My seasonic x850 full modular psu exploded!

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 00:49

I bought a seasonic 850w psu awhile ago. Its been working okay up until today when i turned it on and the psu sparked and made a loud pop! Safe to say it scared the life out of me! Thought it was going to catch fire!

It tripped the mains which i turned back on and when i went to test to see if the psu still worked it was lifeless. No fan, no power on nothing. Completely dead!

On closer inspection i can see (looking from the back of the psu) that the blue looking capacitors (?) have burst open and white stuff, looks like cream has come out and stuck itself to the copper coils.

I have heard of these psu's going pop but never thought it would happen to me!!

It happened after i changed my case over to the parvum systems case. No idea why this happened because it was working fine before. I cant test to see if it damaged any components either but im hoping with all the protection systems the psu has it will have done no damage. I tested the pump of the water cooling system which works fine but cant test the mobo and gfx card since no spare psu.

Anyone got a spare one they can lend me around sheffield area

?
Please help!

I've already started a rma with a competitor and waiting for a reply tomorrow.

Sigh
Jay

Doomedspeed · 2 May 2013 at 07:45

Im sorry to hear about that mate.. Its quite rare a seasonic fails, just unfortunate.

Im sorry Im not in your area to help, just hope someone is around to lend you a hand. Maybe try a local PC shop, if you have one around...

Good luck mate.

Leprechaun312 · 2 May 2013 at 08:25

yeah unfortunately unless someone lives near you your best bet is to see if you could borrow one from a local pc shop but tbh since it's a seasonic i wouldnt worry about your components

EscapePlan · 2 May 2013 at 08:52

Nutsacks, hope you get it sorted.

Just a note, however, the 'white gunk' stuff, I believe, would have been present before the explosion. I think its some type of glue to stop the coils vibrating (correct me if I'm wrong, someone! I have the same in my brand new XFX (seasonic) 550w).

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 08:54

Its really upsetting since everything was going so well up until that point.

Ive reserved a corsair CXM600 psu and will be picking it up today. Will find out tonight after work if everything is okay.

Doomedspeed · 2 May 2013 at 09:27

Jay85 said:
Its really upsetting since everything was going so well up until that point.

Ive reserved a corsair CXM600 psu and will be picking it up today. Will find out tonight after work if everything is okay.

Good plan, Im sure it'll be fine as it is seasonic.

Fingers crossed for you bud..

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 09:57

Doomedspeed said:
Good plan, Im sure it'll be fine as it is seasonic. Fingers crossed for you bud..

Thank you mate, will find out tonight if it works.

Just picked up the replacement psu.

paintguy · 2 May 2013 at 10:17

You don't hang about!

I've got a few PSU's that you'd have been welcome to try but it looks like you've sorted it already.

Hope all is ok with the rest of your hardware.

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 12:06

paintguy said:
You don't hang about!

I've got a few PSU's that you'd have been welcome to try but it looks like you've sorted it already.

Hope all is ok with the rest of your hardware.

Ive sorted rma for next week.

Is it safe to say that the psu is dead if i tried the paper clip test and nothing happens?

Leprechaun312 · 2 May 2013 at 12:09

Jay85 said:
Ive sorted rma for next week.

Is it safe to say that the psu is dead if i tried the paper clip test and nothing happens?

pretty much if it doesnt turn on even with only a paper clip attached...it's dead

Spangles · 2 May 2013 at 13:25

So, was the rest of your stuff ok?

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 13:33

Leprechaun312 said:
pretty much if it doesnt turn on even with only a paper clip attached...it's dead

I connected a fan to the psu and tried paper clip method and nothing.

Its buggered.

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 13:34

Spangles said:
So, was the rest of your stuff ok?

I dont know yet, will find out later tonight after

Im nervous tbh

Werewolf · 2 May 2013 at 13:48

It's a good quality PSU, so it's got a good chance of the rest of the machine being OK imo.

One of the big differences between cheap PSU's, and good ones is the level of protection they offer between the PSU's main guts (where the voltages are reduced to what is needed), and the actual PC, from memory the likes of Seasonic put in various overcurrent/voltage protection on the "output" side of the PSU which should protect the PC to a degree.

I had an Antec 550 in my original Sonata case that popped, back when I had a Pentium D, and the rest of the machine was fine as the protection circuitry did it's job.

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 14:47

Spangles said:
So, was the rest of your stuff ok?

Werewolf said:
It's a good quality PSU, so it's got a good chance of the rest of the machine being OK imo.

One of the big differences between cheap PSU's, and good ones is the level of protection they offer between the PSU's main guts (where the voltages are reduced to what is needed), and the actual PC, from memory the likes of Seasonic put in various overcurrent/voltage protection on the "output" side of the PSU which should protect the PC to a degree.

I had an Antec 550 in my original Sonata case that popped, back when I had a Pentium D, and the rest of the machine was fine as the protection circuitry did it's job.

The psu did cut off rather promptly. The light on my usb wifi stick lit up and the back of my mobo lit up momentarily after the flash. After that there was smoke and the smell of burning metal. I got one if my old psu's out to try and connect it all up however i realised it doesn't have an 8pin connector for the motherboard which my board needs. Only managed to test the pump on my watercooling kit which worked fine.

I know the psu has a really good protection system so lets hope its okay.

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 21:41

MY RIG LIVESSSS!!!!!

Everything is perfectly fine

, i'm so relieved it's beyond words. Will take some pics of the completed rig later.

It's a very compact rig, lots stuffed inside!

My only problem now is I can't wire up the power LED because the wire is connected to a 2 pin where as my motherboard LED pins are 3 pin (1 blank pin in the middle) if you understand what I mean?

How do I go about wiring this up so the LED lights up?

anthony566 · 2 May 2013 at 22:03

Just move the pin or cut the conector in the centre so you end up with two single connections.

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 22:08

anthony566 said:
Just move the pin or cut the conector in the centre so you end up with two single connections.

What's the best way to cut the connector down the middle? I don't wanna slip and cut the wires..

Something Else · 2 May 2013 at 22:17

will they pull apart?

nervous about my seasonic x850 now tbh, been hearing a few stories about them failing.

thought seasonic were supposed to be the legends of psu's

Jay85 · 2 May 2013 at 22:53

Somthing Else said:
will they pull apart?

nervous about my seasonic x850 now tbh, been hearing a few stories about them failing.

thought seasonic were supposed to be the legends of psu's

I haven't tried, i think i'll need a pin remover tool cos they're really small.

Same i heard about these stories as well and didn't think it would happen to me. Scared the life out of me when it went pop, flash and smoke is something you dont want to see coming from your personal rig.

Dont be put off though because im sure they are still goos psu's. maybe i just got one of the last bad batches.

How much did you pay for your x850 if you dont mind me asking?