Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

[momaka]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

^ Cool Antec DC-DC converter board. Looks like it takes something along the lines of a 90W+ laptop power adapter (19-20V) and outputs some standard ATX 2.0 voltages. I like the cap choices too. Only thing I don't like is the black PCB! *sigh*

I present this HIPRO 230W HP-A2307F3P from an IBM Thincentre.
I do not have many photos, because the font does not have much space and I do not want to take it apart, but it is feeding an HP dc7900 SFF, with a core 2 quad q8300, 1HDD, ati radeon 4360 (tomorrow I replace it with an asus silent gt1030) I installed this HIPRO because it is very quiet, and of much better quality than the original Delta that it was carrying (it was damaged)

Nice solid HiPro unit, but with only 13 Amps on the 12V rail, I really don't think it's a good idea to use it with a C2Q CPU and an addon video card. If you stick with the addon video card, then maybe limit yourself to a 60-70 Watt C2D. Or go with onboard graphics if keeping the C2Q. But with both, I think you will see that 12V rail dip quite a bit, especially under full CPU load.

[Stefan Payne]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

^ Cool Antec DC-DC converter board. Looks like it takes something along the lines of a 90W+ laptop power adapter (19-20V) and outputs some standard ATX 2.0 voltages. I like the cap choices too. Only thing I don't like is the black PCB! *sigh*

Well, I don't because its the older, higher ESR KY (for a low ESR) series, not a low impedance one IIRC.

So I'd like to see more modern cap choice with lower ESR like KZH or even KZE
And a modern approach would be to use polys all the way on that PSU...

But this PSU Design is rather old as well. Its already 6 years and should have been modernized a year or two ago...

As for the "Input PSU", mine came with an FSP one, 19V, 4,74A and an additional DELL Plug for whatever reason...
But I've also heard that there are some examples with Delta and Acbel PSUs...

[nick122]

Old school seasonic 300w

Seasonic ss-300fs apfc from early 2000s
Got it on flea market for 5 bucks. Looks like a nicely built unit. Single transistor forward w apfc. Caps are teapo/pce tur and a single kzh. Primary cap is a samxon lp 330uf 450v. 30a on 5v, 28a on 3.3 and 15a on 12v

[momaka]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Nice fairly oldschool design (minus the APFC). I like the space provided on secondary side for the caps: looks like the board silkscreen allows for 12.5 mm caps to be used on the some of the rails - that's always nice, IMO, especially when looking for older entry-level low ESR caps (as they can be larger in diameter).

As usual, though, I'm just not a fan of the APFC "feature", especially with a Samxon or any other non-Japanese quality primary cap.

[Behemot]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Looks like Super Tornado, the modern era began with this unit for Seasonic.

[momaka]

Re: Power Man IP-S400CQ2-0 v1.4

Here’s another plain gray box: a Power Man IP-S400CQ2-0 [v1.4] 400 Watt ATX power supply.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702

It was only lightly used and discarded due to an upgrade at the shop I used to work at last year. Seemed like a waste to let it go like that, even though it is only a 400 Watt unit (for most of my PC builds, this is more than enough, considering I still get by with 300-350W units, or less on rigs that don’t have high-power GPUs).

Label shot:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
It states two 12V rails (one at 18A and one at 16A) with a combined total power of 300 Watts (25 Amps) – not bad. 5V rail is quite weak, but that’s normal for a more modern unit. Speaking of which let’s move on to the innards.

Overview:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
It looks a bit skimpy at first sight for a 400 Watt unit: 680 uF primary caps, 35 mm -wide main transformer, and the heatsinks are a bit on the small side. I’d say it looks more like a 350W unit. But Power Man / In Win generally make decent quality PSUs, so it probably can do its labeled ratings. A more detailed look reveals this:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
Right there, you can see the PCB is labeled for several units: 250W, 300W, 400W, and even 450W. So the PCB is probably perfectly capable of delivering 400W. These two pictures also show the controllers / ICs used in this PSU: UC3845b (by ST Micro) for the main PS section with a Weltrend WT751002 supervisor and an A6259H off-line PWM-FET combo for the 5VSB generation. This means the two TO-220 parts (a pair of 2SK3568 MOSFETs) are for the main PS, making it a double-forward design.

Here’s another last shot of the primary side:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
Input EMI/RFI filtering is all there as it should be, but input wires are only 20 AWG (rated for 600V, though). 5VSB transformer has a 16 mm –wide core. Start-up cap for the 5VSB IC and also what provides power to the UC3845b IC is an OST RLG, 35V, 100 uF, 6.3x11 mm. The UC3845b controller also has another e-cap associated with it: an OST RLG, 50V, 4.7 uF. There’s also a bit of the organic tan glue that likes to turn brown/black and conductive over time. But there’s very little of it and it doesn’t appear to affect any major components’ leads on the primary side.

Next, a shot of the secondary side:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
The good: both output toroids have light green / blue cores, meaning they are probably the more expensive higher-frequency cores. The not-so-good: most output electrolytic caps are 8 mm in diameter. :\ Despite this however, the first cap spots for the 5V and 12V rails (after the output toroid) are actually marked on the PCB to also take 10 mm diameter caps. So that can help a bit for those who want to recap this PSU with better (and maybe bigger) caps.

Solder side:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
Nice and clean soldering with no SMD components (just the way I like it .)

And last but not least, for those who are fans of the fan shots:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1537354702
Just a regular (Muhua Industrial) 120 mm fan rated for 400 mA @ 12V. There is also no clear plastic cover on the rear-bottom side of the fan to redirect airflow, so airflow inside the PSU may not be that optimal.

Finally, a summary of all of the components, as always…

Primary Side
- Two 2.2 nF and three 4.7 nF Y2-class certified caps
- Two uTx HQX X2-class certified caps (can’t read capacitance ratings)
- two common-mode chokes, two MOVs
- F10AH250 ceramic fuse + SCK 2R58 NTC-type thermistor
- GPU806 bridge rectifier (8 Amps, 600 V)
- two OST RGU bulk caps: 200 V, 680 uF, 18 x 50 mm (dia. x h)
- two 2SK3568 MOSFETs for main PS (double-forward topology)
- 35 mm –wide main transformer, 16 mm -wide 5VSB transformer
- 20 AWG input wiring, rated for 600V

ICs
- UC3845b primary-side PWM driver
- WT751002 secondary-side supervisory
- STR-A6259H universal input switching regulator for 5VSB generation
- three “817” optocouplers

Secondary Side
3.3 V rail:
- mag-amp regulated
- S3045CW (TO-247) schottky recrifier
- 1x OST RLP, 6.3V, 2200 uF, 10 x 20 mm before PI coil
- 1x OST RLN, 6.3V, 1500 uF, 8 x 20 mm after PI coil
- PI coil: 4 mm core, 4-turn, 14(?) AWG wire
- 100-Ohm, 1/8 -Watt resistor for minimum load

5 V rail:
- STPS2045 (TO-220) schottky recrifier
- 2x OST RLN, 6.3V, 1500 uF, 8 x 20 mm with PI coil in between
- PI coil: 4 mm core, 4-turn, 14(?) AWG wire
- 51-Ohm, 1-Watt resistor for minimum load

12 V rail:
- two SBR20100CT (TO-220) schottky rectifiers in parallel
- 3x OST RLN, 16V, 1000 uF, 8 x 20 mm with 2x PI coils (1 cap -> 2 coils for each rail -> 1 cap after each coil)
- PI coil: 4 mm core, 4-turn, 14(?) AWG wire
- 240-Ohm, 1-Watt resistor for minimum load

-12 V rail:
- generated from a winding on the main PS output toroid
- 1 or 1.5 Amp diode (as rectifier)
- 1x OST RLN, 16V, 470 uF, 8 x 13 mm cap

5 VSB rail:
- SB340 diode (as rectifier)
- 1x OST RLN, 6.3V, 1500 uF, 8 x 20 mm cap before PI coil
- 1x OST RLN, 16V, 470 uF, 8 x 13 mm cap after PI coil
- PI coil: 4 mm core, 12-turn (?), 20(?) AWG wire
- 100-Ohm, ¼ or ½ -Watt resistor for minimum load

Output wiring: 18 AWG, 300V, except floppy and SATA (22 and 20 AWG, respectively)
Output connectors: 20+4 pin ATX, 4-pin 12V CPU, 6-pin PCI-E, four SATA, two Molex, and one floppy.

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

The thing is 8+ years old, but if that fan blows/sucks enough air, that might do 350W-400W. Replace the O/P caps with PWs or HEs (LXZ or KY/KZE) and the input caps with some decent 105C 680uF (or higher) (replace the small 'lytics necessary for start-up, too) and that could be very decent.

[RukyCon]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

I have two of the 350w version of that Power Man PSU (also made by In Win), both of which are unused.

[momaka]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

The thing is 8+ years old, but if that fan blows/sucks enough air, that might do 350W-400W. Replace the O/P caps with PWs or HEs (LXZ or KY/KZE) and the input caps with some decent 105C 680uF (or higher) (replace the small 'lytics necessary for start-up, too) and that could be very decent.

Yeah, it's an old unit, but I ain't recapping it... not fully anyways.
At most, I might replace the small start-up caps eventually and maybe the first output cap for each rail (the ones that have 10 mm spots anyways). But other than that, I'll leave it as is.

Primaries are OST brand, which is not bad. Since these are going to filter only @ 100 Hz (2x 50 Hz after bridge rectifier), no need to go with 105C caps (most 85C caps actually have higher ripple current @ 120 Hz than their 105C counterparts). Besides, I've never seen a failed OST primary cap. Even most crap cap brands do okay there. Only exception to that has been CapXon, Ltec, and Elite - seen these fail a few times myself and on BCN that I consider them more iffy than other crap cap brands.

Speaking of input caps, I know those 680 uF OSTs will probably limit this PSU to 300-350 Watts, but I don't care, as that's already more than good enough for me. The system in which I wanted to put this PSU was going to have only an AM2 Athlon X2 CPU (65W TDP) and a Radeon HD3870 (105W TDP)... so total about 165W on the 12V rail, and around 200 Watts max total DC power. Most of my 250-300W HiPro and Delta PSUs with 14-16 Amp 12V rails would likely have handled that load as well, but this Power Man PSU already has a 6-pin PCI-E power connector, along with the SATA connectors I needed (the much older HiPro and Delta I have, don't). So it's never really going to see full rated load.

On that note, I ended up not using the HD3870 video card in that PC, due to it blocking the first two SATA ports on the motherboard. I did move the HDD and ODD to the other two SATA ports just to see how the PC would run with this Power Man PSU and the HD3870, and it was all fine - it didn't even get warm. But again, I didn't like the way the HD3870 was blocking the SATA ports, so put back the old PSU (a Jeantec JNP-500AP) and old video card (Palit GeForce 8500 GT). Thus, I'll probably put this PSU back in storage again (hence no need to recap it now). Most likely, I'll set up a similar PC with it next year. (I'm thinking a socket 939 system with the HD3870 above, so similar power requirements).

Side note: the AM2 Athlon X2 4800+ CPU mentioned above is not even 65W, because as I've found with many AM2 CPUs, you can undervolt them quite a bit under their stock voltage. In my case, I set the core to 1.20V (stock specs call for 1.30V @ 2.5 GHz.) I could probably go even lower, but it's not needed. At 1.20V, I get about 5-7C drop in full load temperatures, so I'm likely dropping the TDP with another 10W or so.

I have two of the 350w version of that Power Man PSU (also made by In Win), both of which are unused.

They're good PSUs. Keep them as as spare. They work fine for replacements in many OEM PCs. Will handle a GeForce 1050ti and maybe even a 1060ti with the right CPU. I just don't get why people always get/recommend 500W+ PSUs when it's not needed at all.

[kevin!]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

^ Cool Antec DC-DC converter board. Looks like it takes something along the lines of a 90W+ laptop power adapter (19-20V) and outputs some standard ATX 2.0 voltages. I like the cap choices too. Only thing I don't like is the black PCB! *sigh*


Nice solid HiPro unit, but with only 13 Amps on the 12V rail, I really don't think it's a good idea to use it with a C2Q CPU and an addon video card. If you stick with the addon video card, then maybe limit yourself to a 60-70 Watt C2D. Or go with onboard graphics if keeping the C2Q. But with both, I think you will see that 12V rail dip quite a bit, especially under full CPU load.

True, although it only has a core 2 quad q8300, and an HD4350 ati radeon, the PSU does not overheat, the air that comes out is cold, it is only used to watch videos, movies, not reaching 100% I do not think the PSU overload a lot.

[Stefan Payne]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Looks like Super Tornado, the modern era began with this unit for Seasonic.

...and the use of the garbage HY-510N they still use today...

[Wester547]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Primaries are OST brand, which is not bad. Since these are going to filter only @ 100 Hz (2x 50 Hz after bridge rectifier), no need to go with 105C caps (most 85C caps actually have higher ripple current @ 120 Hz than their 105C counterparts). Besides, I've never seen a failed OST primary cap. Even most crap cap brands do okay there. Only exception to that has been CapXon, Ltec, and Elite - seen these fail a few times myself and on BCN that I consider them more iffy than other crap cap brands.

Teapos have failed in the voltage doubler before:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...3&postcount=57
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...21&postcount=4
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...&postcount=619
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...3&postcount=58

I haven’t heard of Ltec primaries failing in the voltage doubler of a well cooled and well ventilated PSU before, though. Unless you’ve had that happen before? That said, I have seen Ltecs fail under low to moderate stress. And I’ve seen them fail in the primary of AC adapters that employ wide range flyback topology as well.

As for 85ºC high voltage capacitors having higher ripple current ratings than their 105ºC counterparts - this isn’t actually true. The ripple current rating would be either the same or higher for the 105ºC parts (assuming that they are comparable series) based upon the fact that the ripple current rating of all capacitors is determined by way of temperature multipliers. All capacitor ripple ratings in the datasheets are rated at the maximum category temperature of the capacitor (which is obviously higher for 105ºC caps). An example, look at the KMH datasheet and SMH datasheet, and then look at their temperature multipliers for the ripple current rating:

KMH - 105ºC: 1.00 | 85ºC: 1.73 | 70ºC: 2.12 | 60ºC: 2.23 | 45ºC: 2.64

SMH - 85ºC: 1.00 | 70ºC: 1.32 | 60ºC: 1.50 | 45ºC: 1.73

Now look at a 25mm wide 680uF 200V SMH’s ripple current rating, and multiply that by the 45ºC temperature multiplier given in the datasheet:

2.3 amps x 1.73 = 3.979 amps

Now do the same for a 25mm wide 680uF 200V KMH:

1.74 amps x 2.64 = 4.5936 amps

The KMH ends up having the higher ripple current rating at lower temperatures (45ºC and below - unlikely they would be dissipating any more heat in the voltage doubler unless the PSU had a dumb valley fill PFC circuit installed or the fan seizes). Even at 85ºC, the KMH has a higher ripple current rating than the SMH does at its upper category temperature limit (3.0102 amps vs 2.3 amps).

Anyway, my rant aside, the problem with OST capacitors is that they have a tendency (like Teapos, especially those older) to fail with no visible signs (they go higher ESR or short circuit without any bulging or leaking). IIRC, you have an ESR meter now - it would be interesting to see how many of those OST are actually in-spec.

[RukyCon]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

I've seen OST caps last a really long time and the only ones i've seen fail were two 3300uf 10v caps that were next to a heatsink.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

As always Wester547, thanks for your insightful posts!

[momaka]

Sparkle Power Int. LTD. FPS400-60GN (rev 1)

Today I have something very shiny for you: a Sparkle Power Int’l LTD., model FPS400-60GN 400 Watt PSU.



This one came to me for recapping from a fellow forum member here, as he said he needed an old 3.3V/5V-heavy PSU for a classic socket 462 rig. Rated for 400 Watts with 235 Watts combined limit on the 3.3V/5V rails, I personally don’t think this PSU will ever break a sweat, even with the most 5V-deamnding rigs. Here is a shot of the label:

40 Amps on the 5V rail alone – not too shabby, yes? Meanwhile, the 12V rail gets only 15 Amps – which should be plenty for 6-8 HDDs on a classic rig, or perhaps a modern AGP video card, like Radeon HD3850. On that note, I don’t remember exactly how many Molex peripheral connectors this PSU has, but I think it was at least 7 or 8. The PSU has an older-style Auxiliary 3.3V/5V connector too, a 4-pin 12V CPU power connector, and two floppy power connectors – nothing extraordinary, I suppose. However, what’s neat is that the main 20-pin ATX connector has mostly 16 AWG wires (only exception is the 12V rail, 5VSB, and other minor rails/signal wires). The Molex peripheral wires are just standard 18 AWG, though. Only the 4-pin 12V CPU connector is a bit disappointing with 20 AWG-rated wires (so clearly this PSU wasn’t meant for a heavy 12V system, though it could be used with one).

Moving on… I took the cover off to see what caps I would need for the recap job.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1538492993
And there we have it: a bulged Teapo cap starring at me. With those big heatsinks and what appears to be also a double-sided PCB, I wasn’t so thrilled about recapping this PSU anymore. . Perhaps we should pause for a moment here and maybe give credit to cheapo low-end PSUs in this area – at least they’re easy to work on.

Speaking of the heatsinks above, here’s a better shot of that:

I hope the PSU doesn’t find my post offending, but man…. those heatsinks are THICC!
You can also see SPI didn’t cut any corners with the input RFI/EMI filtering – it’s all there, as it should be. In terms of design, this is an oldschool unit with no APFC and classic half-bridge topology for the main power supply (as evident by the three transformers.) For that matter, all controller circuits are located on that daughterboard on the secondary side (right side of the picture above).

Next, a full view of the front of the unit:

Again, what a beast, those heatsinks! But also look at the rectifiers bolted to the secondary side HS: they are all TO-247 parts! This over-sizing of components doesn’t stop there – on the left are two very big Teapo SC caps (12.5 mm ø x 40 mm h.) filtering the 3.3V rail. Their capacitance: 6800 uF each. That’s over 13 000 uF of capacitance on the 3.3V rail!!! I thought the older 200-250W HiPro “tanks” were overbuilt with their 2x 3300/4700 uF caps per rail, but this one takes the crown easily in that area. Moreover, the 5V rail also has the same cap arrangement! Unfortunately, what brought this PSU down was that one lone bulged cap on the 12V rail - a Teapo SC, 16V, 3300 uF with same case size as the 6800 uF caps mentioned above.

That being said, here is the rest of the (secluded) secondary side:

The output toroid inductor may not seem that big, but that’s only because it dwarfs in comparison to the output caps and because the 3.3V toroid inductor next to it is quite big as well.
On this picture, you can also see that the fuse is placed in a fuse holder and that there is a connector for the mains wires, making it somewhat easier for the PSU board to be taken out of the case.

As for the primary side… not much to see there because of the large heatsinks:

… just two 2SC4110 NPN BJTs and two big Teapo LXK 200V, 1000 uF input filter caps. There is also a bit of that nasty organic tan glue that goes conductive over time. Fortunately, it wasn’t much. More importantly, it’s not splurged on component leads, so there’s no chance it will cause problems – which is a relief, because if I had to pull any parts out to remove it, this would have been A LOT more work. After all, the double-sided PCB in this PSU sinks heat really well. Even with my 75 Watt station, pulling the secondary caps out and cleaning the holes took a bit of heating.

Speaking of half-bridge topology earlier, here is what controls everything:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1538492993
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1538492993
We have a KA3511 voltage-mode PWM controller chip and a TSM111 triple voltage and current supervisor. –Yes, this PSU has over-current protections. You can even see one of the current shunts on the second picture above, mounted (more like hacked) on the bottom side of the PCB.

On that note, next comes a shot of the PCB solder side:

This is perhaps the only place where Sparkle / Fortron didn’t do a great job (IMO). Not only are the current shunts terribly soldered, but also look at that wire hack-job. Aside from these two items, I have no other grudges against the soldering. You can see from the solder side that there are some unpopulated components near the input filter on the primary side. I believe some of these units come with an APFC circuit, as suggested by the “PFC Control Board” label on the other (top) side of the PCB in that area.

Last but not least, a fan label shot:

Despite the fan being a high-quality Nidec Beta SL D08T-12PU (2 ball bearing), running on 12V all the time (this PSU has no fan controller) made one of its bearings go bad. I tried opening and packing the offending bearing with grease, but that only made it quiet for about 5 minutes. After that, the bearing became really loud again. So besides a recap, this PSU needed a new fan too. I’ll save the details (replacement caps and such) for another thread, though. Meanwhile, here is a basic component breakdown of the PSU.

Primary Side
Primary RF/EMI filter: IEC filter, 1x 2.2 nF + 2x 0.22 uF Teapo XG-VS X2-class caps, 4x 4.7 nF Y2-class caps, 3x CM chokes
T10AL glass fuse, 15SP 2R5 inrush NTC thermistor
KBU1005G bridge rectifier, 2x MOVs (1x across each primary cap)
2x Teapo LXK, 200 V, 1000 uF, 25 x 45 mm (ø x h), 85°C
2x 2SC4110 NPN BJTs (TO-3P) for main PS (half-bridge)
Main BJT driver circuit caps: C7 & C8 (see info above)
Snubber network, main PS: RC-type with 47-Ohm 3-Watt resistor and 2.2 nF 1 kV ceramic cap
Transformers: 39 mm core (main); 19 mm core (5VSB); 19 mm core (BJT driver)

ICs
Fairchild 1H0165R PWM-FET (5VSB switch, primary side)
KA3511 PWM controller (main PS driver, secondary side)
TSM111 voltage + current supervisor (main PS, secondary side)

Secondary Side
5V Rail:
* 1x S60SC4M (TO-247) rectifier
* 2x Teapo SC, 10V, 6800 uF, 12.5 x 40 mm
* 6 mm core, 6-turn PI coil between caps
* 20-Ohm, 3-Watt resistor for minimum load (over 1 Watt of power wasted as heat! - No bueno! so I removed it. )

12V Rail:
* 1x ______?? (TO-3P) rectifier
* 1x Teapo SC, 16V, 3300 uF, 12.5 x 40 mm
* 6 mm core, 16-turn PI coil before cap
* no minimum load resistor

3.3V Rail:
* 1x STPS4045CW (TO-247) rectifier
* 2x Teapo SC, 10V, 6800 uF, 12.5 x 40 mm
* 3 mm core, 14-turn PI coil between caps
* 15-Ohm, 3-Watt resistor for minimum load :\ (not great, but acceptable.)

-12V Rail:
* 2x 1.5-2(?) Amp diodes feeding into 7912 regulator
* 1x Fuhjyyu TNR, 25V, 1000 uF, 10 x 20 mm (before 7912 regulator)
* 1x Fuhjyyu TNR, 16V, 220 uF, 6.3 x 11 mm (after 7912 regulator)
* no minimum load resistor

5VSB Rail:
* 1x SFA802G (8 Amps, TO-220AC) rectifier
* 2x Teapo SC, 16V, 470 uF, 8 x 20 mm
* 3-4 mm core, 12-turn PI coil between caps
* no minimum load resistor

-5V Rail:
* no rectifier – uses a 7905 regulator with the -12V rail being the input
* 1x Jamicon TK, 16V, 47 uF

[Agent24]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Why put so much effort in, just to use Fuhjyyu and Teapo? Sad.

[dmill89]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Why put so much effort in, just to use Fuhjyyu and Teapo? Sad.

Remember when this PSU was new even "good" power-supplies were using mediocre to poor capacitors. I've got an old PC Power&Cooling Turbo-Cool 425W that was "top of the line" in its day (late 90s/early00s) filled with Hermei brand caps, older Seasonics often used OST caps, etc.

[Dan81]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Remember when this PSU was new even "good" power-supplies were using mediocre to poor capacitors. I've got an old PC Power&Cooling Turbo-Cool 425W that was "top of the line" in its day (late 90s/early00s) filled with Hermei brand caps, older Seasonics often used OST caps, etc.

Deltas had LTEC and Taicon as far as my memory goes, but they managed to keep them under control pretty well.

[momaka]

Re: Power supply build quality pictorial. part 2

Why put so much effort in, just to use Fuhjyyu and Teapo? Sad.

I know, it really is kind of a bummer to put so much good components and then ruin everything with crappy caps. But given its age, I wouldn't say it did that bad. Come to think of it, 5V-heavy PCs stopped being sold many years ago, so this PSU definitely made it past its useful time.
... though if I have to be 100% honest... yeah, I still think it's a shame to not use high quality caps in such a good build. But dmill89 is correct - this was just standard practice at the time. Everytime I go on eBay looking for an old socket 370, 462, or 478 motherboard, I always find rare and cool old motherboards stuffed with bad bulging and leaking caps. Imagine how much good and otherwise reliable hardware got thrown away because of that!

And nowadays, we get the opposite - hardware with good polymer caps but crappy design that commits suicide a few years to a few months after the warranty goes out. On that note, I do have another PSU to post here that is exactly like that (will do when I get the pictures out of my camera and make/copy-pasta the post).

Deltas had LTEC and Taicon as far as my memory goes, but they managed to keep them under control pretty well.

Until you go into the socket 775 / Core 2 Duo era - then things start o look pretty ugly. I just made a $30 order worth of parts (mostly caps) so that I can fix a bunch of these PSUs (got like 6 of them Delta, HiPro, and LiteOn that need a recap due to blown LTecs).

So no, Delta and HiPro PSUs with Ltec caps is no longer any good in my book. I'll take even CapXon over those. Hopefully that should say enough of what I think about Ltec now.

[momaka]

Enermax Pro 82+ EPR525AWT

I'm just posting this for the Enermax Pro 82+ EPR525AWT power supply found in this thread. I got this failed power supply from a customer machine back at my previous job. It was going to get scrapped. I thought it looked decent and worth saving, so I took it. Here are the pictures from the outside:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845

There are lots of good connectors on this PSU. Just those and the fan were worth saving alone. What is has: 24-pin ATX, 4+4-pin 12V CPU power, 2x 6+2-pin PCI-E power, 1x 6-pin PCI-E power, 7x SATA power, 6x Molex drive, 1x floppy, and 1x 3-pin PSU fan RPM monitor. I wonder how power is split up. Let's have a look at the label…
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845

Wow. It's only a 525 Watt PSU, but it promises up to 480 Watts on the 12V rail, split into three rails limited to 25 Amps each – not bad! 3.3V and 5V rails are also fairly strong for a more modern unit like that. Now let's see if the insides can provide what the label claims.
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845

It seems beefy enough of a unit for me. Main transformer is 39 mm wide and 15 mm thick (that's thicker than most regular ERL35 and 39 transformers I've seen). Likewise, the 5VSB traffo is also a bit bigger: 22 mm wide core vs. the standard 19 mm I'm used to seeing. There are three toroid coils on the output side and two smaller toroids next to the main transformer. This is because the 3.3V and 5V rails are mag-amp regulated. Hence, this is an independently-regulated. However, it is NOT a purely 12V-based unit like more modern PSUs though, where the 3.3V and 5V rails are derived from the 12V rail with buck-converters. That aside, the main PS uses a double-forward design controlled by a CM6802 chip (it controls the APFC section, too). 5VSB has its own controller (labeled AAECK with the K underlined, but I can't find any info on it) which drives a 2SK3067 MOSFET. Also, it looks like there is a 625W version of this unit made on the same PCB, judging by the fuse markings. In terms of EMI/RFI filtering, this unit has only a single X2-rated cap, located on the receptacle PCB. There are 2x CM chokes and 1x SM choke, though. Here's a picture of the receptacle PCB:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845

Next, a picture of the primary side:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845
Here, we have a large PFC choke and 2x Panasonic UQ 400V, 180 uF caps. As noted in the troubleshooting thread linked above, these caps were completely open-circuited. Some of you may also have noticed the darkened PCB under the APFC coil – this is actually from the thermistor (an SCK 054) going high-resistance (around 80 Ohms).

This picture shows more details, with the primary caps and thermistor THR1 removed:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845
Hmmm… Look at PFC diode, D4. See anything interesting?
…
No?
…
So it's actually not a diode, but a MOSFET wired as a diode (Gate tied to Source and Drain used as the Cathode-side). Interesting to know why Enermax did this. Perhaps the MOSFET they used here (a 15ETH06) was cheaper than a diode?

Anyways, moving onto the secondary side:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551845
It's a forest of United Chemicon capacitors here – mostly KZE series, but a few KY too. Output rails are monitored by a PS231s supervisor. And yes, there are three 12V rails. They all come from a single 12V rail that is then split with current-monitoring shunts. I forgot to check which rail is going to which connector. There is also an LM393n chip that appears to be used for 5V rail sensing (nice!)

And that's where the good build quality about this PSU ends. Looking at the solder side…
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551985
… ugh, what a mess! It appears there is lots of hand soldering on the power traces (to make them stronger). Not only that, but there is white/tan flux residue everywhere. Come on Enermax, what happened here?! It's almost as if they didn't bother cleaning the unit from flux or they didn't do it right. Some through-hole component leads are also bent down on the PCB a bit too far IMO and nearly touching neighboring (covered/enameled) traces. While that's not usually a problem, I don't like to see it. In this particular case, it appears that the white flux residue may have started to corrode some of the tracks a bit and thus making their mask on top flake away. So if any of that mask goes off where a component lead is bent down too far, I think that could cause trouble – particularly on high-voltage traces.

I wasn't too happy about the dirty solder side. Plus, I needed to troubleshoot the PSU's APFC section, so I started with a bit of cleaning first. Let's try a look at the solder side again:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...2&d=1539550611
Much better now!
The repair thread mentioned above contains more close-up images of the solder-side, in case anyone happens to need them for SMD component identification (particularly SMD resistor values.)

Last but not least, a fan label shot:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1539551985
It's a custom Enermax fan, model EB122512H, rated for 0.3 Amps @ 12V, and is a 4-wire type (PWM-controlled.) Also, it's a two ball bearing fan. But for some reason, both of its ball bearings had failed. The fan could still be turned by hand, but it stopped rather quickly. This is the first time I see ball bearings fail like this on a fan. Normally, they just go very noisy. These were noisy too, but not much. They just didn't spin well.

Luckily, I got some spare bearings that fit. They are probably very low-quality, as I got a pack of 10 of them on eBay for $1 (with free S&H) to try and revive another very noisy fan. But they do work for the time being and the fan spins much easier and much quieter than with the original bearings. I'm not too worried about it, anyways, as I still haven't fully fixed the APFC circuit. And even if/when I do, I'll probably put the PSU on a trial period on a test PC. So if something happens, no problems.

… and finally a component summary:

Primary Side

* 3x Y2-class caps (2x 1 nF, 1x 4.7 nF); 1x X2-class cap (0.82 uF)
* 2x common-mode chokes + 1x single-mode choke
* 10 Amp 250V fuse; SCK 054 NTC thermistor (bad), 1x MOV (+ to – pri. DC bus)
* 10(?) Amp bridge rectifier (can't read info)
* input caps: 2x Panasonic UQ 400 V, 180 uF, 85°C, 22 x 35 mm (ø x h) in parallel
* APFC section: 2x 2SK20J60T MOSFETs + 15ETH06 MOSFET wired as a diode
* main PS: 2x 2SK20J60T MOSFETs (2-transistor forward topology)
* 5VSB: 1x 2SK3067 MOSFET
* 39 mm –wide main transformer (and 15 mm thick), 22 mm -wide 5VSB transformer

ICs
* CM6802 primary-side PWM+PFC controller
* PS231s secondary-side supervisor
* AAECK primary-side controller for the 5VSB (in 6-pin SOT-32 package)
* LM393n for 5V rail cable loss sensing

Secondary Side
3.3 V rail (mag-amp regulated):
* S40SC45 (TO-247) Schottky rectifier
* 1x United Chemicon KZE, 10V, 3300 uF, 10 x 28 mm before PI coil
* 1x United Chemicon KZE, 16V, 2200 uF, 10 x 24 mm after PI coil
* PI coil: 5 mm core, 2.5-turn, 14(?) AWG wire

5 V rail (mag-amp regulated):
* S40SC45 (TO-247) Schottky rectifier
* 1x United Chemicon KZE, 10V, 3300 uF, 10 x 28 mm before PI coil
* 1x United Chemicon KZE, 16V, 2200 uF, 10 x 24 mm after PI coil
* PI coil: 6 mm core, 5.5-turn, 14(?) AWG wire

12 V rail:
* 2x 40u60pt (TO-247) Schottky rectifiers in parallel
* 2x United Chemicon KZE, 16V, 2200 uF, 10 x 24 mm before PI coil
* 1x United Chemicon KZE, 16V, 2200 uF, 10 x 24 mm after PI coil
* PI coil: 5 mm core, 2.5-turn, 14(?) AWG wire

-12 V rail:
* 1.5-2(?) Amp diode as a rectifier
* 1x United Chemicon KY, 25V, 470 uF, 8 x 20 mm before PI coil
* 1x United Chemicon __, __V, ___ uF, 6.3 x 12 mm after PI coil
* PI coil: 4 mm core, 19-turn, 20(?) AWG wire

5 VSB rail:
* SR340 Schottky diode (as rectifier)
* 1x United Chemicon KZE(?), 16V(?), 2200 uF, 10 x 24 mm before PI coil
* 1x United Chemicon KY, 10V, 1000 uF, 8 x 20 mm after PI coil
* PI coil: 4 mm core, 19-turn, 20(?) AWG wire