Diagnosing Repeated PSU Failure

[davetatum]

I'm looking for advice diagnosing very specific & repeated PSU failure. I've been through three PSUs in the last 1.5 years, each of which slowly dies in the same fashion.

The behavior is, while the system is running, everything runs smoothly & reliably. No issues with performance under load. However once the PSU has been in place for a few weeks/months, it will fail to power up initially after being shut down. The remedy is to unplug the PSU from the wall, give it some time to think about what it's done, plug it in and start up the PC once more. As time progresses the wait time before the PC can once again be started appears to increase (though this is largely anecdotal). If I'm impatient and attempt to plug in and start the PC before adequate time has passed, the timer resets. In the event the PC decides to start, it runs perfectly for however long the outlet provides power.

My approach has been to simply not turn off the PC and leave it up 24/7. Occasionally there are brief power outages which cause it to power down leading to the situation i'm currently in. However it should be noted that if the PC enters hibernation it exhibits nearly identical behavior. The system must be unplugged before it can resume from hibernation. A restart triggered by the OS does not cause a failure.

I've replaced PSUs, Mobo (both models listed below), and CPU to no improvement. The PSUs do indeed die, as after they start exhibiting these symptoms, i am able to recreate the failure using only a PSU tester.

My previous build had been running off the same outlet (and surge protector) and has never exhibited any such symptom, so i don't think it's caused by the consistency of the wall outlet. Though i guess i can't fully rule it out since it was 650W vs an 850&1050W PSUs (maybe?). But that leads me to either a GPU, RAM, or SSD/HDD being able to consistently kill PSUs while still operating as expected while powered.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I'm at a loss of what to do besides just outright build a new system.

Specs:
intel i7-4790K
MSI Z97 Gaming 5 / Asus Z97- A
Corsair H105 cooling
Corsair vengance pro 16GB DDR3
Gigabit GTX980-TI
Samsung 250G SSD
WD 1TB HDD

Graveyard:
Corsair AX 860 (x2)
EVGA 1050G

 

[Lutfij]

You forgot to include the make and model of your case. Please include that in your follow up post. Have you tried building your system on your motherboard box i.e breadboarded? Possible that you're suffering from a grounding issue. I would also like you to follow up the electrical wiring in your house and the outlet you use via a certified electrician and if the wire as well as the circuitry in your house can handle the PSU you're working with now. Often dirty outlets can cause PSU's to fail and it doesn't help when you're working in hot and humid environments.

I'm curious though, what was the make and model of your 650W PSU? O another note, if you're under warranty period, why not RMA the units?

 

[davetatum]

Thanks for the Reply.

Case is a Carbide SPEC 03

I've breadboarded multiple times with the different Mobos and CPUs, once the PSU starts to exhibit the failure scenario the behavior is the same inside the case or not. If it were a grounding issue i would expect it to be a bit more consistent, requiring something to physically move in the system instead of just having to be unplugged. I'm no electrical engineer though, so maybe that's naive.

The old rigs PSU is an HX620W Corsair (was mistaken when i said 650W above).

As far as RMA goes i have already gone down that route with the corsair PSU. i'm more interested in trying to find a root cause at the moment.

I guess it's possible i'm drawing too much from the circuit, but i don't have any issues with breakers. I'll follow up with an electrician though. Thanks again.