How long have the Antec TruePower 430s been around?

[Tawnos]

Just over a year ago (day before christmas eve, 2003) I purchased a TruePower 430 at Worst Buy (my previous power supply bit the dust). The 12V rail has always run slightly low on that, but it was no problem on my last system (athlon 1800+ on MSI KT3 Ultra blah blah blah).

However, upon getting my new system (specs in a minute), the 12V just isn't supplying enough juice. I was getting 11.54 V when idle, and that would drop down to 11.49 V under load (and then my system would lock up, data wouldn't be written to my SATA drive, and I'd have to create a new profile because my previous one was corrupted...fun). Currently, I am using a TruePower 380 from work (provides 12.09V idle and under load...), and I emailed antec regarding an RMA. Unfortunately for me, I have moved twice (once into the dorms, once from dorms to apartments) since purchasing said PSU, and therefore I don't have the receipt for the power supply, which quite obviously has a manufactured defect .

Antec states their "quality warranty" lasts for 3 years for manufacturing defects (http://www.antec.com/us/warranty.php?value=en&Submit=Submit) . However, the email I received stated they will not warranty this product without proof of purchase. Normally, this would be no problem for me because I purchase everything online, I could easily just print something off. However, in this case I was forced into making a purchase because I was visiting my house and could not afford the downtime of not having my computer for a week or more. Hence my topic question: how long have these power supplies even been around? If it's under three years, I am prepared to begin calling them and really bugging them, if it's over three years, does anyone know a way I can look up date of manufacture on the PSU?

If all else fails, I guess there's always the voltage mod :-\

Specs mentioned above:
Socket 939 Athlon 64 3200+
ASUS A8V Deluxe
1GB PC 3200 DDR (Corsair ValueRAM)
Geforce 6800 GT 128MB (Asus)
Western Digital 80GB SATA Special Edition
Maxtor Liquid bearing 40GB
Lite on 52x cd RW
Pioneer ?? X dvd drive (salvaged from an old HP, I'm guessing 4 or 8x)
Netgear 802.11G wg311v2

estimated total wattage needed: something like 320W

 

[BillR]

That PSU has been around for a while, I bought one just over two years ago.

What they are asking for is required for almost every warrantee repair. Proof of Purchase has to do with such things as, are you the original owner, when it was purchased, was it purchased from an authorized dealer etc.

Have you tried going to BB for a copy of your original sales receipt? If you actually used your name they should have that record in their computer system. Whether or not they care enough to bother looking it up is another matter.

Did you use a voltmeter to read actual voltage or are you relying on software for your readings? Software can and usually is way off.

If all else fails a really nice email explaining your situation, and how much you “love” Antec products will go a long way toward their cooperation.


Luck

 

[Tawnos]

both motherboards reported the same idle voltage, so I'm guessing the software is just fine, esp since a replacement PSU caused 12V to be displayed... I could pull out my multimeter, but I don't want to plug the thing back in because having to reinstall windows sucks.... and it wouldn't be a very accurate test if I just turned it on, but not under load.

Oh well, I guess I'll try voltmodding the thing. I know I couldn't get one from bb because I paid with cash

If I were the dishonest sort I could just print up a receipt from work (I work at a computer store...) but I'm not... so I won't... which sucks for me. oh well.