# Should I take a gamble on a Corsair refurbished unit?



## terroralpha (Oct 8, 2015)

so newegg is selling refurb AX1200i PSUs for $130 in the US: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139131

anyone here buy refurb PSUs from corsair before? need opinions...

i need a back up PSU since I recently gave my back up away (at 500W it's too small for me to use anyway), but don't know what to expect. there are a couple reviews mentioning DOA units. but for some reason I think that at this price it may be worth taking the risk. I can take out 2 extra years of warranty on it for $24 and my CC will give me another 1 year. 4 years in total. 

if it wasn't for those DOA reviews I would have already picked it up


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## Jetster (Oct 8, 2015)

Nothing wrong with Newegg refurb but I wouldn't but a AX1200 refurb.

Just get a used Corsair TX650 As a backup psu. Used for like $50.


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## terroralpha (Oct 8, 2015)

Jetster said:


> Nothing wrong with Newegg refurb but I wouldn't but a AX1200 refurb.
> 
> Just get a used Corsair TX650 As a backup psu. Used for like $50.



it's not the AX1200, it's the AX1200*i*. big difference. i was hoping someone here other than myself took interest in this unit at this price.

I would never even consider a TX. they are too old, too weak and most importantly not modular. i'm assuming you are talking about the 2011 model made by seasonic. not the 2007 model. and no warranty is a 100% deal breaker.


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## Jetster (Oct 8, 2015)

TX are great units but not modulsr. You said the reason you needed the psu was for back up that's I sujested it. You got rid of your back up 500w.  AX1200  Is a big risk for a refurb. Especially if your concerned about warranties


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## silentbogo (Oct 8, 2015)

1) New AX1200i is $330 versus $130 for refurbished unit. Just this comparison should raise some suspicion
2) Always check reviews. Out of 6 reviewers 3 people got a non-working PSU. Unless you can fix it yourself - don't bother. You'll spend more time/money/mental health on RMA.

I had a similar dilemma about 6-7 years ago with a refurbished 32" LCD TV (lived in US at the time). Price was too good to pass, plus I was assured, that "Refurbished products have been tested to ensure compliance with original manufacturer specifications", which means it should at least work. Well, I was wrong. Not only it had crazy screen artifacts out of the box, but also on the second power cycle it stopped turning on at all. So much for testing.


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## MIRTAZAPINE (Oct 12, 2015)

silentbogo said:


> 1) New AX1200i is $330 versus $130 for refurbished unit. Just this comparison should raise some suspicion
> 2) Always check reviews. Out of 6 reviewers 3 people got a non-working PSU. Unless you can fix it yourself - don't bother. You'll spend more time/money/mental health on RMA.
> 
> I had a similar dilemma about 6-7 years ago with a refurbished 32" LCD TV (lived in US at the time). Price was too good to pass, plus I was assured, that "Refurbished products have been tested to ensure compliance with original manufacturer specifications", which means it should at least work. Well, I was wrong. Not only it had crazy screen artifacts out of the box, but also on the second power cycle it stopped turning on at all. So much for testing.




Technically that is what refurbished is. If you are lucky you could get an unused an unused refurbished that customer returned as they wanted something else. That is among the best refurbished. At worse a refurbished Is a product that is recalled or broken before and it was fixed up then put out on shelves for sale again.


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## blunt14468 (Oct 12, 2015)

ill take the chance. Just ordered one


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## silentbogo (Oct 12, 2015)

MIRTAZAPINE said:


> Technically that is what refurbished is. If you are lucky you could get an unused an unused refurbished that customer returned as they wanted something else. That is among the best refurbished. At worse a refurbished Is a product that is recalled or broken before and it was fixed up then put out on shelves for sale again.



If my english did nod degrade over the past 3 years, refurbished means restored/repaired and even newegg claims that their refurbished goods are within manufacturer's specs. I doubt any "manufacturer specification" includes non-working untested devices.

I buy lots of broken PC/laptop hardware for parts or restoration, but those are in a whole another price category: most service centers or recycling firms sell untested or presumably non-working PSUs, VGAs, Motherboards at no more than 15-20% of the market price (if device is still on the market) and the total $$$ is always open for negotiation. Yesterday I got 3xGTX460's at $2/each and one of them is absolutely perfect, except the missing cooler.

Basically what I'm trying to say is: If you are planning to spend $130 and you are not a rich guy - you better make sure that you won't end up with another useless electronic brick in a closet.
Exceptions allowed only if you are a total dork like me (see attached photo)


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## terroralpha (Oct 13, 2015)

i ended up getting an EVGA 1000W P2 from fleabay, second hand for $115. it's pretty much the same exact unit as the Super Flower PSU i have now. the unit looks mint, came in box and everything. i put a 770W load on it and it took it like a champ. all 3 main rails are on point with voltage. I'm a happy camper! 

the AX1200i would still probably be a solid choice for $154 with the extra 2 year warranty.


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## blunt14468 (Oct 15, 2015)

my unit arrived today. Looks like a brand new unit. Came with all of the cables and even a velvet bag . will test tomorrow if its all good it was money well spent. Unit does come with a 3 year warranty as well


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## jboydgolfer (Oct 15, 2015)

Buy new,unless of corse you also paid 1/3 of the price for your cpu , gpu , mobo, etc. I know it isnt always that a dying psu can take out other components, but imo,its better to expect the worst and hope for the best and not the other way around


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## blunt14468 (Oct 15, 2015)

Oh come on. I have replaced at least 40 dead PSU's  and not 1 time did it cause any other component to fail.


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## xvi (Oct 16, 2015)

Had an Enermax PSU fail on me. It somehow managed to get so much voltage to my Athlon XP that it blew up and made a tiny crater in the base of my Volcano 7+ CU.
Failing PSUs won't always take out other hardware, but they certainly can.


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## Jetster (Oct 16, 2015)

Ive seen a PSU go out and take out an entire house


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## MIRTAZAPINE (Oct 16, 2015)

xvi said:


> Had an Enermax PSU fail on me. It somehow managed to get so much voltage to my Athlon XP that it blew up and made a tiny crater in the base of my Volcano 7+ CU.
> Failing PSUs won't always take out other hardware, but they certainly can.



When you say it blow up and from a crater on volcano, I was imagining it is like some natural volcanic explosion .


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## R-T-B (Oct 16, 2015)

Jetster said:


> Ive seen a PSU go out and take out an entire house



I'm guessing the fire it created burned the house down?

I mean it's pretty much that or it was a home for ant sized people.


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## SaltyFish (Oct 18, 2015)

jboydgolfer said:


> I know it isnt always that a dying psu can take out other components, but imo,its better to expect the worst and hope for the best and not the other way around





xvi said:


> Failing PSUs won't always take out other hardware, but they certainly can.


Pretty much that. PSUs are the last part you'd want to cheap out on for that very reason.

Interestingly, Newegg seems to have similar sales on other Corsair AXi PSUs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139132
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139130

Is there a bad batch going around or something?


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## MIRTAZAPINE (Oct 18, 2015)

SaltyFish said:


> Pretty much that. PSUs are the last part you'd want to cheap out on for that very reason.
> 
> Interestingly, Newegg seems to have similar sales on other Corsair AXi PSUs:
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139132
> ...



I think it could be a bad batch that maybe is recalled repaired and sold again. To clear the remaining inventory that they have. It is a great price if the warranty is still the same. From my power supply experience it is best only to buy brand which you can be cheaply rma for like there is a centre close to you , otherwise it would be expensive like me doing an oversea rma like me.


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## RyanK (Oct 19, 2015)

Depends on how the PSU failed. If a large enough voltage spike gets loose than yes, it can go "pop" and take something with it. I would rather have a Superflower unit over any Corsair unit as I'm not a huge fan of Channel Well tech. I think corsair is the most overrated brand on the market


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## johnspack (Oct 19, 2015)

Should be okay,  I picked up a refurb 750txm,  then sold it to my buddy,  then passed him my old 480...  seems to be running fine.  If it can run that,  I think it's healthy.  It also came in a new box,  plain brown,  but with all new cables ect.
They are good deals for a cheap build.


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## cdawall (Oct 20, 2015)

RyanK said:


> Depends on how the PSU failed. If a large enough voltage spike gets loose than yes, it can go "pop" and take something with it. I would rather have a Superflower unit over any Corsair unit as I'm not a huge fan of Channel Well tech. I think corsair is the most overrated brand on the market



Ha I am not the only one who thinks it. I have no major issue with CWT, I have an old thermaltake 850w unit that is a CWT OEM and has been running solid for 6 years now with some pretty hot hardware.


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## RealNeil (Oct 20, 2015)

I recently bought an 850AX Gold, and an RM1000 Gold. Both, refurbished and both got here in good working order.

Also: Years ago, I owned an Antec PSU that failed catastrophically and got my Mainboard, CPU, HDD, and one of my two GPUs. 
Antec refused to help me with the situation even though they were being publically flogged for using bad Caps in their PSUs. (at the time, bad caps were all over the place)

 This is why I never buy anything with the Antec name on it.


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## Devon68 (Oct 20, 2015)

Refurbished does not have to mean it was broken. Maybe only the packaging was damaged in shipping and someone brought it back and demanded a new unit so they had to sell it as a refurbished unit.


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## terroralpha (May 10, 2016)

blunt14468 said:


> my unit arrived today. Looks like a brand new unit. Came with all of the cables and even a velvet bag . will test tomorrow if its all good it was money well spent. Unit does come with a 3 year warranty as well



how is your unit coming along? everything turned out OK? i ended up getting the AX1200i as well for another build when price fell to $110, plus $25 for 3 year extended warranty (4 in total). it's kicking ass and taking names.



RyanK said:


> I would rather have a Superflower unit over any Corsair unit as I'm not a huge fan of Channel Well tech. I think corsair is the most overrated brand on the market





cdawall said:


> Ha I am not the only one who thinks it. I have no major issue with CWT, I have an old thermaltake 850w unit that is a CWT OEM and has been running solid for 6 years now with some pretty hot hardware.



this PSU is NOT made by CWT. it's actually made by Flextronics. they make PSUs for top of the line servers, medical equipment, etc, and a whole lot of other things. TVs, laptops, electric motorcycles, and they even manufactured iphones at one point. they are the world's second largest ODM, behind Foxconn.


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## RealNeil (May 10, 2016)

My two refurbished Corsairs are working great. No problems to report.


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## jaggerwild (May 10, 2016)

@OP,
 your covered if you test it ASAP


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## terroralpha (May 11, 2016)

jaggerwild said:


> @OP,
> your covered if you test it ASAP



i know. but some people are reporting that the refurb units fail sometime after installation, in some cases doing damage to their other parts. but i think that's really their own fault. when you set up an AXi PSU, you are supposed to break up the 12V rail into multiple rails, otherwise features like OCP are disabled. most people never look in the instruction manual and aren't aware of this. with no OCP, any PSU that is pushing that much power is a ticking time bomb.

check this out: http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-x99-motherboard-goes-up-in-smoke-for-reasons-unknown_150008


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## cdawall (May 11, 2016)

Some people report that new powersupplies go bad after install.


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## R-T-B (May 11, 2016)

terroralpha said:


> i know. but some people are reporting that the refurb units fail sometime after installation, in some cases doing damage to their other parts. but i think that's really their own fault. when you set up an AXi PSU, you are supposed to break up the 12V rail into multiple rails, otherwise features like OCP are disabled. most people never look in the instruction manual and aren't aware of this. with no OCP, any PSU that is pushing that much power is a ticking time bomb.
> 
> check this out: http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-x99-motherboard-goes-up-in-smoke-for-reasons-unknown_150008



That article states that new firmware has automatically enabled OCP on AXi units for like, several years now.


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## terroralpha (May 11, 2016)

R-T-B said:


> That article states that new firmware has automatically enabled OCP on AXi units for like, several years now.



some of the refurbished units corsair has been selling are older than that and corsair doesn't bother updating the firmware before "recertifying" units. at least that's what i was told


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## little cat (May 11, 2016)

It s more preferable to not buy any refurb


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## R-T-B (May 11, 2016)

little cat said:


> It s more preferable to not buy any refurb



Which is why it's cheaper.


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## little cat (May 11, 2016)

R-T-B said:


> Which is why it's cheaper.



$135
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220gs1050v1

Perhaps for his rig , 850-860W could do the job too


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## cdawall (May 11, 2016)

terroralpha said:


> some of the refurbished units corsair has been selling are older than that and corsair doesn't bother updating the firmware before "recertifying" units. at least that's what i was told



I run an axi 860 refurb in my work pc it handles 3x780's fine?


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## RealNeil (May 11, 2016)

Post #25


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## Norton (May 11, 2016)

RealNeil said:


> My two refurbished Corsairs are working great. No problems to report.





cdawall said:


> I run an axi 860 refurb in my work pc it handles 3x780's fine?



I have an HX650 refurb unit that's been running 24/7 at full load in one of my crunching rigs for over a year...


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## little cat (May 11, 2016)

To toss a coin here is fire hazard


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## trog100 (May 11, 2016)

refurb means many things.. with an old office PC it means checked over to work.. with new things it usually means a brand new customer return with a damaged box that cant be resold as new..

resellers buy such things by the pallet load from larger organizations who get loads of them.. 

it rarely means repaired simply because most things sold today are not designed to be repaired.. if they dont work they go in the bin..

mass production means cheap new parts but repairs still have to be done in the old fashioned labour intensive way.. which is why most new parts that fail go in the bin.. 

i often buy refurbs.. never had a problem with them yet.. ether way the term dosnt mean what it seems to mean.. all it really means is not brand new and in an unopened box.. 

trog


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## RealNeil (May 11, 2016)

Actually, Corsair units (at least the two that I bought and am using now) are reconditioned at the _factory._

A new ~Corsair~ label is put on them marking them as such.
It identifies the unit as reconditioned and gives it a new 1-year warranty from Corsair.

I purchased two of them. Both of them are working flawlessly for me at this time. One is an RM-1000, and the other is an AX-850. Both of them are Gold rated PSUs.
I got an outstanding deal on both of them and I plan to buy more of them in the future.


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## blunt14468 (May 16, 2016)

Mine has been great. It now resides in my main rig. crunching and folding  with no issues


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