Corsair PSU - gone up in smoke!

Justin Credible

Justin Credible

Justin Credible

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So just built a new PC. Turned it on to make sure all was well, booted no problem, was just asking to insert Windows..

So I hit the power switch to turn it off, as you do, then I heard a buzzing, sort of like a build up of electricity resonating. Then. PAP! Like a smoke grenade had gone off.

Literally, plumes of white smoke, bellowing from the top. Room was hot boxed in 20 seconds.

Smelt like popcorn. haha. Which then helped me locate the smell was infact the PSU.



Basically.. I have a spare one, should I be aware of anything shorting it out? Or was it just a faulty PSU?

Cheers guys! :)
 
Check that the PSU is auto-switching. What you describe is very similar to plugging in a PSU set for 120V into the 240V mains.
 
Quartz said:
Check that the PSU is auto-switching. What you describe is very similar to plugging in a PSU set for 120V into the 240V mains.
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How may that be done? It has an automatic converter..

"- Universal AC input from 90~264V — No more hassle of flipping that tiny red switch to select the voltage input!"

So it explodes when the PC is turned off?
 
I've had 3 Corsair PSUs go on me in the past. The build quality seems to vary wildly with the older units, better today I understand.

Go with a Superflower unit - top tier OEM.
 
I would say faulty PSU.

Hopefully the protection circuits stopped the unit from doing any damage to anything else. I would check for shorts just to be safe, but it sounds like PSU had an inherent fault and grenaded itself. Quite spectacularly in your case it seems.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

I sure do hope it hasn't fried anything else. Will double check everything before starting with new PSU.

Will post results today. Goodnews so far is that the only smell is coming from the PSU. As mentioned the PC was off, nothing else was on during. Seems like the PSU capacitor that holds voltage couldn't hack it.
 
ExRayTed said:
I've had 3 Corsair PSUs go on me in the past. The build quality seems to vary wildly with the older units, better today I understand.

Go with a Superflower unit - top tier OEM.
Click to expand...

Was a brand new unit.. I've always had corsair and they seem to do me well. But then again was ordering their top selection, 860AX, 1200W ect..
 
Justin Credible said:
Was a brand new unit.. I've always had corsair and they seem to do me well. But then again was ordering their top selection, 860AX, 1200W ect..
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aren't the ax, axi, and hx's all made by superflower anyway? or am i mistaken?

I've built computers with Corsair PSU's before not had any trouble with them and i've used the RM's, AXI, and HX range of PSU's
 
The current RMx/i series PSUs are good units. They're still made be CWT but they are better quality than the CX series. The CX and VS series are the budget models and the build quality isn't as good.

The current HXi series are CWT units, AX series is seasonic/flextronics depending on model, the AXi is flextronics.
 
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That's if that review database is correct. The higher tier Corsair units are very good, by that I mean the current AXi/AX/HXi/RMx series of PSUs. In fact, the RM100X scored a perfect 10/10 from jonnyguru and that's the tier below the HXi series.

It's only when you drop down to the CX/CS/VS series that the build quality isn't as good.
 
MorleySA said:
aren't the ax, axi, and hx's all made by superflower anyway? or am i mistaken?
Click to expand...

Justin Credible said:
Never knew that!
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That's because he is mistaken. Superflower do not make any psu's for Corsair. They never have done and I doubt that they ever will. Superflower makes psu's for themselves and EVGA (B2/G2/P2/T2 models).
 
Another up in smoke story from a Corsair PSU i think it's the reason they are barley ever recommended on here. A good superflower/EVGA or seasonic will see you through just fine.
 
Superflower used to be a pretty poor to average PSU manufacturer until around 2006 when their new plant came online and their product quality improved a lot year on year.

They make PSUs for many companies EVGA, Kingwin, NZXT, Rosewill, XION, ect.


I'd put them slightly behind Seasonic/Delta.
 
When did Corsair start to suck, I was always under the impression they were top teir, at least back when I bought my system in about 2009/2010 anyway (which has been used for 15 hours a day since and still working fine).

Were they always like this or is it a recent problem?
 
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