Power Supply blew up. Diagnosis anyone?

When my machine was slow a tech suggested a 1gb Radeon HD 6570 since I was running Photoshop and Lightroom at the same time. And I'd need a better power supply or it would be fried. So he installed the Apevia Java 500W supply. That improved things a lot except I noticed that the switch was a bit iffy. Sometimes I'd have to switch on and off a few times before I could power up so I put tape over it to remind myself to unplug it to do a cold restart. So maybe when I switched it on and fire came out of the box, that was it, a short circuit in the switch?

Or maybe it's because I bought a UPS, so I could do clean shutdowns in power outages. I just wanted to plug in the monitor and power supply to do that but ended up using another plug for a constantly running exterior drive. It let me do one proper shutdown in a power outage but then this happened. I don't know if it was the power supply or the UPS that caused the electrical problem.

What power supply do I need? The same? I can't get the one I had. Will 550W be too much? 600? Too little? Should I discontinue the use of the UPS? Any recommendations will be appreciated.

Output: 480W / 900 VA
Input: 120 VAC @ 50/60 Hz ± 3 Hz
9 x Total NEMA5-15R Outlets
6 x Battery Backup & Surge Outlets
3 x Surge-Only Outlets
NEMA5-15P Input Connection (5' Cord)
354 Joules Surge Energy Rating
Adjustable Voltage Sensitivity
Automatic Battery Self-Testing
$75,000 Lifetime Equipment Protection

(I wonder where I apply to get the $75K lifetime protection, haha.)

pxfragonard said:

the switch was a bit iffy. Sometimes I'd have to switch on and off a few times before I could power up

A switch just switches between zero conductivity (open, off) and maximum conductivity (short, on). Both states are safe. But an iffy switch creates a third state, partially closed, which adds resistance and heat. Just like when you slowly plug in a lamp that is turned on into your wall socket, you get a spark just before the wires are firmly pressed together, that's the in between state of partially closed, meaning high resistance, which produces heat. It sounds like your iffy switch was in that state a lot, causing heat to build up.

I have not heard of your PSU, but any on amazon that have 1000+ reviews should be reliable. On my two systems I use a modular Corsair CX 650 and a modular Silverstone Nighjar fanless. Modular allows you to only deploy the wiring you need so there is not a ton of extra unused wires coming out of it, and the nightjar fanless uses very heavy heatsinks for cooling so a fan is not needed.

Power supplies, like wall outlets, never "push" electricity onto anything. All electrical current is "pulled" by the appliance being plugged in. Therefore there are no PSUs that are too powerful for your system. I also do not see a reason to suspect your UPS being at fault here.

I'm not sure whether this is relevant, but for high-powered computer equipment I try to find a UPS with active PFC. Switched-mode power supplies are theoretically a particular problem for UPSes, and I'm presuming it's worse the higher the power draw is.

That said, I've never had a power supply blow up like that, even with run-of-the-mill UPSes, so I don't know how relevant the PFC issue is. Nevertheless, for a high-powered system like yours, I'd lean towards an Active PFC UPS for peace of mind. (I use Cyberpower Active PFC UPSes these days.)

Note the PFC issue would only come into play if the UPS kicks in, and you did say the failure occurred after a power outage when the high-powered system was running from your existing UPS.

F22 Simpilot said:

I bought this one: CyberPower CP850PFCLCD UPS 850VA / 510W PFC compatible Pure sine wave - Newegg.com

+1 for that. That's the same model I'm using.

You should be able to get the wattage of everything your running from the specs add them all up to get the right wattage PSU

Do the UV fan lights still work on the PSU?

Also, search for a rocker switch than select between 115/230 Volt - perhaps that is now at a wrong selector setting for your region?

about the Apevia Java 500w power supply unit OP mentioned



read Amazon customer reviews:
Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Apevia Java 500W ATX Power Supply

and reviews from Newegg (click on the Reviews tab there):

APEVIA WIN-500XSPX 500W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply - Newegg.com



more bad reviews than good; some people may be lucky if that PSU still keeps working but others not so fortunate; replace ASAP

johnhoh said:

A switch just switches between zero conductivity (open, off) and maximum conductivity (short, on). Both states are safe. But an iffy switch creates a third state, partially closed, which adds resistance and heat. Just like when you slowly plug in a lamp that is turned on into your wall socket, you get a spark just before the wires are firmly pressed together, that's the in between state of partially closed, meaning high resistance, which produces heat. It sounds like your iffy switch was in that state a lot, causing heat to build up.

I have not heard of your PSU, but any on amazon that have 1000+ reviews should be reliable. On my two systems I use a modular Corsair CX 650 and a modular Silverstone Nighjar fanless. Modular allows you to only deploy the wiring you need so there is not a ton of extra unused wires coming out of it, and the nightjar fanless uses very heavy heatsinks for cooling so a fan is not needed.

Power supplies, like wall outlets, never "push" electricity onto anything. All electrical current is "pulled" by the appliance being plugged in. Therefore there are no PSUs that are too powerful for your system. I also do not see a reason to suspect your UPS being at fault here.

I appreciate your response.

dg1261 said:

I'm not sure whether this is relevant, but for high-powered computer equipment I try to find a UPS with active PFC. Switched-mode power supplies are theoretically a particular problem for UPSes, and I'm presuming it's worse the higher the power draw is.

That said, I've never had a power supply blow up like that, even with run-of-the-mill UPSes, so I don't know how relevant the PFC issue is. Nevertheless, for a high-powered system like yours, I'd lean towards an Active PFC UPS for peace of mind. (I use Cyberpower Active PFC UPSes these days.)

Note the PFC issue would only come into play if the UPS kicks in, and you did say the failure occurred after a power outage when the high-powered system was running from your existing UPS.

The issues have been resolved for the time being but I'm bookmarking your response for future reference. Thanks for answering. I don't know why I've never had a notice from SevenForums until today about it.