txlombardi Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 (edited) I have a TX650W power supply connected to an MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus motherboard. There is not much on the system -2 SSD drives, a cooler, USB card in a PCI slot, and a couple of system fans. This morning the computer would not turn on. Press the on button and the fans would kick on and go off immediately. I put a power supply tester on the TX650W. There is no power to the Molex connectors, the SATA connectors, or the 8 pin 12V EPS connector. However, the 24 pin motherboard connector tests fine. Before I built this system a month ago, I tested the PS and it tested fine. I guess what I'm looking for here is confirmation that the power supply is dead. My uncertainty lies in the fact that the 24 pin motherboard connector tested fine. By the way, the power supply is more than 5 years old and could be as old as 10 years. Edited September 11, 2020 by txlombardi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee jonnyguru Posted September 11, 2020 Corsair Employee Share Posted September 11, 2020 By the way, the power supply is more than 5 years old and could be as old as 10 years. Then why are you still using it? ;) When you test the Molex, SATA, etc. with the tester, you have the 24-pin still connected, right? Because that power on pin needs to be to ground for any of the outputs to be energized. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlombardi Posted September 11, 2020 Author Share Posted September 11, 2020 Then why are you still using it? ;) I'm still using the power supply because it still works. Why should I replace it if it hasn't failed? When you test the Molex, SATA, etc. with the tester, you have the 24-pin still connected, right? Because that power on pin needs to be to ground for any of the outputs to be energized. Thank you for pointing that out. I know better, but no it was not plugged in. My only excuse is I had a brain fart. I ran the tests again and the power supply proved okay. Next I removed power to all drives and a USB card in a PCiE slot. The system came up. One at a time, I plugged everything in until the failure repeated when I reinstalled the USB card. That was it. The USB card is going to the electronics dump. I sure hope it didn't blow out the PCIE slot. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee jonnyguru Posted September 11, 2020 Corsair Employee Share Posted September 11, 2020 I'm still using the power supply because it still works. Why should I replace it if it hasn't failed? Because sometimes when they eventually do fail, they fail spectacularly and sometimes take out other hardware with it. If the PSU has actually been IN USE and not sitting on a shelf, it actually stands a better chance of lasting, believe it or not. Cap life for caps in use is 10 years (without any degrade.. they actually "work" beyond 10 years), while shelf life is only two years. I actually just responded to a guy yesterday who asked a similar question (his PSU was sitting on a shelf for three years): ...stored capacitors don't exactly age well. Unused capacitors actually AGE FASTER than used capacitors (Google "capacitor shelf life"). To ensure the PSU is going to work beyond it's six year age, you need to either replace the capacitors or do what's called "reforming" them (Google "reform capacitors"). Also, it's not a good idea to wait for a PSU to die in order to replace it. If a PSU has older capacitors, the capacitance decreases while ESR increases. This allows ripple and noise to pass more easily through the PSU and into your components where it causes further damage. So while the PSU seems to "power the components", it's also slowly killing them. Thank you for pointing that out. I know better, but no it was not plugged in. My only excuse is I had a brain fart. I ran the tests again and the power supply proved okay. Next I removed power to all drives and a USB card in a PCiE slot. The system came up. One at a time, I plugged everything in until the failure repeated when I reinstalled the USB card. That was it. The USB card is going to the electronics dump. I sure hope it didn't blow out the PCIE slot. Thanks for your help. Yep. Have had the same problems many times. It only takes one part to screw up the whole build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlombardi Posted September 11, 2020 Author Share Posted September 11, 2020 Because sometimes when they eventually do fail, they fail spectacularly and sometimes take out other hardware with it. If the PSU has actually been IN USE and not sitting on a shelf, it actually stands a better chance of lasting, believe it or not. Cap life for caps in use is 10 years (without any degrade.. they actually "work" beyond 10 years), while shelf life is only two years. Well that is good to know. I use this computer daily and it is usually on from 6 to 8 hours except when I go out of town (sometimes for as much as two months). Anyway, I'm going to take your advice and buy another power supply before the end of the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employee jonnyguru Posted September 11, 2020 Corsair Employee Share Posted September 11, 2020 Well that is good to know. I use this computer daily and it is usually on from 6 to 8 hours except when I go out of town (sometimes for as much as two months). Anyway, I'm going to take your advice and buy another power supply before the end of the month. My rule of thumb is this: If the PSU is in daily use, you're fine until the fan dies. The fan dying is an indicator that things may go downhill soon. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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