Kolink Core KL-C500 PSU Internals and Load Test

AtaRo · 4 Mar 2019 at 11:35

Transient Filter - 4 Y caps, 3 X caps, 2 Common Mode chokes, mov
MOV - 7d561k
PFC/PWM Combo - CM6805
Protection IC - GR8313 -Specs for this IC only says Over-voltage protection and Under-voltage protection.
Bridge rectifier - GBU606 Derating curve
5VSB Controller IC - EM 8564A
PFC Transistor - SI SF13N50C Generic 13N50C
Primary switching transistors - 2 x SLF840C

12V output rectifier - 2 in parallel SI MBR2060CT - 20 Amps x 2 Derating curve
5V output rectifier - SI MBR2045CT - 20 Amps Derating curve
3.3V output rectifier - SI MBR2045CT - 20 Amps
Primary capacitor - ChengX 180uf 450v 105°C
Secondary capacitors - Asia'X, ChengX, HQ ( all 105°C )

Click the Spoiler below to check images

HQ Filter Cap is for the Negative 12 Volts rail ( typo on the image )

AtaRo · 4 Mar 2019 at 11:35

Voltage Regulation @ 20% Load Based on 500W Rating

All Voltage Rails are within specs.

Efficiency at 20% Load = 80%

Current pulled by the Electronic Load @ 20%

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Voltage Regulation @ 50% Load Based on 500W Rating

12 Volts Rail - Ok Within specs

3.3 Volts Rail - With 10A load on the rail, The meter is only reading 3.128V which is out of spec, the difference is about few millivolt so where just going to put that to the DMM accuracy and is acceptable.

5 Volts Rail - With 8A load on the rail, same thing the voltage is out of spec for few millivolt which can be just due to tolerance and still acceptable.

5 VSB Rail - Within specs

Efficiency at 50% Load = 79.7%

Current pulled by the Electronic Load can be seen below.

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Voltage Regulation @ 100% Load Based on 400W Rating

12 Volts Rail - Still hanging in there @ 11.90V and Within specs

3.3 Volts Rail - The rail is now out of spec with 13A pulled by the electronic load.

5 Volts Rail - This rail is also now out of spec.

5 VSB Rail - Out of spec

Voltage readings can be seen on the pic below.

Efficiency at 400W Load = 76%

PSU is pulling more than 500 watts at the wall

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Voltage Regulation @ 100% Load Based on 500W Rating

12 Volts Rail - With 33A pulled at the rail the PSU was able to stay within spec ☺

3.3 Volts Rail - The meter is now reading 2.975V

5 Volts Rail - This rail is also now out of spec.

5 VSB Rail - Out of spec

Efficiency at 500W Load = 74%

PSU is pulling more than 650 watts at the wall

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During the 500W test after about 10 min I noticed something is badly heating up inside the psu.
I suspect it is the transformer that is heating up fast (as the one in this model looks anemic), the older KL-400 the one with the Orange label has a bigger transformer.This newer Kolink psu has a green label.
Nice little manufacturers cost improvement there.

AtaRo · 17 Jul 2019 at 14:01

Load test done.

Was planning to do some ripple test, but my contraption is not good enough unfortunately so will just leave it for now.

cheesyboy · 17 Jul 2019 at 14:12

This is quite interesting, but I know too little about it all to know what to do with the info

What's your interpretation of its performance? Is it acceptable?

EsaT · 18 Jul 2019 at 20:12

Protection IC's datasheet doesn't mention anything about any overcurrent/short circuit protection.
http://www.grenergy-ic.com/attach/product/20110908100811_pic.pdf

So how about checking what happens when you exceed that max 12V load?

AtaRo · 19 Jul 2019 at 10:40

cheesyboy said:
This is quite interesting, but I know too little about it all to know what to do with the info

What's your interpretation of its performance? Is it acceptable?

My opinion is the psu is good for loads of up to 250W, as at this load the regulation stays within specs although at mediocre voltage regulation.

At about 250W load the 5V|3.3V rails, voltage regulation is already almost out of spec.

Can't comment on the ripple as I had problems measuring it.

AtaRo · 19 Jul 2019 at 10:41

EsaT said:
Protection IC's datasheet doesn't mention anything about any overcurrent/short circuit protection.
http://www.grenergy-ic.com/attach/product/20110908100811_pic.pdf

So how about checking what happens when you exceed that max 12V load?

I need to add another loader on the 12V line as the one currently on there is at its limit at 400W.
Next on the to do list.

EsaT · 19 Jul 2019 at 11:47

AtaRo said:
I need to add another loader on the 12V line as the one currently on there is at its limit at 400W.
Next on the to do list.

Well, 3.3V and 5V shouldn't be monitored any better.
Though I guess only protection is it blowing up, when gross violation of voltage tolerance of ATX specification doesn't do anything.

Journey · 19 Jul 2019 at 22:42

Excellent analysis, really appreciate it. For about £25 for what is effectively a 400w PSU, capable of running a low end system with a discrete GPU it's not dire, but not great.

Terrorfirmer · 20 Jul 2019 at 13:39

Very interesting, thanks. I think it's pretty much exactly what I'd expect of such a supply. I wouldn't like to chance anything over 280-300w under load with such a unit, but I would expect it to deliver that effectively and reliably.

Better than the junk brands you can get on Amazon, 500W no-name units I wouldn't trust with an office PC.

But, even these Kolink PSU's must be problematic at times for OCUK, as you will inevitably get people using them in builds with Vega/5700 class cards. People who don't really understand that they are not designed for such uses despite the claimed wattage.

I have two of the Core 400W Kolink's powering 9100F/RX570 builds, perfect example of the type of machine they're reliable for. About 200w under load.

Felix Shears · 18 Sep 2020 at 07:07

Better than the junk brands you can get on Amazon, 500W no-name units I wouldn't trust with an office PC.

But, even these Kolink PSU's must be problematic at times for OCUK, as you will inevitably get people using them in builds with Vega/5700 class cards. People who don't really understand that they are not designed for such uses despite the claimed wattage.

I have two of the Core 400W Kolink's powering 9100F/RX570 builds, perfect example of the type of machine they're reliable for. About 200w under load.[/QUOTE].

Would this be okay for something along the lines of a ryzen 3 1200 and rtx 2060? Or future cards around 150w consumption?