Grrrrr

[techjunkee]

See below.

[techjunkee]

I'll type it again.

Fortron 530W PSU

Just purchased form newegg.com. Came highly reccommended from OC's alike as being a well rated unit.

I fear I have a bad apple. Here are the problems.

1) This PSU wont power my system with all devices connected, trips into fault and shuts down.

2) When powered up, unit makes a high pitch whining sound for approx. 2 minutes. (Same sound I got form a TurboLink420W @ 14.1V rails)

Some solutions ive tried:

1) IDE delay set to at least 7 seconds - NOTHING

2) Reseting all voltages to default - NOTHING

3) Connecting only necessary devices - WORKS

When only the mobo, cpu, and HDD are connected the system boots fine and has no problems. After the unit is stable, I can reconnect all remaining devices and reboot the system, but not power it down. Also, pressing the reset switch with all the devices connected faults the PSU as well.

However, I am using every available connector of the PSU.

2 HDD, 2 Optical drives, 1 floppy, 1 9800pro, 1 fan @ molex, & 1 cathode light @ molex. Total of 6 molex connectors, and 2 3.3v connectors are being used, along with the ATX and 12V 4-pin on the ABIT NF7-2 v2.0.

I havent yet tested voltages at the PSU directly with my DMM, but these are readings at the mobo:

CASE: 21°C
CPU: 34°C
CPU FAN: 5625rpm
CORE 0: 1.63V
CORE 1: 2.61V
3.3: 3.42V
5.0: 5.08V
12.0: 12.16V
-12.00: -12.03
-5.0: -5.09

ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM OR SOMEHTING SIMILAR?

[Tony Carr]

Maybe one of your components is shorting out the system .

Did you try adding one component at a time , then try to boot up until the suspect component is identified ? I've even seen fans that were bad and causing overloads .

[techjunkee]

Yes I have tried that.

The odd part about it, my old PSU was an off brand and had no problems. My old PSU was a solder mod.

But then I decided I needed more power and bought a PSU with adjustable pots. I think the whining when it starts up is a pretty good idea that its shot.

Ive heard rumors of newegg.com shipping refurbished Fortron/Sparkle PSU's as new???

At any rate, im off to get an RMA and purchase a REAL Antec TruPower PSU from newegg.com.

[larrymoencurly]

I once came across a PSU that worked fine at really low power levels but konked at higher levels, and it turned out that one of its high voltage transistors wasn't fastened solidly to the heatsink.

[White Rain]

If all else fails RMA it if you have that option. Get a new one, if you have the same problem that will pretty much clear the PSU as being ok and it being one of your components.

If it's not the psu, and you are having the issue after attaching the extra stuff one at a time, well.. All I can think of is the one thing in your system that's always connected to the psu, the motherboard.

Maybe it's causing the problem somehow? What board are you using anyway?

[techjunkee]

I opened the PSU and started taking volatges at different points.

First the cable leads, drawing an odd voltage on my +12V rail, +10.24V. Moving over to my +5V rail, drawing another odd voltage, +5.94V.

Knowing these two rails are controlled by the same potentiometer, I was a tad worried. Also fearing maybe bad cable leads, I tested the PSU at 3 points on the pot/adjustment board with the same results.

Adjusting the PSU to correct for the low +12V, spiked my +5V rail to over 6.2 sending the unit into a fault and shutting down. Also, correcting the adjustment for the high +5V rail, sent the unit into a fault, as well.

Today, my Fortron found its way into the hands of my local postal carrier, en route back to La Puente, CA.

Thanks for your help guys.

Word to the Wise: Never install an untested PSU

[White Rain]

I didn't think they would RMA it after you upen it up. I thought that voided the warrenty for all psu's?

[techjunkee]

We shall see.

It has no tamper seals, so it would be tough to argue anyone opened it.

Besides, I made my claim that the unit package appeared to have been opened when it arrived.

[White Rain]

Well GL to you and I hope the people you RMA'd it to don't follow these boards :p