Antec Smartpower PSU mains wiring oddity

Got this PSU with an Antec Sonata II case that I bought in July last year.

It died after four months use, as it was powering an overclocked AMD64 4000 cpu that died at the same time I just replaced it with a new Hiper PSU as it may have been my overclocking of the CPU that caused both of the the problems.

So it sat in the corner until today when I opened it up to see if it was just the internal fuse that had gone. Below is a rough drawing of the mains wiring that I found inside the PSU.

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The live mains is wired to the switch then goes straight to a connection on the pcb marked with a letter "N" (circled 1)

The neutral is wired straight to a connection on the pcb marked with a letter "L" (circled 2) then to a thermistor? (TH1) and then on to the 5amp fuse.

To me this does not appear to be correct?

Any comments on this would be appreciated.

les...

Reply to
Les Matthew
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What you drew is very standard. I don't know your skill level, but you would have to verify with a DVM that there is proper power going through the power input circuit to its destination on the circuit board.

If the fault is in the UPS processing and drive circuits themselves, then the problem will require advanced troubleshooting using the service manuals.

Unfortunately the manufacture does not support non contracted servicing for their products. The manufacture will not supply any service parts or any service manuals.

Technicaly, the only thing the customer can do himself is change the batteries when they ware out, or fix a very simple fault such as a loose connection or simple cold solder point. The most common problem for UPS failure are the batteries waring out. The life expectancy for the batteries is about 3 to 4 years average.

I doubt your computer caused the UPS to fail, unless the power supply in the computer had a dead short on its input side, the power supply was not properly fused, and the UPS was not properly fused. This would mean that the computer power supply would also have to be changed.

If the fault in the UPS is more than the batteries, the UPS is probably not feasible to service. The batteries must be replaced to verify the UPS's condition. Most of the UPS's use sensing circuits that shut down when the batteries are not in proper spec.

Jerry G. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

Reply to
Jerry G.

I would have to say that, as you apparently suspect as well, in my opinion, it has been wired theoretically backwards after the switch. I would have expected the "N" on the board to be for Neutral and the "L" for live.

In strictly operational terms, for most switch mode power supply front end designs, it actually makes no odds which input terminal is taken to live, and which to neutral, as all filtering is symetrical, before the mains being applied directly to the bridge rectifier. However, from a safety point of view when servicing, something that is actually on the live side, when it is expected to be on the neutral side, could represent a safety issue to the inexperienced or unwary engineer.

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

In article , Les Matthew writes

Antec PSUs went through a phase of expiring with a bang a couple years ago. They seem to have tightened up their quality control now.

The Smartpower I bought went with a bang. Returned for a refund under warranty and replaced with a different brand.

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Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

On Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:01:39 +0000, Les Matthew put finger to keyboard and composed:

Fuhjyyu caps were a common problem in Antec PSUs.

- Franc Zabkar

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Reply to
Franc Zabkar

No direct experiance of Antec PSU's but seems to be a company relying on customer confusion with a well established supply manufacturer called Astec (subsidary of Emerson)

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Adrian C
Reply to
Adrian C

Hi Mike, I think their quality control may have gone down the pan again, will post some pics of this psu later today.

The reason I didn't go for a warranty return was that I was heavily overclocking the amd64 4000+ it was powering and running folding@home on it 24/7 so it may well have been my own fault. ;)

I have to say though, I have had more PC kit fail in the last 18 months than I have since I built my first PC, that was a 12MHz 286 some time in the late eighties.

3 CPU's have blown 4 PSU's (2 Hipers with fan problems, old Macron with bad caps) 4 motherboards all Asus with various different problems.

Personally I'm beginning to think that I seriously upset someone in a previous life. ;)

On the PSU front, I have a 7 year old Enermax 350watt that still runs like a champ.

Oh yea, that Gigabyte slot1 motherboard I bought of you is running well. ;)

les...

Reply to
Les Matthew

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