PSU blowing kettle plug fuse

Norbert666 · 11 Jan 2011 at 20:53

Had a call from my wife today. She turned on the PC, and it died, dead, during start up.

On testing it was clear the fuse had gone in the kettle lead. So I replaced it. When I plugged the kettle lead back into the PSU I heard a small pop, and again the fuse had gone. OK, so I'd connected it with the power switch on. I tried again with a new fuse, and this time with the power switch* off. Turn power switch on, and again, pop. Fuse gone.

*by power switch I mean the one on back of PSU, not the main PC. Purely turning the PSU on.

This last time the power switch on the back of the PSU defaulted to the ON position. As if it's a failsafe, but the wrong way round (you'd expect it to switch to the OFF position in case of a blow out!)

Each time I replaced the fuse, I tested the kettle lead on another PC and it was fine.

So what the Hell is wrong?

The PC is 2nd hand, but was put together by forum member here, gamesaregood. It's been working flawlessly for two days (as long as I've had it). Spec:

Asus M3A78-T AM2+ Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ AM2+ CPU Unlocked to a Quad Core Phonom II X4
4GB DDR2 Ram
Corsair TX650 PSU
Gainward Rampage700 HD4870 X2 2048MB GS GLH

Suggestions?

Purgatory · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:06

The PSU has blown, time for a new PSU.

cmndr_andi · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:08

Would this be a 13A fuse by any chance?

Norbert666 · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:09

Purgatory · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:11

cmndr_andi said:
Would this be a 13A fuse by any chance?

13A ??? hope you don't use 13Amp fuses on your computer parts.. because the internal fuse in most power supplies will go before the plug fuse.. (You pray the internal fuse goes if not you going to end up with an electrical fire).

3Amp or 5Amp fuse is all that is needed on the kettle cable to a PC.

Hagar · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:11

5a x 240V = 1200W

something wrong somewhere

Xelene · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:14

Something is shorting somewhere, must likely inside the PSU.

Purgatory · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:17

nkata said:
5a x 240V = 1200W

something wrong somewhere

Exactly...

13Amps x 240 Volts = 3120 Watts ... see instant fireball inside your pc/PSU if you use 13Amp fuses when things go wrong.

13Amp fuses are only good for things like electrical heaters and electrical kettles with 2000 watt elements.

theron · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:20

disconnect all power cables to the mb hdd gpu etc and try again, that will tell u if its inside the psu or not no?

Randomface74 · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:20

Sounds like the PSU has blown.

In which case the whole thing could be dead - you can muck about trying to fix it.

Or.. get a new PC *o noes what a shame*

Purgatory · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:23

Try a new PSU 1st, I have had PSU's die and blow fuses but the components were fine after installing a new PSU and the PC worked with no problems.

N00bbuilder79 · 11 Jan 2011 at 21:31

Definately a short somewhere.

Norbert666 · 14 Jan 2011 at 10:08

Replacement PSU works fine and thankfully there is no other damage caused by the PSU fault.

Phew!

How do I go about RMAing the defective Corsair with no receipts or proof of purchase?

Hagar · 14 Jan 2011 at 11:03

Norbert666 said:
Replacement PSU works fine and thankfully there is no other damage caused by the PSU fault.

Phew!

How do I go about RMAing the defective Corsair with no receipts or proof of purchase?

Date of manufacture on PSU case?

RMA direct to Corsair.