New power supply emitting weird smell

K1LLSW1TCH1 · Mar 13, 2016

So basically i just bought a EVGA 650w G2 gold and ive set it all up and i also bought a new graphics card gtx 970 as reccomended, basically when i play for a while the psu seems to start emitting this weird smell im not sure how to describe it i would say its like a metallic smell and it seems to not be going and it get worse when i play say Tom clancys the division on ultra for a hour or 2 i smell my psu where the wires are and it stinks im not sure what this could be and i am worried it is burning or something is wrong is it normal to have a weird smell coming off your psu thanks for the help in advance

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2016

No, it's not normal. There might be a SLIGHT electrical smell for the first one or two times it's powered up, but you shouldn't even be able to know it was there unless your nose was right up against the exhaust fan.

If you are plugged into a power strip, unplug it and plug directly into the wall.

If you are not, then make absolutely sure that every one of your electrical connections is completely seated, and that your PSU is not set to ECO (Economy) mode according to the switch on the back of the PSU. Also make sure the PSU fan is functioning properly. To be sure I cover all the bases, make sure you mounted the PSU with the intake vent for it facing down towards the floor, if this is a bottom mounted PSU, not into the case where all the heat is at, and that your case does in fact have a matching intake vent there for the PSU to draw cool air in through and then expel it out the back.

If all that is right, I would contact the seller about the problem and try to arrange an RMA replacement. It's entirely possible there is a defect.

turkey3_scratch · Mar 13, 2016

I noticed that while running, if I put my nose up to my new 550 G2 exhaust grill, I, too, smell something, though I'm not sure to the extent at which you smell it. I have to have my nose up to the exhaust grill. Ahh, how I love that smell, just like gasoline.

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2016

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRp7tYWnJJs"][/video]

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2016

Like I said, being able to smell it with your nose close to the unit is one thing, but if you can smell it normally, just sitting in your chair or by being in the same room, something isn't right.

Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163 · Mar 13, 2016

New stuff always smell for a little while. Either describe it better, or wait it out and see if anything changes.

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2016

In more than 25 years, I have never seen a PSU that smelled enough that I could smell it from two feet away, unless there was something wrong with it. Especially not after the first hour or so of it running. If you can still smell it after an hour from farther away than a foot or two, then I'd immediately stop using it and RMA the unit before it decides to fail entirely and take some of your other hardware out with it.

Make sure it's actually the PSU though. As I said before, verify you have oriented the PSU correctly and that you're not actually pulling air into the unit from inside the case, in which case, it might be something else you're smelling and the PSU is just drawing out the smell because it's in the air inside the case.

And make sure it's not set to ECO mode. In ECO mode the fan won't run until it gets to a specific temperature.

K1LLSW1TCH1 · Mar 13, 2016

Darkbreeze :

It is like a burning plastic sort of smell i have just taken it out and replugged everything in to check nothing was lost the fan is facing down yes and it is working i mean the first time i smelt it in my chair but then i oved my cpu fan back to its normal spot and now i only smell it if i put my nose up to my case fan grill which is next to the psu fan im really worried i have sent a message to evga support saying what is happen so hopefully they will respond and be able to shed some light on this plus i have got eco on but they suggest that in the instruction manual so i am not sure whether to switch it off or not also the smell is there if i turn it on and smell the fan grill its not even like its hot its very strange so i doubt it is burning but idk im not an expert with comps

techgeek · Mar 13, 2016

Often the manufacturer sprays a conformal coating over the components / PCB to seal out moisture / humidity. This will often emit a sort of chemical smell for a short while in service. As long as it's not a burning smell, or you see smoke, you're fine. It'll go away soon.

Conformal Coating

turkey3_scratch · Mar 13, 2016

techgeek :

Very informative, I am glad to learn this information. Thanks!

techgeek · Mar 13, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

It can be sort of a pain to work with if you repair electronics. If you have to do solder work, you have to scratch, chip, pick it off of the solder to get the heat to transfer to the solder to melt it. It's also a pain when you are troubleshooting circuits because you have to dig your meter leads into it until you hit solder.

K1LLSW1TCH1 · Mar 13, 2016

Ok so i just called EVGA tech support in America and they said basically as it is new it can emit these kind of smells and it should go away and that it is nothing to be concerned about so i guess that is good or do you think they are just fobbing me off?

turkey3_scratch · Mar 13, 2016

How far away are you when you smell it?

Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163 · Mar 13, 2016

It should go away on it's own. It took 40 lamp hours for my projector to stop smelling. I never smelled a PSU, but if they say it's normal, and with electronics it's absolutely normal as long as like the others said, smoke or anything like that. Electronics fry themselves, I've never seen any be "half broken" without seeing smoke, etc.

techgeek · Mar 13, 2016

K1LLSW1TCH1 :

Conformal coating. The smell will subside after a few heat cycles.

K1LLSW1TCH1 · Mar 13, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

when i first smelt it i was in my chair but now it seems to be only when i put my nose up to my fan grill which is directly next to the power support idk if i should turn eco mode on or off

turkey3_scratch · Mar 13, 2016

Sounds fine to me since you need to put your nose up to the grill now. EVGA support told you it's fine, so it's fine. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

K1LLSW1TCH1 · Mar 13, 2016

Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163 :

ok thank you for your help i have not seen any smoke and like i said the smell is almost always there when i first boot i just took it out completely and smelt the grill and could smell it

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2016

I've installed and broken in probably 50 EVGA G2 power supplies of various capacities, mostly 750w, and I never smelled anything that led me to even raise an eyebrow. Conformal coating or no, so I can't agree that it's a normal thing, however, it could have been anything and certainly could have been temporary. Normal though, I can't see that. In all the power supplies I've installed that were brand new and then basically broke in with the normal barrage of clean install and stress testing before turning them over to clients, I've never had one that made me go "hmm, what's that funky smell?", except when the unit was faulty, so I'm skeptical in that regard.

As far as ECO mode, if you're using it for mainstream stuff, that isn't demanding, fine, leave it on ECO. If you're mostly gaming on it, and pushing it fairly hard, turn the ECO setting off. Personally, I don't see the point of having an ECO switch on a high capacity unit intended for use with a high duty cycle card that's going to need the power in order to perform and will likely heat up the PSU every time it's in use. Seems silly to me and I disable the ECO setting on every G2, B2 or other Super Flower built units I install that have it.

K1LLSW1TCH1 · Mar 13, 2016

Darkbreeze :

well i mean you could be correct but it was only when i changed some fans around that i could smell it now i can only smell it if i put my nose up to the grill i have contacted evga by phone and email and both tech supports gave the same answer that when first used they can emit a strange smell due to conformal coating which will wear off in a few days so i think i will just see what happens

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2016

Like I said, temporary, and not from a distance. Since you're not smelling it now, it's probably fine. Up close, electronics will almost always, forever, have some form of electrical/metallic smell, but from more than a foot or two away, and especially if the PSU is not venting directly towards you, you shouldn't smell anything, which you're not now, so that's good.

As far as tech support is concerned, from any modern company, pffft, please. Some pimply faced teenager working from a script does not convince me of ANYTHING, much less that they have any solid answers regarding any question you may ask. 99% of the time when I speak to somebody at tech support, regardless of the company, they can barely form a response once I cause them to leave the safety of their scripted replies and answer specific hardware level questions. Requests to speak to somebody who ACTUALLY knows the hardware are generally either denied or met with assurances that somebody will contact me, which usually doesn't happen.

Fractal design, actually had one of their Senior product management people call me back one time, who was very knowledgeable about the product, but that was a rarity and I commend them for that. EVGA, while being a good company, doesn't even make their power supplies and it's doubtful that aside from scripted replies, that their people have even minimal knowledge about power supplies beyond what any average consumer might know. You can take those canned replies for what they are worth, which is nothing.

K1LLSW1TCH1 · Mar 13, 2016

Darkbreeze :

Like I said, temporary, and not from a distance. Since you're not smelling it now, it's probably fine. Up close, electronics will almost always, forever, have some form of electrical/metallic smell, but from more than a foot or two away, and especially if the PSU is not venting directly towards you, you shouldn't smell anything, which you're not now, so that's good.

As far as tech support is concerned, from any modern company, pffft, please. Some pimply faced teenager working from a script does not convince me of ANYTHING, much less that they have any solid answers regarding any question you may ask. 99% of the time when I speak to somebody at tech support, regardless of the company, they can barely form a response once I cause them to leave the safety of their scripted replies and answer specific hardware level questions. Requests to speak to somebody who ACTUALLY knows the hardware are generally either denied or met with assurances that somebody will contact me, which usually doesn't happen.

Fractal design, actually had one of their Senior product management people call me back one time, who was very knowledgeable about the product, but that was a rarity and I commend them for that. EVGA, while being a good company, doesn't even make their power supplies and it's doubtful that aside from scripted replies, that their people have even minimal knowledge about power supplies beyond what any average consumer might know. You can take those canned replies for what they are worth, which is nothing.

Thank you for all your help and time hopefully it is ok but im sure i will soon find out if not

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2016

Good luck Killswitch. If something changes, let us know, we'll go beat EVGA into submission.

K1LLSW1TCH1 · Mar 13, 2016

Darkbreeze :

Haha thank you hopefully everything will be ok!

New power supply emitting weird smell

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