Question MY PSU POPPED!!!

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ninthcloud

ninthcloud

Dec 20, 2020
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So I was trying to figure out if my gpu is faulty. I gave it a little push because all off the fans suddenly turned off except the ram rgb. I tried it few more times, turning it on and off, the same thing happens. Then suddenly I heard a small pop from the bottom part of my case and saw smoke from where the psu is located. When I checked it there was some kind of liquid.

Is it possible that the reason of it exploding was me giving it a little push? by the way the system was on. I did it because I was desperate with my gpu not giving any signal. And are the other parts also fried?

It was a Corsair Cx550m.

TIA!!!!
 
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boju said:
Hopefully it's only the PSU that went. Fingers crossed when you get it replaced. Won't know the state of other components until this is done.

Never touch any sensitive part inside the case while it's on. Stuff like this can happen.
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Thank you for answering. I was just desperate because I waited a long time for me to finish building this pc. Then this happened.

So should I buy a new PSU in order to test the other parts out?
 
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Yes.

Any modular psu cables will have to be replaced as well. Pcie and sata, any cable physically plugged to the psu replace with cables the new psu comes with. Not because of the psu popped but because pinouts aren't standardized across brands/models. Even though plugs look the same, +/- pins can be in different spots at the PSU end which then it's cable design directs wires where it needs to go for the component. So never reuse cables.
 
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Gave WHAT a "little push"?

And what, exactly, do you mean by "gave it a little push"? In what way? Physically "pushed" the hardware somehow? Why would you do that? What do you think could possibly happen from doing that which would be helpful?

Anyhow, sure, if you were moving hardware around while the system was powered on, even just pushing something back and forth and causing it to flex while in the PCIe slot or DIMM slot or whatever, it could cause something to short.

What are your FULL hardware specifications, CPU, motherboard, graphics card, memory kit model, etc?

How long has that CX550m been in service, or was it brand new?
 
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Darkbreeze said:
Gave WHAT a "little push"?

And what, exactly, do you mean by "gave it a little push"? In what way? Physically "pushed" the hardware somehow? Why would you do that? What do you think could possibly happen from doing that which would be helpful?

Anyhow, sure, if you were moving hardware around while the system was powered on, even just pushing something back and forth and causing it to flex while in the PCIe slot or DIMM slot or whatever, it could cause something to short.

What are your FULL hardware specifications, CPU, motherboard, graphics card, memory kit model, etc?

How long has that CX550m been in service, or was it brand new?
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I gave the gpu a push. was thinking if it was not seating properly. I was just desperate enough to do that because of the gpu not giving signal.

Do you think other parts are fried as well?


Here are the specs.

Ryzen 5 2600
Sapphire Pulse Rx 570 4gb (which was faulty)
B450m mortar max
avexir core II 2x8gb
And Cx550m
 
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Darkbreeze said:
How long had that CX550 been in service? I asked this once already but you've not answered the question. Knowing how old that PSU was before the problem occurred could be an important factor, especially in terms of whether it is under warranty or not?
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Oh sorry. Its still pretty new. I only bought it last month and its brandnew. Its still under warranty I guess
 
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Then I would contact Corsair about an RMA. It's pretty doubtful that what you did was the cause of the failure. It's more likely that the faulty graphics card caused it, but I wouldn't probably directly mention that and simply say that it let out some smoke and quit working. At least then you get it replaced and will have a backup. You may still want to get another for use in the meantime because it could take a couple of weeks to get an RMA to go though by the time you factor in shipping and all. Contact Corsair and see what they say, or if it's been less than three months and you bought it at a local retailer, maybe contact them and see what they say.

If you have to get a new one anyhow, at least give this a read.

Discussion - PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

Below you will find MY standard list of recommended power supplies and beyond that this thread is intended as a landing place for questions or discussions regarding specific units, platforms or related PSU tech, all of which are all welcome to be discussed here. If it's related to power supplies...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
 
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ninthcloud said:
So I was trying to figure out if my gpu is faulty. I gave it a little push because all off the fans suddenly turned off except the ram rgb. I tried it few more times, turning it on and off, the same thing happens. Then suddenly I heard a small pop from the bottom part of my case and saw smoke from where the psu is located. When I checked it there was some kind of liquid.

Is it possible that the reason of it exploding was me giving it a little push? by the way the system was on. I did it because I was desperate with my gpu not giving any signal. And are the other parts also fried?

It was a Corsair Cx550m.

TIA!!!!
Click to expand...

Got a picture of the "liquid"?

You were turning "it" off and on how? Flipping the switch on the back of the PSU?
 
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ninthcloud said:
So I was trying to figure out if my gpu is faulty. I gave it a little push because all off the fans suddenly turned off except the ram rgb. I tried it few more times, turning it on and off, the same thing happens. Then suddenly I heard a small pop from the bottom part of my case and saw smoke from where the psu is located. When I checked it there was some kind of liquid.

Is it possible that the reason of it exploding was me giving it a little push? by the way the system was on. I did it because I was desperate with my gpu not giving any signal. And are the other parts also fried?

It was a Corsair Cx550m.

TIA!!!!
Click to expand...
Quite often a PSU fails due to an electrolytic capacitor. The electrolyte is a liquid. Eventually they start "bulging", sometimes even if not used or abused. Then they pop. I doubt anything in your system caused this, and I doubt there was anything you could do to avoid it. There is a reason why higher end PSUs often advertise high quality capacitors...they're a major source of trouble or success for a long life power supply.

FYI, the electrolyte is often a carcinogen. Not actually something to worry about most of the time, but if some was vaporized as it blew up, then you would want to avoid the fumes (this would take quite a bit inhaled to cause cancer, but don't abuse breathing the air with vaporized electrolytes).

I used to work on power supplies which ran on 3-phase 440 volt power. They had to put a weakened top panel on it for when an electrolytic capacitor would explode to avoid it becoming basically a bomb. This was in an industrial building with a concrete roof, and each time one blew up it would embed metal in the concrete. Made it easy to wake up. Fortunately PC power supplies don't embed metal parts in the neighboring area when they fail! 😛
 
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jonnyguru said:
Got a picture of the "liquid"?

You were turning "it" off and on how? Flipping the switch on the back of the PSU?
Click to expand...
yes. I just did it twice. the first one is because when I turned the pc on, the fans suddenly stopped working and the ram lights are still on. Second one was when it all happened, I flipped the switch back on, powered the pc, still no signal from gpu, gave it a little push, then boom. There goes my power supply. hahaha

As for the liquid, I didnt get a picture of it but it has an oily texture to it, kinda clear, and some weird smell too.
 
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Darkbreeze said:
Then I would contact Corsair about an RMA. It's pretty doubtful that what you did was the cause of the failure. It's more likely that the faulty graphics card caused it, but I wouldn't probably directly mention that and simply say that it let out some smoke and quit working. At least then you get it replaced and will have a backup. You may still want to get another for use in the meantime because it could take a couple of weeks to get an RMA to go though by the time you factor in shipping and all. Contact Corsair and see what they say, or if it's been less than three months and you bought it at a local retailer, maybe contact them and see what they say.

If you have to get a new one anyhow, at least give this a read.

Discussion - PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

Below you will find MY standard list of recommended power supplies and beyond that this thread is intended as a landing place for questions or discussions regarding specific units, platforms or related PSU tech, all of which are all welcome to be discussed here. If it's related to power supplies...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
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Thank you. I already checked the link you gave. I have questions again.

If its eligible for RMA, Will I shoulder the shipping fee of the replacement item?

If they dont let me have a replacement, and I decided to buy a new one. Is Seasonic Core Gm a good PSU?

Thank you again!
 
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ninthcloud said:
Thank you. I already checked the link you gave. I have questions again.

If its eligible for RMA, Will I shoulder the shipping fee of the replacement item?

If they dont let me have a replacement, and I decided to buy a new one. Is Seasonic Core Gm a good PSU?

Thank you again!
Click to expand...

Why can't you just take the PSU back to wherever you bought it from? They should be able to exchange it there.
 
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ninthcloud said:
Thank you for all of those things. Do you think what happened to my PSU also damaged other components inside my pc?
Click to expand...
I've had a couple of power supplies die like this, and no harm was done to the rest of the system. I had one failure like this which did destroy a hard drive, but I suspect the carrier tray was itself involved in the reason that the drive failed (but the carrier tray itself would have failed due to the power supply failure...it is a moot point that the drive fell like a stack of dominoes in a chain). For the most part I'd say odds are good that most (if not all) of the rest of the system survived, but there is no way to guarantee this without actually testing.
 
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LinuxDevice said:
I've had a couple of power supplies die like this, and no harm was done to the rest of the system. I had one failure like this which did destroy a hard drive, but I suspect the carrier tray was itself involved in the reason that the drive failed (but the carrier tray itself would have failed due to the power supply failure...it is a moot point that the drive fell like a stack of dominoes in a chain). For the most part I'd say odds are good that most (if not all) of the rest of the system survived, but there is no way to guarantee this without actually testing.
Click to expand...
Thank you for giving me hope. I cant buy a brandnew psu to test, maybe next week.

Is it a good idea to buy a cheap APU just to test other parts out? coz I cant buy another gpu til next month. Again, thank you!
 
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If you have to stretch the budget, I wouldn't worry about it unless and until you have to. That is money that would be better spent being put towards getting a higher quality power supply rather than just some mediocre budget model.

Recommendations.

Discussion - PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

Below you will find MY standard list of recommended power supplies and beyond that this thread is intended as a landing place for questions or discussions regarding specific units, platforms or related PSU tech, all of which are all welcome to be discussed here. If it's related to power supplies...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
 
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NightHawkRMX said:
I would most likely expect them to cover the RMA.

According to this, you will likely have to pay return shipping. yay...
https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033067832-Corsair-Limited-Warranty#:~:text=When returning a product, use a Ireturn shipping,packaging material to pack the product for return.
Click to expand...
Hi! Corsair provided me with a DHL Prepaid Shipping Label. What does this mean? Will I for something else? Thank you!

Here is a part of the email.
To save you the trouble of paying for return shipping to us, we are providing a prepaid DHL shipping label. Please print the label and put it on your returning package. Make sure to also write your name and theRMA number # 2003852893 on the outside of your package. If you are re-using a shipping box, please be sure to cover up any previous shipping labels and barcodes, as this can delay your shipment.
 
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Having a spare could be useful, but it isn't worth your time or money. For one thing, it would have to be of sufficient wattage, so it might not be cheap.

What I do very highly recommend is getting a PSU which advertises short circuit protection. This means you could plug it into a damaged motherboard with a short, and nothing in the PSU would be harmed. Without that a new PSU going to a shorted component could leave you without the new PSU and without the rest of the computer...you could lose both.
 
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