Do PSUs have a life span
There are some components in a power supply that will degrade at a very slow pace over time. Some degrade at a faster rate the higher the operating temperature is.
Fans can go bad over time. In high end power supplies like AX1200 they tend to use high quality fans, rated for 50k+ hours of operation, well lubricated, and so on.
In cheaper power supplies, depending on how they're cycled on and off, fans can lose lubrication, due to repeated heat/cold cycles the plastic of the fan blades could crack and break, blades could tear off.
Electrolytic capacitors use a liquid or semi-liquid substance called electrolyte, which can be affected by temperature, and can also be damaged by a tiny amount by various events (over voltage, sudden very high current spikes etc)... and they can repair themselves to some degree.
Modern power supplies use a mix of solid (polymer) capacitors which are much more resilient because they don't have electrolyte, and the electrolytic capacitors are used in a secondary role, so they're less "stressed" compared to how electrolytic capacitors were used in designs from years ago.
Usually electrolytic capacitors are rated for some amount of hours at 105c or even higher, in some high end power supplies you may see 125c rating.
So for example, let's say the electrolytic capacitor is rated for 10,000 hours at 105c
The rule is that for every 10c reduction in ambient temperature (temperature the capacitor is subjected to), the lifetime rating of that capacitor is doubled.
So for an AX1200 power supply that may be around 60-70c (at very high load) around the area where such capacitors are installed, you can do the math :
10,000 at 105c , 20,000 hours at 95c , 40,000 hours at 85c , 80,000 hours at 75c and so on ... there's around 9000 hours in a year, but you wouldn't be gaming or doing something super heavy so that your psu would average 75c all the time ...
Solid/polymer capacitors have a much higher life, which is determined with another formula, but basically the average 5000h@105c solid/polymer should last 20+ years at at 60-75c ambient temperature.
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