power supply PSU makes breaker act up.

[Crave]

Hello everyone.

 

Specifications of PC:

MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC

AMD Ryzen 1700X, OC-ed and undervolted to 3.7 GHz, 1.32 V

MSI Armor MK2 RX 580 8 GB, undervolted from 950 to 900 mV on VRAM and -50 mV on every state, except the first and last one.

32 GB (2x16) G.Skill Ripjaws V 3200 MHz CAS 14

HP EX920 M.2 NVMe SSD 512 GB

Seagate FireCuda 2.5 SSHD 5400 RPM 2 TB

Silverstone SF800-LTI SFX-L

Bitfenix Portal case

2 x 80 mm 4 pin Noctua fans

2 x 92 mm 4 pin Noctua fans

1 x 120 mm 4 pin Noctua industrial fan

Noctua fan controller

Noctua NH-U9S

 

Recently, while I was at work, I was told that the circuit breaker inside transformer suddenly tripped. Sometimes it happens when two air conditioners and microwave oven are turned on at the same time, so they just lifted the switch on tranformer again. After like, one-two hours, it happened again and after that, the whole apartment's electricity went down.

After the electrician inspected every room separately, the suspect was my computer.  Whenever I plug the power cable to PSU and flip its switch without even turning on the PC, the breaker trips. Overall, the PSU was turned on and off three times. One time, when I was at work, one time when the electrician was testing rooms and another time, when I tried turning it on with a different power cable. The third time was not nice, because I saw a spark in a yellow capacitor, copper coil inductor and two metal oxide varistors' location. That location also has a burnt smell.

 

The PC is connected to a surge protector and a power strip with twelve outlets. I also connected an AC (something like that), router and two monitors (240 Hz and 60 Hz). 

 

The PSU is out of warranty since at the time of my purchase, it had three years warranty. It worked four and a half years. I have attached pictures of the internal parts and from a quick glance, the only thing that caught my attention is the copper coil on inductor on a marked location looks not as shiny as other two.

 

I didn't fully check other components, since I don't have a spare PSU. Nothing has a burnt smell or some visual damage on it. 

 

Question: If I plug a new PSU and connect it to my components, will it kill my new PSU?

 

TL;DR breaker trips from just turning on a 4.5 years old PSU. Tried different power cable, saw a spark and the PSU has burnt smell. Didn't check other components. Is it safe to use new PSU with unchecked components?

[RafiSan]

9 minutes ago, Crave said:

 

if the problem is like this if you don't replace the psu it might be very risky, i suggest to buy a new psu maybe 750 or 850 watts that is enough and don't forget the 80 plus psu.

[Needfuldoer]

The short was on the high voltage side of your power supply, so the rest of your PC's parts should be fine.

[Crave]

12 minutes ago, ImSan said:

if the problem is like this if you don't replace the psu it might be very risky, i suggest to buy a new psu maybe 750 or 850 watts that is enough and don't forget the 80 plus psu.

After the spark, I immediately unplugged power cable, put anti-static strap, unplugged every PSU cable and took the PSU away from case.

 

I went all out for safety of components and got a Corsair SF750. Hope it serves me better than Silverstone's "Titanium" PSU.

[_Omega_]

So it happened when you did nothing with the PC? It can be "normal" that some breakers pop when you flick the switch on a PSU due to the inrush current for the caps. It shouldn't happen, but with older wiring and big caps it can happen...

[Crave]

15 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

The short was on the high voltage side of your power supply, so the rest of your PC's parts should be fine.

I hope so. I have read that even expensive PSUs can somehow screw your other components, one way or another.

[Crave]

10 minutes ago, _Omega_ said:

So it happened when you did nothing with the PC? It can be "normal" that some breakers pop when you flick the switch on a PSU due to the inrush current for the caps. It shouldn't happen, but with older wiring and big caps it can happen...

Should I also replace a breaker? If I remember correctly, it was installed a looong time ago by some "professional" electricians, who connect wires by twisting both sides of copper and shield it with a cheap anti-static black tape.

Unfortunately, I don't understand some concepts of how electricity works, so I may or may not know some things, regarding that.

[Origami Cactus]

39 minutes ago, Crave said:

Should I also replace a breaker? If I remember correctly, it was installed a looong time ago by some "professional" electricians, who connect wires by twisting both sides of copper and shield it with a cheap anti-static black tape.

Unfortunately, I don't understand some concepts of how electricity works, so I may or may not know some things, regarding that.

Their method was fine. Source: I am a sort of a "professional" electrian myself.

Actual advice, don't necessarily replace it if not needed, but have someone who is actually certified look at it.

[Crave]

2 hours ago, Origami Cactus said:

Their method was fine. Source: I am a sort of a "professional" electrian myself.

Actual advice, don't necessarily replace it if not needed, but have someone who is actually certified look at it.

Um, sorry for being rude. It's just when I learned that the proper and secure way to connect electric cables is tinning copper ends with solder and use tiny terminal block with levers, I was like: "Wow. That look nice, clean and good for easy maintenance. Why the hell nobody does it this way?"

 

In a country where I live, there are no certified electricians. Only the good ones and the bad ones in disguise. Of course, there are companies/infrastractures, who provide services similar to this, but it is more expensive than getting an unofficial electrician or just learning, purchasing the right tools/products and doing it yourself.

 

I mostly prefer the last option, because at the end of the day, you also learn something new.

[Origami Cactus]

2 hours ago, Crave said:

Um, sorry for being rude. It's just when I learned that the proper and secure way to connect electric cables is tinning copper ends with solder and use tiny terminal block with levers, I was like: "Wow. That look nice, clean and good for easy maintenance. Why the hell nobody does it this way?"

 

In a country where I live, there are no certified electricians. Only the good ones and the bad ones in disguise. Of course, there are companies/infrastractures, who provide services similar to this, but it is more expensive than getting an unofficial electrician or just learning, purchasing the right tools/products and doing it yourself.

 

I mostly prefer the last option, because at the end of the day, you also learn something new.

Not being rude, it was a self depricating joke on myself lol. I have connected like 2 electrical boxes with random stuff, I have literally no education on that department, but "electrical tape" must be made for electrical wires?

 

Doing it yourself is also an option, but then triple check everything, because even the jackass who taped the wires together probably had "some" experience.

[Crave]

14 hours ago, Origami Cactus said:

Not being rude, it was a self depricating joke on myself lol. I have connected like 2 electrical boxes with random stuff, I have literally no education on that department, but "electrical tape" must be made for electrical wires?

 

Doing it yourself is also an option, but then triple check everything, because even the jackass who taped the wires together probably had "some" experience.

Oh, I see lol. I pretty much learn everything about electronics and other stuff when I am confronted with broken/defective products and there are no good repair shops, who, at least know what they are doing. If you looked at me ten years ago, I was the dude who was calling a motherboard a processor.

 

I have talked about the circuit breaker with an electrician, who installed it and it is the pretty much the best, which can be found in a country. Of course, there is an option of ordering breakers from abroad via proxy shipping, but for the time being, I kind of just want to bring my PC back and finally get back to the internet. Phones/tablets' OSs have just too many limits when you compare it even to text-based Linux OSs.

[fredyeah]

Did anyone ever have any ideas about what could have been the issue? I have the same PSU and the same issue. When I turn it on (even without the paper clip test or any cables plugged in), it flips the breaker, and I also see a short spark near the AC power input. 
 

I got the PSU from my job for free since it’s broken, and I would like to make at least a bit of an attempt at fixing it, since it would be perfect for my next build. 

[Cyberat]

You should not plug HVAC or any heavy machinery into Surge Protector units, if I read that correctly, or power strips.

Surge Protector battery units have a specified load they can handle and that is the max. you can use.

Defective series PSUs do happen and there are no recalls. If you have this model replace it.

From what I understand you live in an apartment complex with free utility services ? If anything is to be done, you will be held liable for damages, let them do it.

[Cyberat]

Also try getting a known name brand like Corsair, ThermalTake, etc... not a Chinese brand even if it says Gold/Platinum.