# PSU blown?



## scottishminer (Oct 7, 2021)

Hi all. I'm a noob miner, so please excuse anything stupid/basic below.

About 6 weeks ago I bought a used rig running 5 RX580 Sapphire 8gb cards. It was running fine (no crashes, reboots etc) using HiveOS to mine ETH up until a few days ago. The rig started rebooting out of the blue, at intervals between 2 hours and 15 mins. After multiple reboots it would power up, but the cards were not running. I turned it off manually for a few minutes then powered up again and it all started fine, but with the same rebooting after a while. I tried making some adjustments to the mining settings, but nothing seemed to make a difference.

After a couple of days of this, the circuit breaker in the house tripped. I turned it back on and everything was back to normal (still with rebooting though). The following day the breaker tripped again and when I turned it back on there was a loud pop from the rig, I think from the PSU but not 100% sure. A visual inspection does not give any clues to where the pop came from, but I am wary of trying to power it up again.

The PSU is a Corsair HX1000i and the cards were pulling around 405w according to HiveOS. It is about 2 years old.

I am assuming that the PSU has blown, but I am right assuming this?

Can anyone recommend any solid PSUs to replace it with? 

When doing research I found that the TPD of the cards is 185w each, so the rig would have a TPD of around 1025w. Do I need to go for a 1200-1300w PSU when it was previously running around 500w?

Thanks for reading and any input you can give is most welcome!


----------



## Ferd (Oct 7, 2021)

scottishminer said:


> I am assuming that the PSU has blown, but I am right assuming this?


Hi , 
No way anyone will know if that’s right or not , no pictures make it even harder , so many things can pop 


scottishminer said:


> The following day the breaker tripped again


what are your breaker set/rated for ? 


scottishminer said:


> it was previously running around 500w?


How are you monitoring this ? Is it the total system draw or just gpus ?


----------



## DeathtoGnomes (Oct 7, 2021)

Use a Voltmeter to check your output voltage on your PSU, or buy a PSU testing tool.

Is this your card? If so, the TDP is 145w








						Sapphire RX 580 VBIOS
					

8 GB GDDR5, 1411 MHz GPU, 2000 MHz Memory




					www.techpowerup.com
				




PSU  tester:


			https://www.amazon.com/Computer-PC-Tester-Connectors-Enclosure/dp/B076CLNPPK


----------



## scottishminer (Oct 7, 2021)

DeathtoGnomes said:


> Use a Voltmeter to check your output voltage on your PSU, or buy a PSU testing tool.
> 
> Is this your card? If so, the TDP is 145w
> 
> ...


Yes, thats the card. 

I will get a PSU testing tool and see what it says.

Thanks



Ferd said:


> Hi ,
> No way anyone will know if that’s right or not , no pictures make it even harder , so many things can pop
> 
> what are your breaker set/rated for ?
> ...



I have looked it over thoroughly and can't see any signs of what popped. If there are any parts you would like to see I can upload pictures.

I am not sure on the breaker, it is a standard UK plug circuit breaker. Will have a look.

The total system draw would be approx 500w as the cards were running around 400w and I was adding an additional 100w for the case fans etc.

Thanks



DeathtoGnomes said:


> Use a Voltmeter to check your output voltage on your PSU, or buy a PSU testing tool.
> 
> Is this your card? If so, the TDP is 145w
> 
> ...


Would this tester be suitable? 






						LEAGY 20/24 4/6/8 PIN 1.8" LCD Computer PC Power Supply Tester for SATA,IDE,HDD,ATX,ITX,BYI Connectors : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
					

Buy



					www.amazon.co.uk
				




Thanks


----------



## Ferd (Oct 7, 2021)

scottishminer said:


> I have looked it over thoroughly and can't see any signs of what popped.


If it’s the psu you won’t be able to see anything from outside 


scottishminer said:


> it is a standard UK plug circuit breaker.


no idea , I don’t live there , I was asking because I was curious if it’s over current protection or short circuit protection that’s kicking in , probably short circuit , but you were able to power again and it worked  


scottishminer said:


> would be approx 500w as the cards were running around 400w and I was adding an additional 100w


I don’t think 5 Rx580 will pull 400w only , so you’re estimating power draw not measuring it , I see...


scottishminer said:


> Would this tester be suitable?
> 
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEAGY-Comp...+PC+Power+Supply+Tester&qid=1633627217&sr=8-3


tester is  ok , but it doesn’t tell you the whole story, namely if the PSU will fail under load 

If you have another known working psu , test that out with one gpu at a time


----------



## DeathtoGnomes (Oct 7, 2021)

Ferd said:


> tester is ok , but it doesn’t tell you the whole story, namely if the PSU will fail under load


yep tool is mainly used for basic testing, load testing is another tool.


----------



## scottishminer (Oct 8, 2021)

I have opened up the PSU and a photo is attached. I can't spot anything that appears out of the ordinary.



Ferd said:


> no idea , I don’t live there , I was asking because I was curious if it’s over current protection or short circuit protection that’s kicking in , probably short circuit , but you were able to power again and it worked
> 
> I don’t think 5 Rx580 will pull 400w only , so you’re estimating power draw not measuring it , I see...
> 
> ...



The circuit breaker is 32amp.

I was not measuring the power draw, just using the figures on HiveOS + 100w for case fans etc. Have ordered a meter.

I don't have another PSU, but will try the paperclip method with a case fan firstly.

Could a faulty riser have caused the issues in the first post? Just trying to narrow down the possibilities for fault finding & testing.


----------



## Ferd (Oct 8, 2021)

scottishminer said:


> The circuit breaker is 32amp.


That’s a lot of current, is this breaker handling everything in the house ? Or just that one single outlet/room you’re plugging your pc to .


scottishminer said:


> I don't have another PSU, but will try the paperclip method with a case fan firstly.


yeah strip the system and test one peripheral  at a time , that might reveal something 


scottishminer said:


> Could a faulty riser have caused the issues in the first post?


it definitely can ,but a faulty riser will also stop Your system from booting until you remove/disconnect it , according to you , you were able to boot few times afterwards :


scottishminer said:


> the circuit breaker in the house tripped. I turned it back on and everything was back to normal (still with rebooting though)


So it’s unlikely, but you shouldn’t rule that out .

also give that psu a cleanup , be careful what you touch with your hands , those big capacitors can give you a buzz , I also see insects trapped there , that’s not ideal ...maybe compressed air can help


Can you share how are you setting up the 5 gpus


----------



## scottishminer (Oct 8, 2021)

Here is a photo of the rig, hopefully you can see what you need.

I've got a new air cleaner coming tomorrow as the current one was almost empty.

The circuit breaker is for the plug sockets in half my house.


----------



## Ferd (Oct 8, 2021)

scottishminer said:


> The circuit breaker is for the plug sockets in half my house.


I see , well i was confused I thought it was tripping the breaker since the beginning of the random shutdowns , after re-readings your OP the breaker tripped only twice , and last time it tripped was before the pop you heard 

look at this 




insulation melting , that’s why it was shutting down before I guess , when it cools down the insulation solidifies again, and after a while under load things start to get hot and it melts again and shuts down.

this failure will usually not give a “pop” kind of sound , so something else also failed , probably the big mosfets attached to those heatsinks ...


If you can get a closer picture of that melted insulation around the transformer that would be great, just to confirm that it’s actually damaged and not just a visual mistake as the picture is not very clear ...


so my final guess is that psu is NOT enough for the setup you have , or the poor quality of that transformer is causing this , I have seen a lot of capable transformer fail due to POOR insulation, and it’s possible Corsair cheaped out in the transformer, or you have chosen the wrong psu for your application.

I will let someone else recommend a proper PSU as I don’t have anything in mind , and not sure how much power you need to run that rig comfortably, but you can have a look here for choices/prices : 









						Best Power Supply Buying Guide (Jun 2020)
					

This guide will help you find the best power supply for your gaming system, productivity PC, or workstation. We look at eight categories in total for PSU recommendations. As expected, Corsair and Seasonic are at the top of our list. We'll update this post regularly.




					www.techpowerup.com


----------



## scottishminer (Oct 8, 2021)

DeathtoGnomes said:


> Use a Voltmeter to check your output voltage on your PSU, or buy a PSU testing tool.
> 
> Is this your card? If so, the TDP is 145w
> 
> ...


Would this tester be suitable? 






						LEAGY 20/24 4/6/8 PIN 1.8" LCD Computer PC Power Supply Tester for SATA,IDE,HDD,ATX,ITX,BYI Connectors : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
					

Buy



					www.amazon.co.uk
				




Thanks


Ferd said:


> I see , well i was confused I thought it was tripping the breaker since the beginning of the random shutdowns , after re-readings your OP the breaker tripped only twice , and last time it tripped was before the pop you heard
> 
> look at this
> View attachment 220026
> ...


It is hard to tell if it has melted and hardened, even looking very close with the naked eye, but my gut feeling is that is hasn't.

I'm going to wait till I get the new air cleaner and give it a good dusting then try it with just one component. If this does work I will run through a test of the other cards.

If I can get it running fully, I will use the meter (also arriving tomorrow) to measure the draw at the socket. If the draw is high I will look at a higher rated PSU.

Thanks for your input and I will let you know how it goes.


----------



## Ferd (Oct 8, 2021)

scottishminer said:


> It is hard to tell if it has melted and hardened, even looking very close with the naked eye, but my gut feeling is that is hasn't.


Looks fine in these new shots , that’s probably the reflection of the other inductors on the warped insulation tape , god it’s tricky ...

i hope psu is fine , let us know how it goes , good luck


----------



## Sandbo (Oct 16, 2021)

I also got a HX1200i blown with only modest load from 1 GPU mining ETH, pop sound then burnt smell. It appears something is indeed wrong with this series.
I otherwise have 6 RMx and 1 AX1600i, all are perfect.


----------



## TheoneandonlyMrK (Oct 16, 2021)

scottishminer said:


> Hi all. I'm a noob miner, so please excuse anything stupid/basic below.
> 
> About 6 weeks ago I bought a used rig running 5 RX580 Sapphire 8gb cards. It was running fine (no crashes, reboots etc) using HiveOS to mine ETH up until a few days ago. The rig started rebooting out of the blue, at intervals between 2 hours and 15 mins. After multiple reboots it would power up, but the cards were not running. I turned it off manually for a few minutes then powered up again and it all started fine, but with the same rebooting after a while. I tried making some adjustments to the mining settings, but nothing seemed to make a difference.
> 
> ...


It sounds like a crash reverted the running settings of your mining GPU to be normal instead of tuned for efficiency, pulling more power than the PSU could sustain, five on 1000 watts without tuning is close.
But spikes in power use from five are what would likely kill the PSU.
And it does sound like the PSU died.

Could also have been one or more GPU died though too.


----------



## scottishminer (Oct 28, 2021)

Sorry for the delay in updating, hectic in the day job then I had a weeks holiday.

I cleaned up all the dust in the PSU and the rig and re-assembled everything. 

I tried turning it back on with only 1 card and the motherboard plugged into the PSU. Again I got a loud pop with an orange spark/flash which appeared to come from inside the PSU and the circuit breaker tripped once more.

Unless anyone can tell me a good reason why not, I am finally going to call this PSU dead and order a new one.

I have been looking at the AX series as mentioned by @Sandbo - are there any other suggestions that I could look at?

Thanks


----------



## maxfly (Oct 28, 2021)

scottishminer said:


> Sorry for the delay in updating, hectic in the day job then I had a weeks holiday.
> 
> I cleaned up all the dust in the PSU and the rig and re-assembled everything.
> 
> ...


Shes dead. Hopefully it didn't damage anything else when it popped.
Seasonic, EVGA, Superflower, be quiet! All make solid high wattage units.
It might be worth contacting corsairs cs dept and seeing what they will do about their flash bang unit. They may step up and replace it.


----------



## scottishminer (Oct 28, 2021)

maxfly said:


> Shes dead. Hopefully it didn't damage anything else when it popped.
> Seasonic, EVGA, Superflower, be quiet! All make solid high wattage units.
> It might be worth contacting corsairs cs dept and seeing what they will do about their flash bang unit. They may step up and replace it.


Thanks Maxfly. I'm hoping nothing else has been damaged too!

I'm not sure how helpful Corsair will be as I don't have any of the purchase docs as I bought it used as part of the rig, but will asked the seller if he has anything. I do have the original box. Also, I have opened the unit, so that will invalidate any warranty.

Will check out those brands you mentioned.


----------



## sepheronx (Oct 28, 2021)

Since everyone else figured out your PSU is dead, may I give a suggestion?

I use these:









						1200W For HP DPS-1200FB A PSU Power Supply or Breakout Board +12 pcs pin CablesF  | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1200W For HP DPS-1200FB A PSU Power Supply or Breakout Board +12 pcs pin CablesF at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!



					www.ebay.ca
				




So far, they have worked well for me.

I know some people had the odd issue with them, but they seem to be most popular with miners.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Oct 28, 2021)

scottishminer said:


> Hi all. I'm a noob miner, so please excuse anything stupid/basic below.
> 
> About 6 weeks ago I bought a used rig running 5 RX580 Sapphire 8gb cards. It was running fine (no crashes, reboots etc) using HiveOS to mine ETH up until a few days ago. The rig started rebooting out of the blue, at intervals between 2 hours and 15 mins. After multiple reboots it would power up, but the cards were not running. I turned it off manually for a few minutes then powered up again and it all started fine, but with the same rebooting after a while. I tried making some adjustments to the mining settings, but nothing seemed to make a difference.
> 
> ...



No wonder you blew up, youre mining.

405x5 is 2025 Watts, people forget the mobo, ram, cpu, drives, fans are drawing watts too.


----------



## sepheronx (Oct 28, 2021)

eidairaman1 said:


> No wonder you blew up, youre mining.
> 
> 405x5 is 2025 Watts, people forget the mobo, ram, cpu, drives, fans are drawing watts too.


dont know how he configured it, but RX 580's, or any GPU being mined isn't using full wattage.

For instance, my 3070ti's, 5 of them on 1 rig, is drawing about 190w each for example.  I believe with 580's they are about 90W each after modifications.


----------



## Shrek (Oct 28, 2021)

Those primary capacitors don't look great


----------



## scottishminer (Oct 28, 2021)

sepheronx said:


> dont know how he configured it, but RX 580's, or any GPU being mined isn't using full wattage.
> 
> For instance, my 3070ti's, 5 of them on 1 rig, is drawing about 190w each for example.  I believe with 580's they are about 90W each after modifications.


The cards were pulling around 80W each, total just over 400W. This is the HiveOS data & I know the draw from the socket will be higher, but 1000W should be more than enough.

Will have a look for those breakout boards in the UK.

Thanks


----------

