Capacitors popping in my new Corsair TX650M

[AncientPistol]

I built my first PC more than a month ago, for the PSU I got the Corsair TX650M PSU because the RMX series was out of stock and I was told the TX series is almost as good and I should have no problems.

 

Then a few days ago when I turned on the switch on the PSU,I heard a loud pop. I did not know if it came from the PC or somewhere else and when I pressed the power button the PC booted up normally so I didn't think much of it. It worked for a few days and then when I was watching a YT video another loud pop, this time with a huge spark flying out of the PC, it tripped my MCB as well. I took the PSU out of the case and tried to look inside with a flashlight but couldn't really see much. I put it back in and booted up the PC, it booted fine but I turned it off again just in case, and it hasn't been turned on since then.

 

I went to amazon to look at the ratings for the PSU and most of them are very positive, but when I filtered for the 1 star ratings almost all of them had the same complaint - loud pop that shut down the PC, including an eerily similar case, where someone's PSU made a loud pop, but booting again worked fine for a few days and then another loud pop accompanied by a big spark that tripped their MCB. The only difference is this happened to them in the first week after purchase so they returned it to amazon and got a replacement, except the replacement did the same thing so they returned that and got a full refund. For my case it happened after a month so the seller doesn't cover it anymore and I will have to RMA from Corsair directly.

 

My question is: is this normal? Aren't PSU's supposed to be very reliable? It comes with 7 years warranty. Or is it something I am doing wrong? This is first time I built a PC and before this I always used laptops so I don't know much about these things.

 

The case has ample space to breathe, the PSU is mounted with fan facing down, where there is a filtered space for air intake. PC is kept on a wooden table so its not suffocated from bottom. On the behind (where PSU plug and I/O are) there is 5-6 inch space and on back panel also there is about 4 inch space for air intake.

 

Can someone tell what could be the reason?

• Is it the fact that I plugged the PC in an extension cable? Only the PC and the monitor are plugged into it nothing else.
• Is it because or 'dirty power' from the wall? But all other electronics have been working fine in the house for years.
• The room has AC on whenever I am using the PC, at 24-26C and no moisture.
• When I turn off the PC, I switch it off from the back of the PSU, but not from the wall.
• Couple times I forgot to switch off the PSU from the back and left the PC overnight after shutting it down from windows.
• I have XMP and PBO (Precision boost overdrive) enabled in BIOS

 

Finally, should I get a replacement for this or just look for a better PSU? I definitely don't want this to happen again and possibly destroy other components as well.

 

Sorry for the long post but this is my first PC and I saved for months to build it and I am scared.

 

Full parts list: 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$299.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	NZXT Kraken X63 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$149.49 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$82.49 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo Plus 250 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$69.98 @ Amazon
Storage	Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$54.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	Asus GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB STRIX GAMING Advanced Video Card	$899.94 @ Amazon
Case	NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.93 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$123.62 @ Amazon
Monitor	BenQ EX2780Q 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$516.90 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Cooler Master CK550 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard	$124.78 @ Amazon
Mouse	Logitech G403 HERO 16K Wired Optical Mouse	$49.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2442.10
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-11 04:16 EDT-0400

 

 

[Ankerson]

Contact Corsair and star the RMA process.

 

Sounds like you just got unlucky.

[Quadriplegic]

4 minutes ago, AncientPistol said:

When I turn off the PC, I switch it off from the back of the PSU, but not from the wall.

Congratulations, you have killed your PSU. You are not supposed to turn off the PSU switch at the back constantly.

[Ankerson]

6 minutes ago, Quadriplegic said:

Congratulations, you have killed your PSU. You are not supposed to turn off the PSU switch at the back constantly.

 

That too, it drains the capacitors over time so the PSU has to take an inrush of current.

 

Yeah, it's best not to turn off the PSU.

 

Don't understand why someone would do that in the 1st place.

 

Just shut the PC down normally if that's what want to do and just leave it.

[Prodigy_Smit]

13 minutes ago, AncientPistol said:

Couple times I forgot to switch off the PSU from the back and left the PC overnight after shutting it down from windows.

This is what your supposed to do. Get an RMA and don't switch it off from the back repeatedly.

[AncientPistol]

6 minutes ago, Quadriplegic said:

Congratulations, you have killed your PSU. You are not supposed to turn off the PSU switch at the back constantly.

So I should not do anything after shutting down the PC from windows? I didn't know that or heard that before.

 

But if I don't turn it off from the back then there is an LED in the GPU that stays lit and I thought its best that there is no power going to the PC when its not in use.

[Ankerson]

3 minutes ago, AncientPistol said:

So I should not do anything after shutting down the PC from windows? I didn't know that or heard that before.

 

But if I don't turn it off from the back then there is an LED in the GPU that stays lit and I thought its best that there is no power going to the PC when its not in use.

 

 

NO......

 

If you shut down the PC at night, if that's what you want to do for some reason just shut it down from Windows and leave it.

 

Don't cut the power off on the PSU or unplug it etc....

 

You will kill the PSU in a pretty short period of time..

 

 

[Quadriplegic]

5 minutes ago, AncientPistol said:

So I should not do anything after shutting down the PC from windows? I didn't know that or heard that before.

 

But if I don't turn it off from the back then there is an LED in the GPU that stays lit and I thought its best that there is no power going to the PC when its not in use.

Yes, just shut it down from the Windows. You can check BIOS settings if there is an option to turn off the lights.

 

[Ankerson]

Just now, Quadriplegic said:

Yes, just shut it down from the Windows. You can check BIOS settings if there is an option to turn off the lights.

 

 

Or they could just let the PC go to sleep instead of shutting it down....

 

 

[Spotty]

7 minutes ago, AncientPistol said:

So I should not do anything after shutting down the PC from windows? I didn't know that or heard that before.

 

But if I don't turn it off from the back then there is an LED in the GPU that stays lit and I thought its best that there is no power going to the PC when its not in use.

Turning the PSU off/on from the switch causes additional stress on the PSU. It's not good for it and it can cause premature wear. Modern power supplies use very little power when the system is shut down/in sleep states so there's little reason to turn it off when you're not using it. I'd only switch it off if you're swapping hardware or unplugging it to move it around. Even if you were turning it on and off every day it shouldn't have failed after only a month though. Contact Corsair support and have it replaced. When you get a replacement just leave it switched on.

 

Disable the LEDs from the motherboard BIOS settings, or don't buy products with unnecessary RGB. 

[Kilrah]

I've always shut power to my main PC at the power strip every night (not necessarily for the PC itself, but to also turn off the other 5 devices connected to it and because that power strip is now remote-controlled so I can turn the PC on or off anytime from anywhere) without issue.

Yes there's inrush anytime you apply power back but any sensibly designed PSU should not have an issue with that.

 

Either that PSU was just faulty or it's lacking in the design of the inrush protection. 

[AncientPistol]

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

Turning the PSU off/on from the switch causes additional stress on the PSU. It's not good for it and it can cause premature wear. Modern power supplies use very little power when the system is shut down/in sleep states so there's little reason to turn it off when you're not using it. I'd only switch it off if you're swapping hardware or unplugging it to move it around. Even if you were turning it on and off every day it shouldn't have failed after only a month though. Contact Corsair support and have it replaced. When you get a replacement just leave it switched on.

 

Disable the LEDs from the motherboard BIOS settings, or don't buy products with unnecessary RGB. 

I did not know that. Are there other things I should be aware of? What about the monitor? Should I turn it off or not?

[Ankerson]

5 minutes ago, AncientPistol said:

I did not know that. Are there other things I should be aware of? What about the monitor? Should I turn it off or not?

 

No reason to turn it off, it will go to sleep once there is no signal to it and wake up once the PC is turned back on.

 

 

[tkitch]

Most computer hardware is designed to use nearly 0 watts when they go to sleep, or the main system is turned off.

 

The monitor has basically no draw, other than the power LED.  

A Printer goes to sleep and draws almost nothing.

The computer, once off, uses minimal energy to stay that way.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, AncientPistol said:

Then a few days ago when I turned on the switch on the PSU,I heard a loud pop. I did not know if it came from the PC or somewhere else and when I pressed the power button the PC booted up normally so I didn't think much of it. It worked for a few days and then when I was watching a YT video another loud pop, this time with a huge spark flying out of the PC, it tripped my MCB as well. I took the PSU out of the case and tried to look inside with a flashlight but couldn't really see much. I put it back in and booted up the PC, it booted fine but I turned it off again just in case, and it hasn't been turned on since then.

 

 

What is the lot code of your PSU?

 

This is the first 6 digits of your serial number.

 

@Corsair Nick

[Deli]

11 hours ago, Spotty said:

Turning the PSU off/on from the switch causes additional stress on the PSU. It's not good for it and it can cause premature wear. Modern power supplies use very little power when the system is shut down/in sleep states so there's little reason to turn it off when you're not using it. I'd only switch it off if you're swapping hardware or unplugging it to move it around. Even if you were turning it on and off every day it shouldn't have failed after only a month though. Contact Corsair support and have it replaced. When you get a replacement just leave it switched on.

 

Disable the LEDs from the motherboard BIOS settings, or don't buy products with unnecessary RGB. 

I heard this often, but we always turn off the office PCs after finishing the day of work. Those crappy Dell office PCs could not come with good quality hardware like good PSU and mobo. However they work fine for years. I suppose many enthusiasts will have better quality hardware in their personal and gaming rigs. So how much premature wear for switching the PC on and off once a day will have in practical term?

[AncientPistol]

2 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

What is the lot code of your PSU?

 

This is the first 6 digits of your serial number.

 

@Corsair Nick

Model no. is CP-9020132-UK and what you are asking is I think 20014851

[Corsair George]

26 minutes ago, AncientPistol said:

Model no. is CP-9020132-UK and what you are asking is I think 20014851

Hey, I'd like to get you a replacement PSU. Can you send me an email with your info at redbeard@corsair.com please?

 

I'll make sure we get this sorted from you.

 

 

[AncientPistol]

31 minutes ago, Corsair George said:

Hey, I'd like to get you a replacement PSU. Can you send me an email with your info at redbeard@corsair.com please?

 

I'll make sure we get this sorted from you.

 

 

Thank you. I have sent a mail.