peltier /or psu shuts off for some reason once in a while for a min or so.

[Lt. Max]

my friends 226w pelt sometimes shuts off for about 30-45 sec and u can watch the temp rise into the 50's and then drop back to under 20 within a minute.. what is causing this? he has an amptron 37 amp continus 50 amp peak psu. could his power at his house be too weak? or mab in his neighborhood like kinda peak time right now..

happens only every once in a while, he has to switch the psu back on, could that have some fault in it that it turns off randomly?

[Since87]

Is it the pelt that is having the problem, or the power supply?

If he has to turn the power supply off and then back on, I would guess that the pelt supply is going into thermal shutdown due to inadequate air cooling. Does the amptron supply have its own fan?

I doubt that it is the ac power line. You'd notice the lights dimming noticeably if the power was sagging that badly.

[Lt. Max]

well we have a 2 80mm fans on the heatsinks of the amtron in the front, it doesnt have any active in it self. mab i should tell him to point a room fan at it?

btw it doesnt seem to happen when the computer is idling.

[Since87]

Hmm. If it only happens when the computer is loaded, I'm wondering if the Amptron supply is plugged into the same power circuit as the computer and the total power draw on the house wiring might be excessive. That could be a dangerous situation.

I suggest you find an AC voltmeter somewhere and measure the voltage at the wall outlet, with all the PC hardware powered off. Then measure the outlet voltage with all the PC hardware running and the CPU at max load. If the voltage drops by more than 2V when the PC is powered, your friend may have a wiring problem. It would be a good idea to have an electrician look into it.

[Lt. Max]

we tried pluggin psu into different room it still did it, i think i figured out what the problem is, i took the connector from psu to the wire leading to pelt off and it was hella dirty i tried to clean the screw but its still kinda black, right now the temps improved about 2C from cleaning it , any way to get it to the shiny metal color? what do i do, i treid scrubbign wit the kitechen scrub and alcho didnt help much


ok
thanks
max

[Since87]

I'd just get another screw. Does this screw hold a wire onto a terminal on the power supply? If so it is most important that the wire and terminal be clean. The screw doesn't matter so much.

If it is the wire that is dirty, can it be cut back some to get clean copper?

Soldered joints are the best way of insuring good reliable connections. If soldering isn't practical, if your friend had dielectric grease that he put in the CPU socket for condensation reasons, it can be smeared on the wire and terminal to decrease oxidation of the metal.

Also, make sure the wire is screwed down tightly. Loose joints with high current flowing through them can get hot and oxidize. That is probably what caused the blackening in the first place.

These are all guesses since I don't really know what the setup is like. Hope some of this helps.

[Lt. Max]

ok we did it tightly and i stripped to clean copper but the screw i cant replace cause its connected in the inside of the psu and i lookd inside i cant take it off. so basically i need to somehow clean it

[Since87]

How about the metal the screw is screwed into? If it is clean, I wouldn't worry about the screw. It's probably more important for the wire to contact the metal the screw is screwed into.

[Lt. Max]

well the thing kinda works like this ill draw a diagram :

[Daemonfly]

Can use a small wirebrush, sandpaper(edges), or 3M scotchbrite pad (edges).

[Lt. Max]

the screw itself is the terminal i think
tell me if udont understand the picuter ill type :)
the wire is squished between the washer and bolt and side of psu

[Since87]

sorry don't see the diagram.

okay now I do.

I would just take some sandpaper like Can O' Beans suggested and clean the flat surface surrounding the threaded shaft. Then just make sure the wire is bolted tightly to that clean flat surface.

[Lt. Max]

there it is :) i tried using the brite thing to scrub i did for about 30 sec it didnt seem to help, do i havta scrub it for like a minute or something? ill b goin over again tmrw ill see what i can do

[Warlord2]

try just scraping it off or use steal wool, sandpaper should do it too.:cool:

[athlonnerd]

got a dremel wiith wire brush? or some kind of acid, zap works well, or kaboom. maybe re thread the screw, brillo pad?