unplug the psu's everyday?

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

hello,

 

i bought an old ibm system x3650', to use as a storage server. it is stationed in my bedroom in a homemade rack. now, when i looked at it the noise from the psu fans (they stay on when the server is off) didn't seem that bad, but when i try to sleep it seems way louder. i have it plugged into an extension lead that i can switch off, but if i do, the power supplies click. and if i turn it back on, they click again.

 

i had one of the psu's  explode on me (literally bang with a big spark) and don't want to blow up anymore of them, because i only have one more spare. 

 

i'm worried about the clicking.... is it safe to unplug it every night? or should i put some egg cartons inside my homemade rack to mute the noise?

[samcool55]

It's probably a relay that gets triggered if there is power. Should be fine.

[FilipSebik]

1 hour ago, samcool55 said:

It's probably a relay that gets triggered if there is power. Should be fine.

There are no relays in PC PSUs

 

To OP: I shutdown my PSU everyday after I turn off my PC so the caps will have a longer lifespan and it also protects from power surges if they occur when you are not home

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, FilipSebik said:

There are no relays in PC PSUs

there are in A LOT of power supplies these days. the most efficient way of turning off the high power rails, is to disconnect them all together

--

on topic: i'd actually suggest to fully unplug the power supplies over having them powered off for an extended time, server power supplies arent really meant to be plugged in and powered off. as for the failure you had.. dont think that leaving it running would do any better, i'd actually say that having it blow up in your face is safer than having it nuke when you're not around. chances are that with some creativity you'll be able to fix that one as well.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

5 minutes ago, manikyath said:

there are in A LOT of power supplies these days. the most efficient way of turning off the high power rails, is to disconnect them all together

--

on topic: i'd actually suggest to fully unplug the power supplies over having them powered off for an extended time, server power supplies arent really meant to be plugged in and powered off. as for the failure you had.. dont think that leaving it running would do any better, i'd actually say that having it blow up in your face is safer than having it nuke when you're not around. chances are that with some creativity you'll be able to fix that one as well.

yeah, i turn off the extension lead they are plugged into when i go to sleep, and turn it on again when i'm back from school and need the server... but that's bad then? because you said server psu's arent meant to be powered off and on all the time... 

[manikyath]

Just now, firelighter487 said:

yeah, i turn off the extension lead they are plugged into when i go to sleep, and turn it on again when i'm back from school and need the server... but that's bad then? because you said server psu's arent meant to be powered off and on all the time... 

they're not meant to be plugged in with the server off, is what i meant.

 

servers with multiple power supplies are usually designed to be able to "walk" by swapping back and forth between the power supplies for live migrations, over their projetced 10+ year lifespan there may be a lot of migrations to new datacenters or places within a datacenter, and there'll probably be several upgrades.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

5 minutes ago, manikyath said:

they're not meant to be plugged in with the server off, is what i meant.

 

servers with multiple power supplies are usually designed to be able to "walk" by swapping back and forth between the power supplies for live migrations, over their projetced 10+ year lifespan there may be a lot of migrations to new datacenters or places within a datacenter, and there'll probably be several upgrades.

ok, so i should shut it down, and then unplug it in the evening and then it's fine?

[manikyath]

Just now, firelighter487 said:

ok, so i should shut it down, and then unplug it and then it's fine?

yes.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

7 minutes ago, manikyath said:

yes.

okay, thanks!

[Pixel5]

12 hours ago, FilipSebik said:

 

To OP: I shutdown my PSU everyday after I turn off my PC so the caps will have a longer lifespan and it also protects from power surges if they occur when you are not home

the lifetime of the caps will not increase at all by turning of the PSU and even if it would it doesnt matter at all because the lifetime of the caps is longer than most other components you have in there.

 

and regarding the power surges, any quality PSU can take power surges up to a certain point as most components of the PSU are rated for higher voltages than you supply to them.

The little switch on the PSU that turns it off will not protect you against the really big surges either but if thats happening the PC is the last thing you are worried about.

 

TL:DR you can stop doing this as it has absolutely no effect.