What might cause PSU to die like this? (Hiper type-r 580w)

[regulator]

I had a hiper type-r 580 w for about a year(purchased 3/7/06). It was running fine.

However, last night I came home to find the keyboard lights, HDD and PSU lights flashing frantically. I could hear the PSU fan turn on & off repeatedly. I turned off the PSU and turned it back on after a couple of minutes....nothing. I tried wating half an hour and try again, still nothing.
I tried plugging it directly into the wall outlet, still nothing. There are other peripherals like monitor, printer etc., plugged into the same power strip and they all work fine. It was like the PSU was trying to power up again and again.

The only thing I can think of is dust buildup is preventing the fan from spinning and thus overheating the PSU ? But it's only been a year and I didn't see that much dust on the fan. I've had PSUs far far longer than that and they worked fine (antec for example).

I'd like to know if other people have experienced something similar with their PSU's or with hiper type-r's specifically.

specs:
asus p4p800
p4 2.6 ghz
1 gig ddr400 kingston
x1950pro agp
Western digital & maxtor HDD
plextor dvd-rw

 

[doolittle]

could have been a power surge or brownout (unless you were plugged into a UPS unit and isolated from the utility grid)...

A buddy of mine was in a dorm and had consistent low voltage power, chewed through 3 units until I brought my trusty RMS meter & scope over to check it out. A ups unit helps him, now it chews through batteries instead of PSUs

 

[dortmund371]

dont listen to the guy above me :roll:
yes dust biuld up is possibel get a "can of air" pressurized dust blower can be found at tech store like circut ity and radioshack will cost you about 10 bucks tops
you could have blown something
your hardware power demand could be too much for the psu to handle

hope this helps pm mpilchfamily something like that the guy is a psu guru find his profile name i think it is mpilchfamily but not sure

 

[doolittle]

you could have blown something

I can't believe I thought a power surge, lightning storm or brownout could have caused that :? What was I thinking :roll:

your hardware power demand could be too much for the psu to handle

8O How did you draw this conclusion? His system demand would be less than +12v@19A when all components are stressed to 100% max, and the PSU is rated to handle +12v@30A. Not to mention, running overnight probably means idle components so it is much lower demand.

Dust causing a PSU blowout? unlikely - unless it was laden with metal shavings...

 

[enforcerfx]

you could have blown something

I can't believe I thought a power surge, lightning storm or brownout could have caused that :? What was I thinking :roll:

your hardware power demand could be too much for the psu to handle

8O How did you draw this conclusion? His system demand would be less than +12v@19A when all components are stressed to 100% max, and the PSU is rated to handle +12v@30A. Not to mention, running overnight probably means idle components so it is much lower demand.

Dust causing a PSU blowout? unlikely - unless it was laden with metal shavings...

If it was plugged into a UPS, then the likelyhood of a power surge killed your computer is drastically low. If not, I second this reason.


Dust? Come on.

 

[goldragon_70]

A bug might do it. I had a roach climb in my power supply (I guess to get warm) and it crossed the two capacitors killing one of my power supplies. A surge could have killed the power supply, or the power supply may have just failed. have you tested the power supply to make sure it's not working. You're mobo or another piece of hardware may be causing the problem. In fact the hardware in the computer could have had a spark and killed the power supply.

Note: If the power supply is dead from any type of surge then it died trying to save the hardware.

 

[MCMONOPOLY]

Hi, well IMO a couple of things could have killed the PSU, but First off, you might want to look at this; Tiered PSU list.
This will show you what type of PSU you own (quality), and Hiper isn't even in the top 3.

Also in my experience, dust CAN kill a PSU, when there's so much accumulation of it that it restricts how the fans work, and also how they can cool the PSU itself.

Brownouts and power spikes can also cause PSU death.

The best thing to do is to get a appropriately rated UPS and "Forget about it".

 

[doolittle]

I had a roach climb in my power supply (I guess to get warm) and it crossed the two capacitors killing one of my power supplies.

When you found it, you did your best Tony Montana impression ever...

 

[goldragon_70]

I had a roach climb in my power supply (I guess to get warm) and it crossed the two capacitors killing one of my power supplies.

When you found it, you did your best Tony Montana impression ever...

LMAO I think I did. I was supprised to see the raoch still on the capacitors, being that there was a loud pop. I still have the power supply and use it to teach kids in the tech program here why you don't open a power supply.