Power Supply 13 years old, should I be concerned?

[Alaric]

Alaric, sir, oil doesnt need to be clean! As long as theres oil in there, all is fine. You drive 10 minutes and oil is black already after it's been changed..

Now you're in my bailiwick. Color doesn't denote cleanliness. I'm referring to particulate matter. Tiny, sometimes microscopic, carbon deposits with sharp edges that scratch bearings, cylinder walls, piston rings, valve stems, etc.. And one of the prime offenders, acids. Short trips that do not allow the engine to reach operating temperature do not generate enough heat to burn off the acids produced. What acids? Condensation occurs in engines, humidity, both introduce water based moisture inside an engine. That water mixed with combustion byproducts (hydrocarbons) creates acids. Those acids will etch bearings, metal, creating damage that no amount of clean oil can fix.

Side note: Oil filters have a bypass valve, allowing unfiltered oil to circulate if it clogs. You still have oil, but it's garbage and it's destroying your engine.

 

[UltraTaco]

Well, bypass valve is when you have excess pressure, like during hard acceleration, it let's oil bypass because used oil(mike?) Is better than no oil. Also, oils nowadays are most excellent! 10,000miles with decent filter are pissible!

But tha k you, Alaric, most respect for knowledge!.

 

[Alaric]

A clogged filter is what will cause excessive pressure. Acceleration isn't likely to make your oil pressure hit 150 psi. Oil manufacturers can do anything they like to oil, they build "clean" in to it. That comes from oil and filter changes and driving habits. To a lesser extent using quality oil does help. The cheap recycled crap at Circle K comes with trash in it. LOL

 

[wingman99]

Well, bypass valve is when you have excess pressure, like during hard acceleration, it let's oil bypass because used oil(mike?) Is better than no oil. Also, oils nowadays are most excellent! 10,000miles with decent filter are pissible!

But tha k you, Alaric, most respect for knowledge!.

Bypass is for a clogged filter not hard acceleration.

 

[UltraTaco]

Thank you, taco was misled by some tv programming all these years!!

 

[Zerileous]

Bypass is also for cold oil I believe. Not sure at what point it becomes an issue, but I bet at -20 it is pretty significant even with 0WXX.

 

[Celeron_Phreak]

I like where this thread went, it got us all thinking and questioning.

I didn't get any updates that there were replies to this thread, for some reason, but anywho....

I will try to get to popping the cover on the PSU this week. I am, honestly, not expecting to find much dust, for one, as it has been routinely blown out over the years, not much has been allowed to settle in there.

As far as it getting "worn out", I'm not expecting to find much in that department either. It has always been in a well ventilated case (Lian Li V1000), and very rarely ever pushed hard. The hardest it was ever pushed was probably when I had the 8800 Ultra GPU with the Phenom II 955 black edition overclocked. I pushed it pretty hard with that setup for a month or two before moving onto something else.

If it has bad caps, I would have no problem replacing them, as I have done it before. Electronics reconditioning is somewhat of another hobby for me. I have done flat panel televisions, as well as car and home audio amplifiers, and even flyback transformers in old CRT displays. High voltage isn't new to me, you just have to be extra cautious and slow down to make sure you don't screw up and seriously injure or kill yourself.

When it comes to high voltage electronics repair, if you don't trust yourself to work on it, don't do it, it's not worth the risk.


As far as replacing the unit with a new one...I do plan do eventually, and probably some time this year. Looking into the SeaSonic Prime Ultra Titanium 750W unit, with the 12 year warranty. SeaSonic has me as a customer for life at this point! This 600W unit was a flagship model from back in 2006, it wouldn't make sense not to replace it with another top end model now.

 

[Blaylock]

Good call Celeron_Phreak

 

[UltraTaco]

Maybe I should open mine up. Shes always running warm ('08 model I think)

 

[Celeron_Phreak]

Sorry for being away for so long.

So, after inspecting the innards, I see no sign of any potential failures, everything looks great. Maybe a bit of dust in the deeper parts of the PSU, but nothing the air compressor couldn't get out, after disassembly.

Four months later....

I upgraded my video card to a GTX 1080 and CPU to an i7 4770K. With the added draw, compared to the i5 4570S and GTX 960, I figured I might as well replace the PSU to protect the new components, as an added security and to give peace of mind.

I opted for a Corsair RX750i. Corsair claims a 10 year guarantee...we shall see......

 

[UltraTaco]

You are a good man, Mr.Celeron. Smart move.

 

[Zerileous]

Did you have a typo? I can't seem to find it. Why did you stray from Seasonic?

 

[Celeron_Phreak]

Did you have a typo? I can't seem to find it. Why did you stray from Seasonic?

Unfortunately it isn't in my budget, a comparable flagship unit of theirs, as was the one on topic, is their ultra prime. 750w, at $192 from Newegg. I was able to get the corsair from best buy for $75, using accumulated points from business purchases.

Planning on replacing it with another seasonic when finances loosen up in a year or two, as we are currently preparing for a home purchase.

 

[Zerileous]

Were you specifically looking at the Titanium or Platinum rated one? Gold is adequate for most users, unless there is very high power bills. It's an efficiency rating, not an overall quality rating. Should be a fine unit from Corsair though . I have the Ultra Prime Gold, but I don't think it's fair to comment on it after 8 months.

 

[EarthDog]

unless there is very high power bills

And even then, you need to run the thing under load 24/7 for years to make up the cost of jumping from Gold to Titanium at the same wattage... and only then will you start making up the cost.

 

[Celeron_Phreak]

My biggest determining factor in favoring Seasonic, is the proven durability, in my personal experience, greatly reducing concerns. My system does run 24/7, but not under full load at all times.

 

[Bustos]

Am I the only one waiting to see the post where we learn that the 13 yo PSU finally kicks the bucket?

 

[UltraTaco]

They don't go bad usually.

 

[Celeron_Phreak]

It's going into my LAN PC build, running my old components. We shall see....

Not sure though. I still have some 200w antec and LI Power units from Pentium 133 and 486 systems (AT power supplies) that still run, and they are going on about 25 years now. Granted, they are only used occasionally.

 

[Evilsizer]

had a OCZ 520 PowerStream, for get the warrenty period but it was the longest of any other psu on the market. i think it was like 12/14yrs, it has been so long. i used the warrenty replacement a few months before it expired. i decided to clean it out after not doing it since i owned it and it was on 24/7 since i owned it. the caps were bulging pretty bad and i had some what i figured out where PSU related issues. should have kept the PSU and just redid the caps my self. the PSU they used to replace it with a unit that was the cheapest one they had in their line up, it sat in the box for a long time then it went to goodwill.