Enermax 600W woes

[RandomNiceGuy]

I just recently bought a new set of components. Among them was the ENERMAX EG701AX-VE (600W). The machine booted fine, got the new drive formatted and the OS installed. I was in the middle of downloading some additional software (anti-virus and the like) when I heard a loud series of pops from inside my machine, as if someone had set off a string of firecrackers. With that all was silent, my new machine dead in the water and the heavy smell of electrical burning filling the room. After about an hour of inspecting the entire machine for damage the only thing that appeared fried was the PSU. I noticed this morning that THG was running a test on the same model PSU today in their live test but I admit to not knowing enough to decipher the results beyond "that graph looks pretty".

My two big questions at this point are:
1) What is the chance that the rest of the machine is unscathed by this fiasco?
2) Was this just a lemon PSU or is this model just poorly engineered?

Any help would be appriciated

 

[emogoch]

You just got a Lemon. All that can really go along with that is that you must have very poor luck. The Tom's stress test gave the Enermax a favourable review, falling nicely within the specs with a reasonable efficiency.

As for the rest of your components, I'd suggest that you start using your nose. Start smelling each of the main parts for electrical damage (mobo, CPU, RAM, & graphics card). If they all smell fine, and there's no visual signs of damage, plug it all together again with the new PSU and see how it does. Anyone else better thoughts?

 

[gomerpile]

I would say the dude wired it wrong In 30 years of computer work and tech new I have never seen a psu blow crackle and pop other than one time when I hooked up the the floppy drive plug wrong. Also this psu has a overpower protection this diode will blow before the psu.

when the team loses blame it on the noob's I was shot for a plane now my goal it to hunt them down

 

[emogoch]

If he was in Europe, having the PSU set on 120V rather than 220V could do possibly do it. There would still have to be some manufacture defect for the fuse not to blow though.

 

[RandomNiceGuy]

I live in the USA, but the PSU has no adjust for 120 <-> 220. Instead it has a small metal plate that says "universal". As far as the wiring, every device in the case was responsive before the death, I'd like to think that rules out the miswiring. As for the smell, none of the other components smelled like burning electronics, only the PSU and even then only near the back fan. As for the conept of a fuse blowing, the fuse is ceramic so I can't visibly tell if it's dead, but I don't want to open up the PSU while there is still a chance to RMA unless I know for a fact I can fix it.

 

[gomerpile]

Its funny how all the sudden after a good review on enermax psu somebody has a blow up I'm sorry but I don't beleive you. If you are telling the truth, there is one other thing, its a fake enermax. the web site use to have pics on the difference.

when the team loses blame it on the noob's I was shot for a plane now my goal it to hunt them down<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by gomerpile on 08/11/05 01:18 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[poly4life]

2) was thoroughly discussed, so I'll tackle 1)

Are you handy with a DMM (Digital Multimeter)? If so, I recommend examining the transistors on the mobo and measuring their conductance (It'll either be good or bad). If all is well, continue on to the discrete boards. The mechanical components probably require further analysis.

Otherwise, follow the great advice by emogoch (you should do that regardless). Caution is adviced, as your essentially testing the system "blind". Be careful and I hope nothing is damaged.

 

[MyStar]

Here's three more Enermax EG701AX-VE power supplies that failed:
<A HREF="http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustRatingReview.asp?DEPA=0&Item=N82E16817194001&page=1" target="_new">http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustRatingReview.asp?DEPA=0&Item=N82E16817194001&page=1</A>

I was considering buying this power supply although THL has yet to test this particular one. Please tell me how to identify a "fake" Enermax?


Don

 

[gomerpile]

Heres what I could find
<A HREF="http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3228/untitled9xz.jpg" target="_new">http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3228/untitled9xz.jpg</A>
Dont get me to wrong I too had enermax psu fail but that was after me using it for a year and messing around with the power.
Brand specific the psu fan will have a enermax sticker on it where as a fake usually dont, could you make the link clicky i tried to type it in and I stopped because it was frustrating
The post if suppose to respond to mystar sorry dude

when the team loses blame it on the noob's I was shot for a plane now my goal it to hunt them down<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by gomerpile on 08/11/05 06:18 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[MyStar]

Thanks for the picture! The Enermax PS shown on Newegg's website doesn't look like the fan has a Enermax sticker on it, but it does have a fan on the bottom side.

I'd be happy to make a "clicky" if someone would show me how.


Don

 

[gomerpile]

Sooooooo fUnnnnnny I had the exact same problem dude,,. when I joined. Then the fourm god replied. Dude read the faq section, on your left.LOL




when the team loses blame it on the noob's I was shot for a plane now my goal it to hunt them down

 

[MyStar]

I figured out how to make a clicky, thanks!

Damn...now there's a fourth person complaining that his new Enermax EG701AX-VE failed! Must be a bad batch.

<A HREF="http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustRatingReview.asp?DEPA=0&Item=N82E16817194001&page=1" target="_new">http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBack/CustRatingReview.asp?DEPA=0&Item=N82E16817194001&page=1</A>

FWIW, I see Falcon Northwest no longer uses Enermax power supplies and have switched to SilverStone.


Don

 

[gomerpile]

Ok I read the whole review. I see that there are more that are confident with enermax. One or two complaints dont make it a bad psu and if it was I am quite confident that enermax would replace a whole system if the computer componts were blowen up because of their psu. I have emailed enermax to respond on this topic.

when the team loses blame it on the noob's I was shot for a plane now my goal it to hunt them down

 

[emogoch]

Ya, I was thinking about busting out a DMM, but not everyone has one (my dad buys a new one every couple years or so, so I inherent), or knows how to use them. Also thought that testing every connetion line in the board seemed like a bit of over-kill, but the capacitors are a good compromise.

Other than that, rather than testing the whole system at once, if possible, test each component individually in a working system. i.e. that existing working system, and testing RAM in it, next VGA card, etc. Do the motherboard last, as it's the one that'll most likely be fried, an able to damage other components if it doens't work right.

 

[the_Prisoner]

Falcon Northwest is a great computer maker. Their older computers used Sparklepower/Fortron PSUs.

<A HREF="http://www.falcon-nw.com/" target="_new">http://www.falcon-nw.com/</A>

I may have to check out Silverstone, Falcon always uses quality parts. Falcon over Alien anytime, or self built of course.

the Prisoner

I'm not a number, I'm a free man! <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by the_Prisoner on 08/12/05 03:38 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[MyStar]

When you have people complaining about their power supplies failing back-to-back, that suggust a bad batch, which makes me lose my confidence in the product.

I seriously doubt Enermax (or any other PS manufacture) would replace components or a whole new system if it was their PS that caused the damage!

What happened to Enermax responding to this topic?


Don

 

[MyStar]

Falcon Northwest offers some of the most awesome custom painted cases!! Does make you wonder why they changed from Enermax to SilverStone...

Sparkle Power/Fortron are very good power supplies. Alienware was using SPI; don't know if they still do. It's interesting to see the Fortron had one the best ripple measurements tested by THL compared to some other high dollar PSU's.<A HREF="http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/200507111/stresstest-04.html#summary_charts" target="_new">http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/200507111/stresstest-04.html#summary_charts</A>.

One thing that sucks about buying a SilverStone PS if you live in the US; it only comes with a one year warranty.


Don