EMI Problem with Corsair HX850

Iratus

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 16, 2003
Messages
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Random one I thought you guys might have some advice with, I've been having a problem where every time I turn on my computer the tv signal craps out in the house over certain frequencies, it goes away when I turn it off.

I narrowed it down to the power supply by unplugging everything and turning it with a paperclip and nothing attached. Problem wasn't as bad but still there. Plugged in everything without graphics card, worse, then with GPU worse again.

Does the same thing on other power rings in the house and ferrous rings don't make much difference. I plugged in a no brand pos 500w psu and it didn't cause any problems at all (but has no 6 pin plugs)

Anybody got an idea for how I might try a homebrew 'fix' as I don't have the receipt and brought it back in the UK (live in Australia now, same power standards btw) so it's a fix it or bin it type thing. A 1KW Seasonic is going to be $300 here so hence I'd rather try and sort it.

Anyway if anyone knows what I can try to fix it it'd be appreciated.
 
Tried another power outlet in the house?

First thing I'd do is isolate the PSU w/computer completely from the area which exhibits EMI.
 
Sound like grounding problem to me; you can try to add a surge protector with RF filtering, but it won't help if you have grounding problems in your house.
 
I did wonder the same thing, whether it was either not grounding properly (new kitchen got put in before we moved in so wouldn't be surprised if they stuffed the earth) or I just had a ground loop between the computer and tv. I love old houses :rolleyes:

I just wish there was a way I could test this stuff without either buying a new PSU or spending a heap of money to get an electrician out.
 
Well, the old houses usually has a nice feature: iron/steel pluming. If you have something like that, you can check/estimate if the power outlet ground is OK: measure the AC potential(volts) between the AC ground and the pluming iron/steel tubes. It should be under 0.1V AC. And don't even think about using the pluming as grounding !!! It is reference only, it would never protect you in case of problems.
 
I did wonder the same thing, whether it was either not grounding properly (new kitchen got put in before we moved in so wouldn't be surprised if they stuffed the earth) or I just had a ground loop between the computer and tv. I love old houses :rolleyes:

I just wish there was a way I could test this stuff without either buying a new PSU or spending a heap of money to get an electrician out.

If there is a fault with the wiring on the AC mains you need a qualified electrician to come out and check it and fix it.

I'd get a electrician come out and check the cabling rather than buy a new PSU and have the problem persist later down the track which could worsen and lead to other problems.

Aussie here.
 
If there is a fault with the wiring on the AC mains you need a qualified electrician to come out and check it and fix it.

I'd get a electrician come out and check the cabling rather than buy a new PSU and have the problem persist later down the track which could worsen and lead to other problems.

Aussie here.

Yeah that's where I'm leaning to atm, though that whole "electrician to do anything" has been a bit of a learning curve since I moved here, they certainly got the tradies on a gravy boat with all of the rules. In the UK you can self wire your whole house if you want (just need to get it signed off as ok in a few instances). Here people get freaked out about changing a plug.

I'll be annoyed if I pay the callout fee and it's something else but it does seem more likely that it's the building than the PSU. At least the upside is that it's ABC channels that are primarily stuffed, keeps the missus off the shit reality tv :D

Cheers guys,
 
Maybe there's a faulty component (X or Y capacitor, choke) or bad connection (solder joints, clips). Sometimes a ground loop can cause interference, and apparently it's easy to reverse the two line wires with each other (brown, blue wires, lower left):

1345000292jSuXr2rZ41_3_13_l.jpg


Those wires connect to the two spade lugs at the right:

1345000292jSuXr2rZ41_3_14_l.jpg


Check the solder joints for all the EMI filter components (stuff near the front of that photo, between the right edge and up to the large black heatsink on the other side). Solder cracks can be microscopic.
 
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