# My PSU smells!



## Octopuss (Feb 10, 2013)

Something weird is going on. Recently, I found out my PSU smells under load. It's borderline that oh shit! burning smell. Not there yet, but it does smell of burning a little bit. Quite hot air comes out as well. I originally thought it might be something else and the PSU was only sucking it in, but no. CPU fan doesn't smell, nothing around graphic card smells either. And it's not stuck PSU fan either, judging by normal RPM reported by monitoring software.
It's really weird, because other than the smell (which only happens during load) there doesn't seem to be anything wrong.

What are you thoughts?


----------



## WhiteLotus (Feb 10, 2013)

Take a can of compressed air and blast that dust away.


----------



## Krazy Owl (Feb 10, 2013)

Condenser starting to leak. Chemical leakage make it smell bad and bad for lungs. Open it and look for popped condensers.


----------



## Aquinus (Feb 10, 2013)

Krazy Owl said:


> Condenser starting to leak. Chemical leakage make it smell bad and bad for lungs. Open it and look for popped condensers.



Condenser? What is this, an air conditioner? 

I think you mean capacitors, bulging or blown capacitors.

How old is it and what is it rated for?


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 10, 2013)

See my specs 
It's a senior, actually. I managed to find it in history of orders. May 2008.


----------



## Jetster (Feb 10, 2013)

It prabably a bug that climbed in there


----------



## Aquinus (Feb 10, 2013)

Octopuss said:


> See my specs





			
				OctopusSpecs said:
			
		

> Enermax MODU82+


That doesn't tell me anything, there are multiple wattage power supplies that are MODU82+. You have to be more specific.


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 10, 2013)

All those years I lived under the impression there was only one type, heh. I think it's 425W.

Guess I will have to open it after all, who knows what's going on inside. I try to get some of the dust out with vacuum cleaner once in a few months, but guess it's not enough without taking the cover off.


----------



## DarkOCean (Feb 10, 2013)

Jetster said:


> It prabably a bug that climbed in there



roasted roaches .


----------



## Mussels (Feb 10, 2013)

its likely burning/heated dust, as others have said.

could be a leaky capacitor since its old, but dust is step one.


----------



## patrico (Feb 10, 2013)

strange one, yeah blow all the dust out with a can of air, and if its still there could mean its getting to the end of its life, a bad burning smell off electronics usually means game over, be carefull it doesnt mess your other parts up


----------



## Jack1n (Feb 10, 2013)

Make sure the PSU fan is still working,i had a fan in an old psu that stopped working which caused it to overheat and also put out a bad smell,all i did was open it up and replace the fan.


----------



## qubit (Feb 10, 2013)

While it could be dust, I'm leaning more towards component failure. It doesn't hurt to blow it out with compressed air.

PSUs have dangerous voltages inside, so I don't recommend opening it unless you know what you're doing and it sounds like you have no experience with these things. Get a friend who's done this before to look at with you.

Ultimately, get another PSU and one with a higher wattage rating, too. While Enermax is a decent brand, you don't want the inconvenience of it failing at an awkward moment with the potential for damage to the rest of the PC.


----------



## Sinzia (Feb 10, 2013)

425 watts seems a bit on the small side for a 3770 and 5850, might be a good excuse to upgrade to something beefier if you can.


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 10, 2013)

qubit said:


> PSUs have dangerous voltages inside, so I don't recommend opening it unless you know what you're doing and it sounds like you have no experience with these things. Get a friend who's done this before to look at with you.
> 
> Ultimately, get another PSU and one with a higher wattage rating, too. While Enermax is a decent brand, you don't want the inconvenience of it failing at an awkward moment with the potential for damage to the rest of the PC.


While I don't dig in PSU on regular basis, I do know what's inside, and I did touch a bit of hardware in my life  And are you seriously thinking I'd open the thing switched on or even plugged in a socket? I can't type THAT badly to give that impression.

When it comes to wattage, I strongly believe this whole hunt for astronomical numbers is one huge marketing bullshit and 90% of people including enthusiasts felt for it. I once did very rough calculation before I upgraded to i7, and still wasn't even close to 400W if I remember correctly.
Anyway, next PSU will be Seasonic SS-550RM. It just depends when will I buy it.


----------



## qubit (Feb 10, 2013)

Octopuss said:


> And are you seriously thinking I'd open the thing switched on or even plugged in a socket? I can't type THAT badly to give that impression.



No, of course not!  And I didn't suggest that either, lol. The point is that the capacitors can retain a lot of charge at high voltage for some time after the power is disconnected, which could hurt quite a bit and perhaps even cause a heart attack if someone is really unlucky. For this reason, if someone isn't familiar with these things, it's best leave alone or work with someone who's done it before. As you have that experience, it's all good.

As far as power used, your PC may well not be stressing that 425W PSU most of the time, but there might well be times when it does, such as adding another graphics card perhaps, or heavy overclocking with extra voltage on the CPU. Basically, it's good practice to run a PSU well under its limit to avoid problems.

That Seasonic sounds like a good choice. Excellent brand.


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 10, 2013)

Ah! I see what you mean. Didn't know about that, but I wouldn't open it right away anyway (takes enough time to untie/unplug the mess of cables I assume).

Of course I would doubt it could feed the PC enough if I went for say Radeon 7970 (which I will get, sooner or later), but as of now, it's plenty enough. Gotta find someone who has that thing you plug into a socket and which measures power consumption of whatever is plugged behind it.


----------



## Kreij (Feb 10, 2013)

The components in a PSU should not get hot enough to burn dust. If they are, something is very wrong. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby.


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 10, 2013)

I wouldn't think so either.
But still, lol.


----------



## qubit (Feb 10, 2013)

Those wattage meters? You can usually find them in electronics hobby shops and aren't too expensive. Here in the UK, Maplin has them. That reminds me to get mine back off my friend...

btw, there's an easy way to discharge (at least mostly) those capacitors: switch off the PSU at the switch on the rear or pull out the power cable and then turn on the PC with the front power switch. Chances are that you'll get a little blip as the energy stored in the capacitors try to start it, but then discharge almost immediately. Note that I haven't done controlled tests with a voltmeter to check for residual charge after doing this, but it will certainly take a big chunk out of it and may well make them safe. It all depends on the particular PSU.

Personally, I don't like to poke around with high voltages, not because I don't understand the principles, but because I've been electrocuted before, which is extremely painful and can be dangerous. I'm also not the most agile of guys, so I might well blunder into something still hot with voltage. 

EDIT: I've got a Corsair 850W PSU in my rig and I've never even got near to stressing it out with the components I use and the light overclocking I do (a gigahurtz for a Sandy Bridge CPU is nothing). This gives me total peace of mind that I don't have to worry about power issues, whatever I plug into it.


----------



## Krazy Owl (Feb 10, 2013)

The price of these meters VS Buying a new psu!?!?  Choice is easy i think. Why buying a psu tester to tell you that you need to buy a new psu. Buy a new psu right away and stop messing around with  components that could die because of faulty psu and set your place on fire.


----------



## newtekie1 (Feb 10, 2013)

Kreij said:


> The components in a PSU should not get hot enough to burn dust. If they are, something is very wrong. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby.



Yep, pretty much this.  Either something is getting too hot and burning something, which means whatever is getting too hot is about to die, or caps are starting to leak and they are about to die.

Either way, a new PSU is the solution.


----------



## McSteel (Feb 10, 2013)

Kreij said:


> The components in a PSU should not get hot enough to burn dust. If they are, something is very wrong. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby.



Actually, it's a regular occurrence that the main transformer reaches a toasty 75°C, because it's usually in the "wind gap" area of an overhead fan... This is quite enough to get the dust to a burning smell. And it's also inside the safe operating zone. Some PSUs use overpowered components because they're designed to work hot, like passively cooled PSUs, for example.

As for the OP's problem, cleaning out dust would probably solve it completely. I don't believe the smell is capacitor electrolyte leaking out, as that would smell differently. Aside from that, the MODU82+ has working protections in place, and it would shut down due to out of spec output - and the PC would show signs of instability.


----------



## TheMailMan78 (Feb 10, 2013)

Krazy Owl said:


> Condenser starting to leak. Chemical leakage make it smell bad and bad for lungs. Open it and look for popped condensers.



Might be the air handler too!


----------



## de.das.dude (Feb 10, 2013)

maybe a bug. bugs burn easily. also 5850 is a bit too much on an old 425W PSU


----------



## Mussels (Feb 11, 2013)

Octopuss said:


> While I don't dig in PSU on regular basis, I do know what's inside, and I did touch a bit of hardware in my life  And are you seriously thinking I'd open the thing switched on or even plugged in a socket? I can't type THAT badly to give that impression.
> 
> When it comes to wattage, I strongly believe this whole hunt for astronomical numbers is one huge marketing bullshit and 90% of people including enthusiasts felt for it. I once did very rough calculation before I upgraded to i7, and still wasn't even close to 400W if I remember correctly.
> Anyway, next PSU will be Seasonic SS-550RM. It just depends when will I buy it.



to answer your PSU comments: yeah sure, you could probably run your PSU on a 350W. doesnt mean that a quality 700W wont handle it quieter and cooler (and last longer)


note the key word quality in there - wattage isnt as important as the quality of the PSU. (i've swapped PSU's and seen upto 150W differences in power consumption measured at the wall, due to changes in efficiency)


----------



## btarunr (Feb 11, 2013)

If a capacitor pops, your PSU shouldn't work. If it smells like burning plastic, it has to be a sheet around the coils that mysteriously burned out.


----------



## Krazy Owl (Feb 11, 2013)

btarunr said:


> If a capacitor pops, your PSU shouldn't work. If it smells like burning plastic, it has to be a sheet around the coils that mysteriously burned out.



FALSE I can say. I seen many psu's still working with popped capacitors. Some of them may have whinning sound or smell but still working. Sometimes depending of the psu company there is always a weakness on certain boards that a resistance start to get old and offer even more resistance then produce heat and burn the board. You could see it by a brown spot around it. 

I opened many psu in my life to repair them and some are still working in computers I gave to people. Trust me I'm a "dead" psu mad scientist


----------



## Krazy Owl (Feb 11, 2013)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Might be the air handler too!



Air handler? The day you try to handle air you just look crazy waving hands in air.


----------



## RejZoR (Feb 11, 2013)

It all depends of the smell. It can range from burned plastic to a typical smell of burned electornics or a smell of a burned flesh with a nasty aftertaste (aftersmell?). In that case you most likely have a bug infestation in your PSU that just got fried...


----------



## Krazy Owl (Feb 11, 2013)

RejZoR said:


> It all depends of the smell. It can range from burned plastic to a typical smell of burned electornics or a smell of a burned flesh with a nasty aftertaste (aftersmell?). In that case you most likely have a bug infestation in your PSU that just got fried...



When your psu serves to cook bacon.


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 11, 2013)

Mussels said:


> note the key word quality in there - wattage isnt as important as the quality of the PSU. (i've swapped PSU's and seen upto 150W differences in power consumption measured at the wall, due to changes in efficiency)


That's why I don't use shit brands  Enermax is good, and from what I heard Seasonic is even a tiny bit better.

I will see what's going on inside tomorrow. Hate to disassemble the whole PC, grr...


----------



## brandonwh64 (Feb 11, 2013)

Cat may have crapped in it?


----------



## qubit (Feb 11, 2013)

Mussels said:


> (i've swapped PSU's and seen upto 150W differences in power consumption measured at the wall, due to changes in efficiency)



Jesus H Christ.  That's insane.

I had two cheapies burn out on me a decade ago and from then on it was quality brands all the way.


----------



## Krazy Owl (Feb 13, 2013)

So any feedback on the smell ?


----------



## fritoking (Feb 13, 2013)

i had the same thing happen on one of my pcs TWICE in three years...just that one pc  plugged into the same outlet...could have been coincidence, but both started smelling shortly before the died altogether. Dont know if it was a voltage/current fluctuation issue or just two bad power supplies? none of my other pcs( i have 4 in the same room) have ever had an issue


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 14, 2013)

Krazy Owl said:


> So any feedback on the smell ?


Too lazy, lol.
Hoping to get to it during the weekend. It's probably about time to disassemble the case and CPU fans and see if they need some internal cleaning as well.


----------



## qubit (Feb 14, 2013)

Octopuss said:


> Too lazy, lol.
> Hoping to get to it during the weekend. It's probably about time to disassemble the case and CPU fans and see if they need some internal cleaning as well.



It's funny how equipment can get smellier as it ages.

When I was a kid back in the 80s, I used to play around with old reel to reel tape recorders (remember those?!) and they always smelled, especially the really old ones with valves in them. It could get very noticeable when they warmed up and one or two I almost had to hold my nose!


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 20, 2013)

Allright, I cleaned the PSU as much as I could. I have to admit I didn't open it, because my friggin' case is a bit awkward and I'd have to remove the CPU cooler, unplug pretty much all cables, remove the memory, graphic card... blabla... before I could move the damn cube one bloody centimeter. I blew most of the dust away anyway though, and checked the state of the intestines with flashlight (so glad PSUs have those large fans these days). Everything seemed perfectly fine.

Well, I immediatelly ran FurMark and Prime95 at the same time, curious about the result, and apart from both crashing several times and Winamp suddenly yelling about no device available, after a while this horrible super hot air smelling somewhat like burning started blowing from the PSU, which, after removing side panel from the case, very much resembled a Boeing taking off, judging by the sounds. No fucking shit, 1700 RPM.

I guess the burning part was a bit exxagerated when I started the thread, because apparently extremely hot air from inside a PC smells that way rather normally - I have probably just never encountered (or already forgotten about it) a case with SO shitty airflow as mine, lol.

It looks like my CPU cooler has way too dense fins, and half the airfrom from the fan is blowing back and to the sides, and with the fan on graphic card blowing directly up, the result is rather interesting mess of air that never reaches the rear case fan. Everything accumulates inside the case and is slowly sucked inside the PSU, which is then being raped for ages until the load goes back to idle values. At least this is what I believe is going on. Yey.

Lesson learned: FFFUUUU!

Things to try: get rid of the rear fan and buy a 140mm monster to mount on the top side of the case (luckily there is a hole just for that).


----------



## Jeffredo (Feb 21, 2013)

Had a burning plastic/electrical odor on mine once.  Sent it in for RMA/Repair and PC Power and Cooling said it had a bad cap plus some of the glue use in the manufacture had melted over time and was burning on hot parts.  They repaired the unit instead of sending me another (which is what I preferred) and its been fine ever since.


----------



## Octopuss (Feb 24, 2013)

So I finally opened the thing up after deciding to reorganize disks and cables (finally good reason).
No leakage at all, but there's some weird white shit on the coils, but I believe that's some sort of glue.
I put my nose inside, smelled the parts, and UUUURGH!! If you ever smelled the inside of a *very* old TV (like one from 25 years ago or something), that's exactly how my PSU smells. I am pretty sure it's just half-burned dust though.

Long story short: no reason to upgrade yet.


----------

