HELP i burned my psu

[unknown001]

i plugged in a sketchy hdd. as i was trying to install windows on it, i smelled burning plastic. when i looked at the hard drive, i noticed that the power cord was melted. is there anyway to fix this

note: i do not have a solder and i dont want to throw away the psu. the computer is unplugged

[.Apex.]

5 minutes ago, unknown001 said:

i plugged in a sketchy hdd. as i was trying to install windows on it, i smelled burning plastic. when i looked at the hard drive, i noticed that the power cord was melted. is there anyway to fix this

note: i do not have a solder and i dont want to throw away the psu. the computer is unplugged

If the PSU was shorting out and it burned down your SATA Power cable like nothing was happening then that's a crappy PSU and you should throw it out honestly

[Stefan Payne]

What PSU was that?!
 

And that HDD was a SAS HDD by the way...

[unknown001]

the psu is a thermaltake tr2 500w

the psu didnt give me any issues during ownership

and could the hdd be the issue

[mariushm]

You could just cut the wires on that SATA connector and use some electrical tape to insulate the ends. Or just pull out the wires from the connector - see picture below

The power supply (if it still works), it will work without the connector at the end of those cables... just use another sata connector as if nothing happened.

Double check where you insert connectors next time.

 

 

 

[unknown001]

i found clear tape. will that work?

[Stefan Payne]

3 minutes ago, unknown001 said:

the psu is a thermaltake tr2 500w

the psu didnt give me any issues during ownership

Yes, and?!

That don't make it good or anything.

Why do people always think that because they don't think the PSU might have caused issues that they have a good one?!

 

3 minutes ago, unknown001 said:

and could the hdd be the issue

Its a SAS HDD.

How díd you connect it?!
Did you remove the thing bin the middle?!

[unknown001]

yes i removed the middle piece

[.Apex.]

8 minutes ago, unknown001 said:

the psu is a thermaltake tr2 500w 

that's a bottom of the barrel PSU, I really don't recommend you use it, it's a fire hazard

[mariushm]

3 minutes ago, unknown001 said:

i found clear tape. will that work?

It will look ugly as shit, but you could get some PAPER, wrap each end of the wire in paper and then use the regular clear tape to keep the paper and everything in place.

Paper is electrical insulator.

But just go to the store and buy a small roll of electrical tape, or some heatshrink tube (you can then cut bits of heatshrink and use heat to shrink the tube over the exposed metal bits)

[unknown001]

uppon closer inspection, i found that the orange and black wire has melted together. so i am probably going to throw away the PSU. not sure if the SAS drive had anything to do with it

[mariushm]

2 hours ago, unknown001 said:

uppon closer inspection, i found that the orange and black wire has melted together. so i am probably going to throw away the PSU. not sure if the SAS drive had anything to do with it

Orange is 3.3v , black is ground ... if they melted together, there's a high chance that the power supply detected this short circuit and simply shut itself down to protect itself.

If you break those two wires apart and insulate them and unplug the power supply from the mains for a minute or so and then plug again, there's a high chance the power supply will run without any problems.

 

You can check if the power supply functions properly with a multimeter and a short piece of wire or a paper clip.

Disconnect all connectors of the power supply from computer components, then look at the 24 pin connector and use a metal paper clip or a piece of wire to create a connection between the PS-ON "pin" (hole) and any GND / COM pin (black wires, com is short for Common, or return wire, ground).

 

 

Basically, as you have the connector in your hands with the clip towards you, the 3rd and 4th holes from the top of the connector, COM and PS-ON

When you create a short with a wire or a paper clip, that tells the power supply to start and send power through all connectors.

Now you can use a multimeter to measure the voltages the power supply outputs.

Set the meter on DC voltage, if it's manual range set it to 20v or higher, put the black lead on any of the COM holes and then measure 3.3v , 5v and 12v by placing the other probe on the orange (3.3v) , red (5v) and 12v (yellow).  If you want to, also measure the 5v SB (purple)

There's no point measuring the -12v (blue), it's not important (practically not used in computers), and often you'll measure -8 or -10v and that's still considered good enough.

 

If you get 3.3v or around that value (like, 3.15v to 3.4v would be acceptable), the power supply works and it shouldn't be any risk to continue to use it.