in, put it back together and job done!
So I did that, connected it back up and BANG! Blown mains fuse, house circuit breaker trip, head in hands. I opened it up again and discovered that the mains common mode choke had come into contact with a stud at one end of the nearby heatsink. The heatsink is connected to the negative end of the rectified mains, so it was a virtual short through the rectifying diodes. :o(
I checked the diodes (there are two bridge rectifiers in parallel, so fairly beefy). The choke was slightly damaged but OK. I found a suitable piece of plastic to put in as insulation and powered it up again. All OK this time.
I must have disturbed the choke slightly when opening the unit up, but there was nothing to prevent the contact. Looks like a design flaw or manufacturing error - the choke could come into contact with the stud at any time if, for example, it was joggled around in transit. Maybe there was supposed to be an insulator there and someone forgot to fit it.
So I used that PSU for a while, but replaced it with a Seasonic as soon as I could. Much cleaner design internally.
I won't be buying Enermax again.
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