safe to buy used PSU?

[Pachuca]

I'm looking to make a purchase on a used PSU. The PSU is still under warranty. It's one of the nice seasonic PSU with the 10 yr warranty. Would it be too risky to buy it used? I know seasonic makes a great quality PSU, but on the other hand I have no idea how this unit was used. What are your thoughts on this?

[EPENEX]

I personally would never buy a used PSU, but I do know that some people think different.

[BloodyWaters]

I'd say it's OK to use for a year or two.

[RGProductions]

depends on your build, and the price. I would personally take it over something like the EVGA 400 watt 80+ white units.

[Pachuca]

it's a 1200 watt PSU i'm thinking of using for my first mining rig. Going to try (key word try) and get 4 GPUs at a reasonable price.The PSU is pretty expensive when purchasing at msrp that's why i'm considering to buy it used.

[Pachuca]

11 minutes ago, EPENEX said:

I personally would never buy a used PSU, but I do know that some people think different.

why never? even if it's half price from msrp and still under warranty? 

[NoxiousOdor]

I have a used one and it has been great, if you are lucky you can get a good deal. For example I bought one off of someone on the forums here and it is a tier one and it is still under warranty I believe 

[Jurrunio]

28 minutes ago, Pachuca said:

why never? even if it's half price from msrp and still under warranty? 

Because PSU is a key component in a PC that can save it from accidents on electricity supply like power surges, short circuits etc. Though this might not be that appropriate, I don't think you would agree that a used condom that's still intact can be reused, right?

Used PSU might have warranty, but you only use it when the PSU malfunctions under normal condition. If one of these accidents happen on a used PSU with a fault that's never detected, it might fail to protect the system.

The main point to not buy used PSU is that you don't know what the previous owner had done to it and didn't tell you. Any of these actions might lead to "undetected faults". If you somehow dropped your PSU and hear bad noises from its internals, you wouldnt use it right away, but at least send it back for a check. If the previous owner had done and experienced this but didnt tell you, you will most likely use the PSU as if its normal, and you get confused on why the PSU failed to protect your system.

[aisle9]

1 hour ago, Pachuca said:

it's a 1200 watt PSU i'm thinking of using for my first mining rig. Going to try (key word try) and get 4 GPUs at a reasonable price.The PSU is pretty expensive when purchasing at msrp that's why i'm considering to buy it used.

For this reason alone, I wouldn't do it. A mining rig is 100% load 100% of the time. That's a lot of strain on your PSU, and a lot of money down the drain if it goes pop. I wouldn't chance it. I'd buy a brand new PSU that you know has come from the manufacturer, who's built and tested it and done nothing else. For all you know, the reason this guy's selling the PSU is because his system had become unstable and he'd identified the PSU as the culprit.

[Ithanul]

If from a good seller and an individual know to sell good parts, then yes, no problems.

If an seller with hardly any background on selling used parts, then no.

 

This the rule I go by when I buy all my used hardware (which is the majority of my hardware).

[Stefan Payne]

2 hours ago, Pachuca said:

Would it be too risky to buy it used? 

Yes, because why does he sell the PSU?

 

And the warranty only applies to the original buyer and is not transferrable to the second buyer with most companys.

And how much money do you really save to make up for that risk?!

[SpaceGhostC2C]

As safe as buying any other used component. You can't fully know its history, but most of the times it is no different from having your own older component.

 

1 hour ago, Pachuca said:

why never? even if it's half price from msrp and still under warranty? 

Will you get a bill or whatever you need to enforce the warranty? If so, there's even less reason to worry, just make sure that the warranty haven't been somehow voided by the previous owner.

 

1 hour ago, Jurrunio said:

Because PSU is a key component in a PC that can save it from accidents on electricity supply like power surges, short circuits etc.

That's a good reason to get a good PSU. It really doesn't affect the new vs. used debate. If buying a great, 10-year warranty PSU and using it for 5 years is no problem, why would buying the same PSU from someone who used it 2 years, then using it 3 more years would be any different?

 

1 hour ago, Jurrunio said:

Though this might not be that appropriate, I don't think you would agree that a used condom that's still intact can be reused, right?

Condoms are only useful up to their first use. A PSU is useful as long as it's in working condition, certainly throughout their warranty period at the very least. The analogy is useless.

 

5 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Yes, because why does he sell the PSU?

For the same reason he would sell any used component? Like, he doesn't need it anymore? Looking at the wattage, it could be a miner retiring from mining. OP wants to get started with mining. Seems like a win-win to me.

 

5 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

 

And the warranty only applies to the original buyer and is not transferrable to the second buyer with most companys.

This is an important point. The value of the PSU changes depending on that.

 

5 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

And how much money do you really save to make up for that risk?!

Usually, it does. I've bought 3 used PSUs on eBay, and maybe I could have bought the equivalent to the cheapest with the same money if buying new  

[Intel HD Graphics]

2 hours ago, Pachuca said:

I'm looking to make a purchase on a used PSU. The PSU is still under warranty. It's one of the nice seasonic PSU with the 10 yr warranty. Would it be too risky to buy it used? I know seasonic makes a great quality PSU, but on the other hand I have no idea how this unit was used. What are your thoughts on this?

Personally, i would not buy a used psu from an unknown sorce. The reason being is that it could be faulty and could fry your hardware. Make sure you know that is is working and get a demo on it on some other hardware before you use it