Corsair Recalls SF Series Platinum PSUs Over Failure Concerns

Corsair SF750

Corsair SF750 (Image credit: Corsair)

Corsair has discovered a potential problem with its SF series of Platinum-certified SFX power supplies that can lead to premature failure when the unit is exposed to high temperatures and high humidity. The problem isn't just limited to units inside U.S. soil as foreign retailers, such as Tiyu, Ask Corporation and Links International, have issued a recall on imported SF units as well.

Manufacturing, whether it be by machine or a human, isn't perfect by any means. Every once in a while, a bad batch will escape quality controls. Unfortunately, this is the case with the SF series. Corsair's investigation revealed that SF units with a lot code between 194448xx to 201148xx, manufactured between October 2019 and March 2020, can potentially fail. Customers who purchased their SF power supplies before October shouldn't be impacted.

Apparently it's a technical issue that can manifest itself either when you turn the power supply on for the first time, or over a period of use. If you own one of Corsair's SF power supplies or just recently purchased one, you should give the packaging or sticker a quick look to make sure you didn't get one from the bad batch.

Fortunately, the defect resides in the primary section of the power supply. Corsair has reassured its customers that the fault isn't in any way related to the DC section of the unit, meaning the power supply might fizzle, but it won't take your components with it.

According to Corsair, not every SF unit manufactured within the time frame suffers from the failure. At any rate, the manufacturer has put together a voluntary product replacement program for affected owners. Corsair will replace the unit free of cost and even take care of the shipping fees.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • jimmysmitty
    These things happen. Its how the company handles these issues that matters. Doing a recall is the right thing to do.
    Reply
  • Phaaze88
    Yep, can't fault Corsair for this, unlike the recent crap from certain storage manufacturers...
    Reply
  • Ellimist
    they cover shipping and replacement and they came out and said they are doing it voluntarily. good on em.
    Reply
  • mr_chen
    "fizzle out," the article is being too nice to Corsair. I have bought one of the Corsair SF750. The PSU fails spectaculary. It makes random electric discharge in your computer case. It's as loud as hitting a table with a ruler. Basically your PSU turn into a tesla coil. For some users, it kills their computer.

    I am currently going through a RMA. I don't know the extent of the damage yet. If you are in this situation, figure out who is the distributor and request the RMA claim form (mine was TIYU).
    Reply
  • jonnyguru
    mr_chen said:
    "fizzle out," the article is being too nice to Corsair. I have bought one of the Corsair SF750. The PSU fails spectaculary. It makes random electric discharge in your computer case. It's as loud as hitting a table with a ruler. Basically your PSU turn into a tesla coil. For some users, it kills their computer.

    I am currently going through a RMA. I don't know the extent of the damage yet. If you are in this situation, figure out who is the distributor and request the RMA claim form (mine was TIYU).

    You're right. When the PSU fails, it doesn't "fizzle". It's a definite "pop".

    But for the other accusations you are making: I have not seen a single example or claim of the SF failure damaging any other part of the PC.

    Is the damage to other components an assumption? If it has been proven that any hardware has been damaged, then a damage claim should be put in with Corsair to have those parts replaced as well. But the failure of the PSU is on the primary side. The PFC diode, to be precise, so it's EXTREMELY unlikely for there to be damage to anything on the DC side.
    Reply