Question PSU releases paint-like smell every hour

[Moose8990]

I've had this PC for almost a year now but have only used it for probably 3 or 4 months within that year. Since I've had it, every hour, almost on the dot, my PSU (Corsair RM750x) emits a chemical / paint smell. It's not strong but you can smell it maybe 6 inches from the back of my PC and it happens regardless of what I'm doing. The only other problems I've had with this computer is 2 or 3 freezes which I think is normal.

My guess is that, since this PSU is designed to be quiet, I only smell it when the fan comes on. Could this still just be flux since the PSU has only had about 4 months of use?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Turn off the semi-passive mode and let it run in the standard fan on mode for a few days or a week. That should acclimate it better so you don't smell it's electrical break in after a while. And actually, IMO, unless you are REALLY at that fuzzy grey edge of your capacity requirements and it runs noisy because it's not actually got the recommended headroom that allows it to run in a less aggressive fan profile mode and the noise bothers you, I usually just run it in the normal mode all the time. That is of course assuming your model has a switchable semi-passive mode and not all of them do.

If yours does not, then you might just want to loop something demanding for an hour or so to see if it acclimates like that. Realbench, or another demanding, but not TOO demanding synthetic bench or stress test.

 

[Moose8990]

Turn off the semi-passive mode and let it run in the standard fan on mode for a few days or a week. That should acclimate it better so you don't smell it's electrical break in after a while. And actually, IMO, unless you are REALLY at that fuzzy grey edge of your capacity requirements and it runs noisy because it's not actually got the recommended headroom that allows it to run in a less aggressive fan profile mode and the noise bothers you, I usually just run it in the normal mode all the time. That is of course assuming your model has a switchable semi-passive mode and not all of them do.

If yours does not, then you might just want to loop something demanding for an hour or so to see if it acclimates like that. Realbench, or another demanding, but not TOO demanding synthetic bench or stress test.

Thanks for the detailed reply! Unfortunately this power supply does not have a switch to turn semi-passive mode off. You suggested I run something intensive for a while -- during the 4 months I used the PC I did play a lot of pretty intense games that put most of my parts to near 100% capacity so I'm assuming (hoping) the fan came on during those extended gaming sessions. What concerns me about the smell is that my PSU has for sure been broken in so I'm becoming very suspicious. Can PSUs produce these chemical smells after so long and not be a time bomb?

 

[Darkbreeze]

And you are 300% positive it is the power supply and not something else inside the case?

Which way do you have the intake fan on the power supply oriented? Is it facing the bottom of the case or is it facing into the case?

If it's a really obvious smell it might be worth contacting Corsair support as this could actually be the smell of melting insulation or a bad capacitor that is leaking and the electrolytic solution is burning off or any number of things. Since this is NOT a common problem we hear about often it's probable that it's due to something that doesn't really fall under the "normal conditions" standard.

 

[Moose8990]

And you are 300% positive it is the power supply and not something else inside the case?

Which way do you have the intake fan on the power supply oriented? Is it facing the bottom of the case or is it facing into the case?

If it's a really obvious smell it might be worth contacting Corsair support as this could actually be the smell of melting insulation or a bad capacitor that is leaking and the electrolytic solution is burning off or any number of things. Since this is NOT a common problem we hear about often it's probable that it's due to something that doesn't really fall under the "normal conditions" standard.

I am 300% sure it's coming from the power supply. I have my fan facing the bottom of my case with a dust filter beneath it. I would say that the smell IS obvious considering how distinct it is however I do need to get my nose quite close up to exhaust grid for it to smell obvious.

 

[Nighthawk117]

I've had this PC for almost a year now but have only used it for probably 3 or 4 months within that year. Since I've had it, every hour, almost on the dot, my PSU (Corsair RM750x) emits a chemical / paint smell. It's not strong but you can smell it maybe 6 inches from the back of my PC and it happens regardless of what I'm doing. The only other problems I've had with this computer is 2 or 3 freezes which I think is normal.

My guess is that, since this PSU is designed to be quiet, I only smell it when the fan comes on. Could this still just be flux since the PSU has only had about 4 months of use?

I had a similar problem when I first got my 3080, though I think it was actually the 3080 that was making the smell in my case. It took a while but eventually disappeared.