Is it safe to use a PSU which has been sitting aroudn for 2 years?

Sumanji

Sumanji

Sumanji

Soldato
Joined
12 Mar 2003
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Hey,

I have an OCZ Modstream 450W PSU which has been sitting in my wardrobe unused for over 2 years (I got it free with some OCZ RAM). Is it safe to plug it in and use, or is it possible some capacitors have aged/died? Don't want to blow up this new PC I'm building!!

Cheers,

Suman
 
Hey MooMoo,

No dust whatsoever - it's literally been sealed away in the box in my wardrobe, lol :D just worried about the caps and other bits that's all...

Cheers,

Suman
 
If you are nervous you could always see if it has a warranty or anything. Then again the fact they give them away for free might lean towards them being sub-par in quality.

Maybe save your conscience and just buy a new reliable one? ;)
 
Hey,

Just checked and it had a 36 month warranty apparently :) was going to open it up to have a look at the caps but then I don't want to void the warranty, lol. It's not sub-par quality at all afaik, they get really good reviews. It was just part of a bundle a competitor was doing at the time. I could just buy another, but i'm trying to do a budget build using old parts :p

Cheers,

Suman
 
I see no problems as a "new" one may have been manufactured for sometime. I used an Antec after 3 years in the loft and have had no problems...touch wood!
 
Aod said:
PSU's don't go bad with age, they go bad with use :)
Click to expand...
Actually insulator layer of electrodes in electrolytic capacitors breaks down if left for long enough time without use, but even considerably degraded insulation layer can be rebuilt by limited leakage current.
(unlike evaporation of electrolyte caused by high temperature which is permanent)

For quality capacitors two years isn't anything if they haven't been stored in oven.
Also you could jump start it without anything connected for seeing does it work. (and then let it run for some time)
 
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