Hantol PSU Contain Fake PFC Made of Cement

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Heads up, it looks like fake components are making the rounds again. This time around the folks at Hardware Secrets found cement in a PSU purchased for review. Hit the link for the full details.

This was done to deceive users in two ways. First, people may assume that this unit has a passive PFC circuit, which is not the case. Second, with a piece of cement inside the unit, it is heavier, and a lot of users when buying entry-level power supplies tend to assume that heavier models are better, as they have more components and bigger heatsinks.
 
Hopefully it'll get harder for them to get away with things like this.
 
Copper thieves strike again.... people breaking into others homes and stealing their copper. ROFLOLcopter.
 
reminds me of

Fake_Intel_Processors_Overclockersforums.jpg


Gotta love fakes :p
 
Something to ponder about this: was the person who made this public

1. a government official
2. a private individual doing reviews

And then consider the FDA, EPA, and all the other agencies tasked with "keeping us safe".
 
Something to ponder about this: was the person who made this public

1. a government official
2. a private individual doing reviews

And then consider the FDA, EPA, and all the other agencies tasked with "keeping us safe".

Tell me again what government agency is tasked with ripping apart computer PSUs. Mkthxbai.
 
But I don't see any review on how good the power supply unit ended up being. Maybe the Cement Coil actually makes the unit better! ... It's the future!
 
Something to ponder about this: was the person who made this public

1. a government official
2. a private individual doing reviews

And then consider the FDA, EPA, and all the other agencies tasked with "keeping us safe".

Umm, the FDA and EPA have nothing to do with computer power supplies. Plus, a US agency has nothing to do with a product produced in China and sold elsewhere around the globe. As another poster said, it was possibly a distributor that got ripped off and whoever made the product took the money.
 
Something to ponder about this: was the person who made this public

1. a government official
2. a private individual doing reviews

And then consider the FDA, EPA, and all the other agencies tasked with "keeping us safe".

This wasn't purchased from the U.S market..

"I bought this low-end Hantol Silent ATX 700 W Pro power supply for reviewing for Clube do Hardware, my Brazilian website, since it is quite popular down there."
 
Tell me again what government agency is tasked with ripping apart computer PSUs. Mkthxbai.
And yet the agencies tasked with keeping toothpaste and other such things safe---do they do as good a job as a private individual reviewing things?

That's my point. And the answer, clearly, is no. Just something for people to consider the next time they scream about how such-and-such agency needs to be or we'd all be poisoned, etc.
 
Umm, the FDA and EPA have nothing to do with computer power supplies.
Never said they did. Reading helps.

Plus, a US agency has nothing to do with a product produced in China and sold elsewhere around the globe.
But it would have something to do with things sold here.

My point is that relying on some "benevolent government agency" is never as good as a pissed-off consumer with a blog or a review site. Never.
 
Tell me again what government agency is tasked with ripping apart computer PSUs. Mkthxbai.

Well, our "Commercial Inspection" agency does that. Of course they check if stores obey sales rules, but they also randomly check products, and they also check reported products. That way they usually find toys of Chinese origin with chemicals causing cancer, but sometimes they check computer electronics too. Few years ago they banned sales of about 5-10 power supplies at once, simply because they were safety hazard (in some cases, the 230V voltage could jump to the PSU casing, and that way to computer casing too).
 
Tbh if you are gonna pay 15 dollar for a PSU , then you can expect a brick.
 
And yet the agencies tasked with keeping toothpaste and other such things safe---do they do as good a job as a private individual reviewing things?

That's my point. And the answer, clearly, is no. Just something for people to consider the next time they scream about how such-and-such agency needs to be or we'd all be poisoned, etc.

You're trying too hard to be an antigovernment-at-all-costs shill in a thread about a power supply that was sold in Brasil.
 
Based on this story and some of the replies, you'd almost think that we can't always trust products from China.
 
And yet the agencies tasked with keeping toothpaste and other such things safe---do they do as good a job as a private individual reviewing things?

That's my point. And the answer, clearly, is no. Just something for people to consider the next time they scream about how such-and-such agency needs to be or we'd all be poisoned, etc.

:confused:
 
They must sell a lot of these PSUs in Portland.
It reminds me of these USB flash drives with an advertized and a visible capacity in Windows several times the real capacity, but with a smart round robin circuit that overwrote the newest files over the oldest ones silently.
 
Ahh Brazil... Just when I think I've seen it all, you surprise me again... Chovendo ladrão...
 
But I don't see any review on how good the power supply unit ended up being. Maybe the Cement Coil actually makes the unit better! ... It's the future!

That would be because you didn't read the article and follow the link in it that leads to the original review... it is eleven pages long and in Portuguese... :)
 
It's a 220W PSU at best, with 77% efficiency. Beyond that wattage (well 218W to be exact) things get worse.
 
Well, our "Commercial Inspection" agency does that. Of course they check if stores obey sales rules, but they also randomly check products, and they also check reported products. That way they usually find toys of Chinese origin with chemicals causing cancer, but sometimes they check computer electronics too. Few years ago they banned sales of about 5-10 power supplies at once, simply because they were safety hazard (in some cases, the 230V voltage could jump to the PSU casing, and that way to computer casing too).

Tell me again what government agency is tasked with verifying the validity of advertising? Or for that matter what law is there saying that a "PFC" made out of concrete is illegal? Unless the unit blows up and kills people, your complaints about government agencies not doing their job are completely without merit. Simply because what this company is doing is not under the oversight of any government agency.

There is no law against crappy quality PSUs with concrete bricks in place of transformers. So drop it about government oversight.

Unethical, and grounds for suit in civil or criminal court I'll give you that sure.
 
Loved this Chineese article linked by the hardware secrets article:
http://www.pcpop.com/doc/0/294/294565_all.shtml
(translate to engrish)

It seems that fake PSUs are a big problem in china with several internet cafe fires that killed many people started by dodgy PSUs

The Chineese government even created a 3C safety program to test and verify PSUs as safe to use and sell. But it appears even the government gets wool pulled over its eyes by even some of the biggest chineese manufacturers
 
I still buy pc power and cooling psu and not 1 Skipped a beat in the past 12 years of using them. But they did once ship me a brick.......I guess people are finally getting tired of takin it up a$$ from our fascist government and it spilling over to random threads! A little late ....should had a revolution in 1913 when we got sold out
 
At least this thing has the weight to hold a door open (the only use for a $15 psu)
 
At least this thing has the weight to hold a door open (the only use for a $15 psu)

R$81 is about $45, which would get you an OK 500W power supply at newegg...


Getting ripped-off is part of Brazilian culture, from high import fees to high taxes and shoddy products...

I just paid R$850, or $470 for a $199 Samsung HT-D550, but at least it had no cement in it or it'd have cost double the R$90 it cost to ship the thing...
/RANT
 
Going to be honest..If you bought a $15 psu, you basically got what you paid for. Sorry if I have little sympathy for any who bought this piece of garbage. Good catch by the reviewer though! Always good to see technology reviewers take the time to dig a little.

Don't buy a crap PSU and you will never have this problem.
 
Tbh if you are gonna pay 15 dollar for a PSU , then you can expect a brick.

Not here in Brazil. It may cost US$ 15 to you, but it gets in retail for around US$ 65. Cheap change for americans? I don't know. But this price range is touted as great PSUs around here, and most of them are not. But no, people are not expecting a brick. They put it on a shiny case and all kinds of fluff so most think it's really a great PSU.

R$81 is about $45, which would get you an OK 500W power supply at newegg...


Getting ripped-off is part of Brazilian culture, from high import fees to high taxes and shoddy products...

I just paid R$850, or $470 for a $199 Samsung HT-D550, but at least it had no cement in it or it'd have cost double the R$90 it cost to ship the thing...
/RANT

This.
 
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