- Jul 15, 2014
- 22,627
- 9
- 60,960
Today we will be looking at one of the cheapest power supplies on the market, the Diablotek EL 400W. The model number for this unit is PSEL400, as specified above the bar code on the side of the box as well as above the load table. I ventured to Microcenter last week and picked up this bad boy (no literally, bad boy) for $15 brand new. It was also available for $12 open box, but I would have been too embarassed to show my face in that store ever again if I had to personally request to get this power supply from the worker. I got out of there as fast as possible.
The power supply box comes wrapped in plastic. I'm quite surprised, actually, but I guess that eliminates the necessity of using tape to close the box. The box itself is blue and quite small. There is actually no silly marketing present at all - just a list of connectors and a load table. On the front it specifies that this unit has a 1 year warranty. I'd like to see them live up to that claim, really, but at least they are offering one. Though, shipping a dead unit to the company probably costs more than a whole new unit!
Below is the load table for this unit. The bulk of this unit's capabilities are not on the 12V rail, since it is only rated for 22 amps. Clearly, this unit is not based on a modern design, and also does not have the capabilities for handling any system other than a simple office machine.
Opening up the box, the first thing we notice is a warning that babies can suffocate on the bag protecting (we wish) the unit. Will they care about the babies once the power supply catches fire and burns down someone's house? Slim occurance, but has happened before in the grand scheme of time. Also in the bag is a power cord, which is a fine length, and surpsingly two zip ties along with the necessary four screws. I would have liked to see some foam or bubble wrap to protect the unit from physical damage, as the little plastic does diddly squat.
Below are the cables:
Moving on to the cabling, my first impression is short. These are very short cables, a lot shorter than my Rosewill APS-450CCP ones. I would advise against installing this power supply into an ATX case.
The cables that come with this unit are the main 24-pin ATX cable, an 8-pin EPS12V cable, a chain consisting of molex+sata+berg, and chain consisting of molex+molex+sata. If this is installed in a microATX case, it should be fine, and the cable lengths may actually reduce clutter that some power supplies impose upon little cases.
Below is the overview of the unit:
The power supply itself is pretty easy to open - just unscrew four screws and remove the warranty sticker. It's not like we need that warranty, it's not like this unit will die, right? Oh wait, it would die. Anyway, here are the overview images of this unit with its shell removed:
I have to say, I dig black printed circuit boards. It seems the old brown ones are a thing of the past now, even on unbelievably cheap units. From the overview, some heatsinks can be identified. These heatsinks hold MOSFETs on them, as it's their job to cool them down. Those large yellow things are transformers, not Optimus Prime, please don't. I only liked those movies because of Meghan Fox. The transformers' jobs are to step down the voltages. They are actually composed of a ferrite core, with copper coils
Below are some more images of this unit:
There are a handful of different capacitors on this unit. Ironically, all the capacitors are rated at 105C, including the bulk primaries. Frankly, though, does this mean much with the selection we have? Cheng is used primarily on the secondary side. The bulk capacitors are by Dexon. There may be some other brands thrown in here and there, but that is the jist.
Below are some more images:
We can see our PWM controller with supervisor IC for protection circuitry, an EST7502C. Whether this is a good protection circuit or not is up to the experts, which I am not, but looking at the specification page those values for UVP and OVP don't look too safe.
Now let's move onto the worst part of this power supply: the transient filter. There is not a single x capacitor or y capacitor. There does not seem to be a coil as part of the transient filter, either. There is a MOV present. Seriously, though, this is absolutely horrid, a pathetic transient filter. A fuse is present on the PCB. My cheap case-included Rosewill PSU had a full-blown EMI filter attatched to the AC receptacle and additional filtering components on the PCB. This is awful. Also, there is no NTC thermistor.
Moving on, the fan for this unit is not able to be identified. It is an 80mm fan:
There is caulk present on the three coils that are in this power supply. This caulk is used to reduce vibrations which can reduce coil whine. You know what I'd like to see instead of caulk? A transient filter. It looks like the workers got a little sloppy with the caulk, too, getting it over some capacitors and such. Not a big deal, but just a sign of poor quality control.
Moving on to the bottom of the printed circuit board, the soldering does not look very good to me. As for text, the only text on the board is the word "Circle". Is that the OEM? I have no idea, but it's there.
In conclusion, this power supply sucks. The transient filter is lacking x and y capacitors, so it's beyond me why one would want to purchase this power supply. If there's one good thing I found, it is the 105C rated capacitors, but who knows, companies lie about rated wattage, surely these cheap brands could lie about temperature ratings of capacitors.
The power supply box comes wrapped in plastic. I'm quite surprised, actually, but I guess that eliminates the necessity of using tape to close the box. The box itself is blue and quite small. There is actually no silly marketing present at all - just a list of connectors and a load table. On the front it specifies that this unit has a 1 year warranty. I'd like to see them live up to that claim, really, but at least they are offering one. Though, shipping a dead unit to the company probably costs more than a whole new unit!
Below is the load table for this unit. The bulk of this unit's capabilities are not on the 12V rail, since it is only rated for 22 amps. Clearly, this unit is not based on a modern design, and also does not have the capabilities for handling any system other than a simple office machine.
Opening up the box, the first thing we notice is a warning that babies can suffocate on the bag protecting (we wish) the unit. Will they care about the babies once the power supply catches fire and burns down someone's house? Slim occurance, but has happened before in the grand scheme of time. Also in the bag is a power cord, which is a fine length, and surpsingly two zip ties along with the necessary four screws. I would have liked to see some foam or bubble wrap to protect the unit from physical damage, as the little plastic does diddly squat.
Below are the cables:
Moving on to the cabling, my first impression is short. These are very short cables, a lot shorter than my Rosewill APS-450CCP ones. I would advise against installing this power supply into an ATX case.
The cables that come with this unit are the main 24-pin ATX cable, an 8-pin EPS12V cable, a chain consisting of molex+sata+berg, and chain consisting of molex+molex+sata. If this is installed in a microATX case, it should be fine, and the cable lengths may actually reduce clutter that some power supplies impose upon little cases.
Below is the overview of the unit:
The power supply itself is pretty easy to open - just unscrew four screws and remove the warranty sticker. It's not like we need that warranty, it's not like this unit will die, right? Oh wait, it would die. Anyway, here are the overview images of this unit with its shell removed:
I have to say, I dig black printed circuit boards. It seems the old brown ones are a thing of the past now, even on unbelievably cheap units. From the overview, some heatsinks can be identified. These heatsinks hold MOSFETs on them, as it's their job to cool them down. Those large yellow things are transformers, not Optimus Prime, please don't. I only liked those movies because of Meghan Fox. The transformers' jobs are to step down the voltages. They are actually composed of a ferrite core, with copper coils
Below are some more images of this unit:
There are a handful of different capacitors on this unit. Ironically, all the capacitors are rated at 105C, including the bulk primaries. Frankly, though, does this mean much with the selection we have? Cheng is used primarily on the secondary side. The bulk capacitors are by Dexon. There may be some other brands thrown in here and there, but that is the jist.
Below are some more images:
We can see our PWM controller with supervisor IC for protection circuitry, an EST7502C. Whether this is a good protection circuit or not is up to the experts, which I am not, but looking at the specification page those values for UVP and OVP don't look too safe.
Now let's move onto the worst part of this power supply: the transient filter. There is not a single x capacitor or y capacitor. There does not seem to be a coil as part of the transient filter, either. There is a MOV present. Seriously, though, this is absolutely horrid, a pathetic transient filter. A fuse is present on the PCB. My cheap case-included Rosewill PSU had a full-blown EMI filter attatched to the AC receptacle and additional filtering components on the PCB. This is awful. Also, there is no NTC thermistor.
Moving on, the fan for this unit is not able to be identified. It is an 80mm fan:
There is caulk present on the three coils that are in this power supply. This caulk is used to reduce vibrations which can reduce coil whine. You know what I'd like to see instead of caulk? A transient filter. It looks like the workers got a little sloppy with the caulk, too, getting it over some capacitors and such. Not a big deal, but just a sign of poor quality control.
Moving on to the bottom of the printed circuit board, the soldering does not look very good to me. As for text, the only text on the board is the word "Circle". Is that the OEM? I have no idea, but it's there.
In conclusion, this power supply sucks. The transient filter is lacking x and y capacitors, so it's beyond me why one would want to purchase this power supply. If there's one good thing I found, it is the 105C rated capacitors, but who knows, companies lie about rated wattage, surely these cheap brands could lie about temperature ratings of capacitors.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram