PSU keeps blowing

[herboren]

Hey guys this is the third PSU I have gone through. I started out with a 550w PSU and after about a year it blew so i decided to replace it. So I bought a 750w PSU, hooked it up in my kitchen, worked great but when I hooked it up in my room on the surge protector, pop!

So I went to go return it for another and used it for like 2 weeks, pop!

But this time I was connected directly to the outlet in my room, pop!.

I just don't understand. I did however notice that when my central AC kicks in a surge goes through my house my power dims out a bit. I calculated my hardware power usage with a calculator and its saying my minimum and maximum here:

Minimum PSU Wattage: 536 W
Recommended
PSU Wattage: * 586 W

I have an Sli board and two(2) 9800 GT's with an AMD 64 X2 5400+ 2800 MHz AM2
2GB Kingston HyperX 2.4 Cas Latency
1 DVD/RW
5 LED 180MM Fans


Could it be something in my house that is making it pop and become dead. I know it cant be wires touching my case, because my case is acrylic. Any suggestions?

 

[plasmastorm]

if your whole house dims when the AC comes on it sounds like you connection to the main line outside is bad. I would call your supplier and ask them abou it.

 

[popatim]

When your ac kicks on it creates a brownout, not a surge. You really should have it wired on its own circuit but another option would be a battery backup UPS.

edit - UPS would be for your pc. be wary if your PSU has active power factor correction, your UPS should be a true sinewave type in that case. Like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102134

 

[herboren]

would a PSU with failsafe work in case it dies decide it wants to go out the PSU will shut off? I need to get my wiring re-done in the house or stick to you suggestion I know =P I was hoping the failsafe would help temporarily.

 

[popatim]

'failsafe' to mean means two PSU's and one will take over should the other fail.
if you meant UPS then yes, all that I have ever worked with can connect to your pc and shut it down somewhat cleanly in the event of a power failure. It will not help the pc if the PSU dies thou since it sits between the wall outlet and the PSU. It will keep brownouts and surges from hitting the PSU thou and thats whats probably killing yours.

'Somewhat cleanly' means that it if you walke away with a word doc open when the power went out, it can't save the document for you, it will do a close command on the running programs and shutdown.

 

[Crashman]

Hey guys this is the third PSU I have gone through. I started out with a 550w PSU and after about a year it blew so i decided to replace it. So I bought a 750w PSU, hooked it up in my kitchen, worked great but when I hooked it up in my room on the surge protector, pop!

So I went to go return it for another and used it for like 2 weeks, pop!

But this time I was connected directly to the outlet in my room, pop!.

I just don't understand. I did however notice that when my central AC kicks in a surge goes through my house my power dims out a bit. I calculated my hardware power usage with a calculator and its saying my minimum and maximum here:

Minimum PSU Wattage: 536 W
Recommended
PSU Wattage: * 586 W

I have an Sli board and two(2) 9800 GT's with an AMD 64 X2 5400+ 2800 MHz AM2
2GB Kingston HyperX 2.4 Cas Latency
1 DVD/RW
5 LED 180MM Fans


Could it be something in my house that is making it pop and become dead. I know it cant be wires touching my case, because my case is acrylic. Any suggestions?

Suggestion: Quit buying trash power supplies. Look for an article on May 6 that shows how many so-called 750W units can't even supply 300W without blowing.

 

[davcon]

As a certified HVAC mechanic your AC should be on it's own circuit.
If it is your AC system wasn't calculated properly and is too big for that breaker/circuit.
The average house in N.A. has a 220V 200A service panel.
That being said there are still plenty of homes with old panels which handle much less power.
Like 60 and 100 amp service.
And Crashman has some valid points.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

You have two issues:

1. You apparently aren't buying very good power supplies.

1st Tier - Ante cSG / CP series, Corsair HX / AX series, Seasonic X Series, XFX Black Edition.

2nd Tier - Antec TP New / EA series, Corsair TX series .... The XFX Core Editions fall someone in between tier 1 and 2.

2. You have a house wiring issue. When your AC is going on, your whole house is apparently experiencing a voltage drop. In order to supply a constant wattage, to compensate for the low voltage, your PSU is drawing more amps.....resulting in an over current condition whch is frying your PSU's.

If Voltage x Amps is to remain constant, the math dictates that if one goes down, the other has to go up. Get a voltage meter and monitor voltage at the wall

http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html

 

[geofelt]

A couple of thoughts for you:

1) Is it possible that your problems are because your case is acrylic, and does not properly ground all the parts? You should be able to run the PC without a case, but I wonder?

2) Exactly what psu's are you using? Quality psu's will deliver the rated power continupusly, not just at peak. It is the amps on the +12v rails that are important, not the wattage which is inflated on poor psu's. My short list of quality psu's would include seasonic, Corsair, PC P&C, XFX, and antec.

3) Exactly what do you mean by "pop"? I understand the surge protector tripping, but do you mean that the house surge protector tripped also?

4) Is your wall outlet properly grounded? You can get a simple tester to check.

5) The psu calculators are only as accurate as the input you can give them, and we have unknowns like ageing factors, and peak demand. Sorry to say, good old rule of thumb is just as good. The minimum psu requirement for a 9800GT are 400W and 26A on the +12V rail(s).

6) If your wall power is poor, a good ups may be able to condition the power sufficiently.