Question Mold and possibly rust inside my new Power Supply?.

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boogie_1987

boogie_1987

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Hi everyone.

I've been having bad luck with Power Supplies lately. My Seasonic Focus+ Gold exploded last week. I bought a new one, (XPG Core Reactor) it arrived today and when I opened the box I immediately got a musty smell and found mold on the cable bag.

MvPSi2M.jpg


And that's just part of it, most of the bag was covered with it.

I tried to inspect the unit and found what it appears to be rust... or maybe is just soldering paste. My first reaction was to just clean the bag. But then I thought, is it possible for mold to go inside the Power supply too?.

G0FawSB.jpg


I won't connect this thing to my PC, I think I should return it, what do you guys think?.

Thanks.
 
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jayjr1105

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Maybe mold on the bag but the "rust" you see is just flux residue and no harm at all. Maybe let the unit dry out for 24 hours before installing it. Possibly wasn't kept in a climate controlled warehouse. Why didn't you RMA your Seasonic?
 
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boogie_1987

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jayjr1105 said:
Maybe mold on the bag but the "rust" you see is just flux residue and no harm at all. Maybe let the unit dry out for 24 hours before installing it. Possibly wasn't kept in a climate controlled warehouse. Why didn't you RMA your Seasonic?
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for answering.

You think so?. Can't mold grow or stick inside electronics too?. And as for the cable, yeah it probably is just flux. But I'm worried about the PSU being exposed to moisture. Mold on the bag tells me that this thing was stored for a long time in there, maybe since launch, what was it? 2020?.

I don't know man.... who knows what is inside that power supply.

And as for the Seasonic, I'm in Mexico, sending it to California would have cost me $60 dollars, and this power supply cost me $105, so... 😕. And I'm in a hurry because I use that PC for work, but now this happened...
 
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boogie_1987

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NightHawkRMX said:
Definitely looks like flux inside to me. Perfectly normal.

However, not sure what's on the bag. Where was the PSU ordered from?
Click to expand...

It is a Mexican Store, it's an official distributor here in Mexico, good reputation, this is the first time they send something in this condition, I bought my entire PC with them in 2019, no issues whatsoever.

It is mold, the box has a musty smell. That in the photo is that spider web or dust ball like stuff you sometimes find on rotten food.
 
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jonnyguru

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boogie_1987 said:
Hi everyone.

I've been having bad luck with Power Supplies lately. My Seasonic Focus+ Gold exploded last week. I bought a new one, (XPG Core Reactor) it arrived today and when I opened the box I immediately got a musty smell and found mold on the cable bag.

MvPSi2M.jpg


And that's just part of it, most of the bag was covered with it.

I tried to inspect the unit and found what it appears to be rust... or maybe is just soldering paste. My first reaction was to just clean the bag. But then I thought, is it possible for mold to go inside the Power supply too?.

G0FawSB.jpg


I won't connect this thing to my PC, I think I should return it, what do you guys think?.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

HAHAHA! Classic!

So, some may have noticed that Corsair stopped shipping their cables in nylon bags and PSUs in velvet bags. That's because there was a lot of mold growing on them even with desiccant packs inside AND with the box being shrink-wrapped. We could never figure out where the mold was coming from because it happened on products from more than one vendor (ex: CWT, Flex, etc.) so we just figured get rid of the bags altogether.

Looks like now XPG has to deal with the same issue!

I'm curious. Was this PSU made in China or made in Vietnam? (not that it matters, but all the ones I saw in the past were made in China)

As for the wire inside: That's not rust. You have a combination of tinning and flux on that cable. Nothing more. As the cable is copper, oxidation would actually be green in color.
 
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boogie_1987

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jonnyguru said:
HAHAHA! Classic!

So, some may have noticed that Corsair stopped shipping their cables in nylon bags and PSUs in velvet bags. That's because there was a lot of mold growing on them even with desiccant packs inside AND with the box being shrink-wrapped. We could never figure out where the mold was coming from because it happened on products from more than one vendor (ex: CWT, Flex, etc.) so we just figured get rid of the bags altogether.

Looks like now XPG has to deal with the same issue!

I'm curious. Was this PSU made in China or made in Vietnam? (not that it matters, but all the ones I saw in the past were made in China)

As for the wire inside: That's not rust. You have a combination of tinning and flux on that cable. Nothing more. As the cable is copper, oxidation would actually be green in color.
Click to expand...

It was made in China.

No, the box was inside it's original plastic envelope.

Ok... I should return it, I'm not gonna risk it.
 
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boogie_1987

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jonnyguru said:
No? I didn't ask. You mean "shrink-wrap", not "plastic envelope", right?

If the next one is from the same batch, it might have mold on the cable bag as well.

Is it JUST mold on the cable bag? Given my experience, I'm inclined to think the mold was on the bag from the bag manufacturer.
Click to expand...

Sorry I was answering to NightHawk about the plastic. I think I should send photos.

  1. https://imgur.com/pQsCD2k
    View: https://i.imgur.com/pQsCD2k.jpg
  2. https://imgur.com/yHMg0OK
    View: https://i.imgur.com/yHMg0OK.jpg
  3. https://imgur.com/urHOzln
    View: https://i.imgur.com/urHOzln.jpg
  4. https://imgur.com/BqUeaNt
    View: https://i.imgur.com/BqUeaNt.jpg
  5. https://imgur.com/sVmNF0P
    View: https://i.imgur.com/sVmNF0P.jpg
  6. https://imgur.com/ahGRC7j
    View: https://i.imgur.com/ahGRC7j.jpg
  7. https://imgur.com/imHWZ1l
    View: https://i.imgur.com/imHWZ1l.jpg
  8. https://imgur.com/amGqTj1
    View: https://i.imgur.com/amGqTj1.jpg
  9. https://imgur.com/xnsBNmT
    View: https://i.imgur.com/xnsBNmT.jpg
  10. https://imgur.com/S9fo1to
    View: https://i.imgur.com/S9fo1to.jpg
  11. https://imgur.com/7ozsWOm
    View: https://i.imgur.com/7ozsWOm.jpg

Right where the bag was you can see moist and it smells.

So what do you think?, would you use this PSU?. Could this be a real problem or I'm just being a bit paranoid?.
 
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jayjr1105

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Looks like it's only around where the bag was. If you let it sit overnight already just to evaporate any potential moisture it's probably fine. Going by what @jonnyguru said about the Corsair bags having similar mold issues I would be willing to bet the PSU is fine.
 
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jonnyguru

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boogie_1987

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jonnyguru said:
Ok. That right there doesn't look legit. The PSU is SHRINK WRAPPED, not shoved in a plastic bag. This isn't right.
Click to expand...

What do you mean?. The box was sealed inside that plastic packaging. Is that kind of plastic that is sealed in the middle with heat. I opened it like that because I don't like tearing plastic packaging. I just put it back to take the photo.

Is not that plastic film that comes on a cylinder that you wrap around a box. It was a complete piece of plastic that is sealed in the middle, like those on bluray discs.

I just want to know if it's safe to use this thing or not, I don't want to talk about the plastic it came in hahahha :sweatsmile::sweatsmile:
 
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jonnyguru

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boogie_1987 said:
What do you mean?. The box was sealed inside that plastic packaging. Is that kind of plastic that is sealed in the middle with heat. I opened it like that because I don't like tearing plastic packaging. I just put it back to take the photo.
Click to expand...

Oh.. God. If you provided information up front, this would be a lot shorter thread. :D

Ok. So it WAS shrink-wrapped, you just placed the plastic back over it.

It's important to "talk about the plastic it came in" because it would tell us if you actually got a new PSU or something that someone returned and was put back on the shelf.
 
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boogie_1987

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jonnyguru said:
Oh.. God. If you provided information up front, this would be a lot shorter thread. :D

Ok. So it WAS shrink-wrapped, you just placed the plastic back over it.

It's important to "talk about the plastic it came in" because it would tell us if you actually got a new PSU or something that someone returned and was put back on the shelf.
Click to expand...

Yes exactly. it came inside the plastic, sealed. I just put it back for the photo, so you could see how it was packaged.
 
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boogie_1987

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Update.

The store accepted my request, they will replace it at no cost. I'm just waiting for, how do you guys call it?, the tracking number thing...

Well I guess I'll have to wait another week to get my PC up and running, meanwhile I'll have to continue working with this glorious, state of the art, piece of hardware... beautiful.

OHq7X97.jpg


No, seriously, this thing is saving my ass...
 
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boogie_1987

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Hi. Just a little disclaimer before I start, I'm from México, so take that into consideration.

A few weeks back I posted this issue. My XPG Core Reactor PSU had mold on the nylon bag, inside the box and a strong musty smell. I sent it back to the store, explaining my concerns about using a Power Supply that was stored with and exposed to moist, although the PSU itself looked fine and could probably work.

I finally got an answer. They tested the power supply and yeah it was working, they sent a short video showing the thing running. That means they cannot send a new replacement or make a refund, I have to pay $10 bucks so they can send it back.

I answered their e-mail reiterating my concerns about using that PSU and asking for a possible refund, maybe even store credit to buy a new one.

Here are some photos:

https://imgur.com/imHWZ1l
View: https://imgur.com/imHWZ1l

https://imgur.com/yHMg0OK
View: https://imgur.com/yHMg0OK

https://imgur.com/sVmNF0P
View: https://imgur.com/sVmNF0P

https://imgur.com/ahGRC7j
View: https://imgur.com/ahGRC7j

https://imgur.com/MvPSi2M
View: https://imgur.com/MvPSi2M


So what do you guys think?, is this PSU safe to use?.

I don't care about the PSU itself, I'm worried about my GPU, CPU, RAM, etc. Could moist cause a catastrophic failure that could potentially kill my entire PC?. Or maybe Moist wasn't able to reach the PSU itself and it is fine.

That's the problem, I don't know the extent of the damage, or if there's any damage at all. Maybe this thing is a time bomb and in case of failure, the PSU will just die on its own and my components will be safe, or maybe not, I'm terrified, I'm concerned specially during these difficult times. When my Seasonic, (you know the divine PSU brand, forged by the gods in Valhalla, and delivered to men and women as the perfect power supply), exploded I almost had a heart attack, I'm scared of power supplies now.

Thanks.
 
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Mugsy

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boogie_1987 said:
Hi everyone.

I've been having bad luck with Power Supplies lately. My Seasonic Focus+ Gold exploded last week. I bought a new one, (XPG Core Reactor) it arrived today and when I opened the box I immediately got a musty smell and found mold on the cable bag.

MvPSi2M.jpg


And that's just part of it, most of the bag was covered with it.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly certain that's spider webbing, not mold.

Does the bag (or PSU) smell musty? As others have said, that's not rust on the wire. So as long as the PSU was sealed, it should be safe.
 
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