PSU popped input please?

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klh6686

Limp Gawd
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Hey guys,

Without delving into the details quite simply I purchased a psu from a member.

It's an 850w Ultra X4, It's no seasonic or anything but it seems to be a decent PSU.

Well I've had it for about 4 days now and I'm running it on a system that couldn't have been pulling but about 550W, but lets say 600w MAX.

Well today the PSU made a very loud POP and died.

http://i.imgur.com/WJQxDP7.jpg This little guy fell out when i was removing the unit.

Thank goodness all of my hardware seems to have survived just fine, massive relief.

I've sent a message to the member and haven't heard back just yet (I'll give it time), but I don't really know how to handle this.

Any input on the situation?
 
ask seller if he would help with RMA if possible.

It worked for 4 days before the blow up? was there any problem with it? might just be some bad luck on your part.
 
Ya I'm asking him if there was any warranty left on it.

It worked great without any signs of any issues and was running when it just popped.

I'm just not sure where I stand in this, what would be fair of me or the seller etc.
 
Oh ya just to add, The system was running fine on a 750w PSU, but i needed another psu for another system and decided to put the 850w in the place of the 750w (since the other system isn't as powerful) and move the 750w to the new system.
 
Ultra power supplies have a limited lifetime warranty. That is the good part but the bad is the receipt and the shipping to them. Good luck on everything.
 
klh6686 said:
Ya I'm asking him if there was any warranty left on it.

It worked great without any signs of any issues and was running when it just popped.

I'm just not sure where I stand in this, what would be fair of me or the seller etc.
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that's a tough spot for both you guys, least your honest and truthfully about the whole situation. It just seems like bad luck. what exact specs of the system it was on when it died?

Hope you can get this unit RMA'd.
 
I echo the good luck.

The item you posted is the top half of a chip -- specifically one in the extraordinarily common DIP style. Given the size, I'd say probably an eight pin one. I can't find a datasheet for that part (not that it would help much) but I can tell you that it takes quite a bit of energy to lift the lid on a chip.

I would double and triple test that hardware, and particularly stress-test it (think burn-baby-burn type stress testing) -- if, for example, one of the filter caps (the really huge capacitors in there) happened to overload, that would do a lot more to the PSU --and everything downstream-- than just make a loud noise. Voltage and current spikes can make a real mess, even if it's not obvious at first... and most chips have a tolerance of +/- 0.5 volts...
 
Thanks guys, hopefully I can work it out with the seller and we can get Ultra to take care of it.

I didn't want to jump to any conclusions or anything but also I didn't want to make any demands that I shouldn't be making.

Regarding the system it's just a q8200 at stock vcore/clocks w/ two 5870s, nothing crazy.

I also had another basic web browsing computer on the same power strip as this computer and nothing weird happened with it when the PSU popped.

I only have a spare 350w psu so I hooked up the system with 1 5870 at a time to verify everything is ok, so I won't be able to do a real burn test until I get the PSU replaced.
 
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Update: response from seller:

seller said:
Ultra does have a lifetime warranty only if the product was registered but unfortunately, I did not register within the applicable time frame.
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With the information provided in this thread, what direction do I go now?
 
Since you can't RMA the power supply. Then you need to get a refund then. But ship the power supply back to him also.
 
I'd call them up and still try to RMA..
That PSU only has 720w on the 12v rail.
Ultra PSUs are pretty bad;If it was me,I'd look into a better one.
2 5870s can pull some pretty heavy wattage.
Always look @ how many watts are on the 12v rail.
Single rail is best.
Thermaltakes are pretty good for cheap.
 
I disagree with KILLERK, unit seems to have been shipped as advertised, just rotten bad luck, these things do happen and the seller had no way to know
 
jojo I'm torn between what you're saying and what killerk is saying as I feel the same way you do, but at the same time the seller neglected to regiister for a life time warranty?

I feel like the psu has been offloaded onto me with perfect timing.
 
Unless there was a guarantee agreed to, anything beyond the DOA is grace on the part of the seller. The seller is not obligated to return anything. There are a number of factors that could of been responsible for this failure, and almost all of them have nothing to do with a negligent seller.

Personally, I'm not Amazon, I do not expected to be treated like a retailer, nor do I treat others like a retailer...

-kc
 
schmuckley said:
I'd call them up and still try to RMA..
That PSU only has 720w on the 12v rail.
Ultra PSU are pretty bad;If it was me,I'd look into a better one.
2 5870s can pull some pretty heavy wattage.
Always look @ how many watts are on the 12v rail.
Single rail is best.
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I looked up reviews for this model and it seemed fine.

Also 5870s are only rated at 188w tdp so less than 400w for the two.

kcmastrpc said:
Unless there was a guarantee agreed to, anything beyond the DOA is grace on the part of the seller. The seller is not obligated to return anything. There are a number of factors that could of been responsible for this failure, and almost all of them have nothing to do with a negligent seller.

Personally, I'm not Amazon, I do not expected to be treated like a retailer, nor do I treat others like a retailer...

-kc
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I agree which is why I haven't made any brash demands, and instead asked if the seller could help me out with the warranty.

But now he has made me aware that it was never registered and does not have a warranty, why wouldn't you register for a lifetime warranty.

I've been on both sides, I would never sell anything if I wasn't confident in the item 100%.

This is why I'm not sure how to handle this situation and created this thread.
 
klh6686 said:
but at the same time the seller neglected to register for a life time warranty?

I feel like the psu has been offloaded onto me with perfect timing.
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While I understand where you are coming from and feel for ya - I would be careful before saying something that sounds like you are accusing the seller of doing something wrong or deceitful. There is absolutely no way of know how/when some hardware might go wrong. It could have happened during shipping, or before it was shipped or even when you were handling the psu and plugging it in.

That being said, if I were the seller, I would do everything I could to make this right - including contacting the manufacturer and seeing if they would do an RMA. At the same time, however its hardly the seller's fault that something like this happened because there is no way to forsee something like this happening. Some people will say that its the seller's fault for not posting anything (presumably) about the warranty, some people will argue that its your fault for not asking.. but in the end, its nobody's fault. Because he didn't advertise that this had a full warranty, you can't assume that it does, nor can you hold the seller accountable for not registering the psu. This could have happened to a corsair or seasonic unit just the same.

In the end, you gotta ask the seller to HELP in getting this rectified and seeing about getting an RMA. If they are any sort of reputable, they will do what they can to help. If not, then you know never to do business with them again (because of the not helpful part), and try to get the RMA done yourself by contacting the manufacturer directly. Either way, unless you can prove that the seller had mal-intent in selling this, you can't assume otherwise.

Once again, I feel for ya bud - definitely a really sucky situation and I hope that you and the seller are able to work it out.
 
Phishy714 said:
While I understand where you are coming from and feel for ya - I would be careful before saying something that sounds like you are accusing the seller of doing something wrong or deceitful. There is absolutely no way of know how/when some hardware might go wrong. It could have happened during shipping, or before it was shipped or even when you were handling the psu and plugging it in.

That being said, if I were the seller, I would do everything I could to make this right - including contacting the manufacturer and seeing if they would do an RMA. At the same time, however its hardly the seller's fault that something like this happened because there is no way to forsee something like this happening. Some people will say that its the seller's fault for not posting anything (presumably) about the warranty, some people will argue that its your fault for not asking.. but in the end, its nobody's fault. Because he didn't advertise that this had a full warranty, you can't assume that it does, nor can you hold the seller accountable for not registering the psu. This could have happened to a corsair or seasonic unit just the same.

In the end, you gotta ask the seller to HELP in getting this rectified and seeing about getting an RMA. If they are any sort of reputable, they will do what they can to help. If not, then you know never to do business with them again (because of the not helpful part), and try to get the RMA done yourself by contacting the manufacturer directly. Either way, unless you can prove that the seller had mal-intent in selling this, you can't assume otherwise.

Once again, I feel for ya bud - definitely a really sucky situation and I hope that you and the seller are able to work it out.
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I hear you 100%, I have not accused the seller of anything yet I simply stated how I feel at this time (having paid for a PSU but now owning a paper weight).

I am trying my best to work with the seller but so far his replies have been very short.

Hopefully we can get this issue resolved, perhaps ultra will step up to the plate and earn a customer for life, who knows.

I am appreciative of all of the input given so far.
 
I hate to say it, but you're out of luck if the manufacture will not RMA the PSU. The seller delivered a working PSU to you and if he didn't sell it with an agreement he would warranty the item then you learned a hard lesson........used parts sometimes fail quicker than you would like.

With that said, if I was the seller I would look for the receipt and try to register the PSU for the RMA if at all possible. I would most likely have the invoice because I buy all my new stuff online from Newegg or Amazon.
 
Why not get skandaluz that sold it to come in here and post how he feels about the problem. Since most of you think it is okay for the buyer to eat the power supply because it stopped working on him. It would be nice to see what kind of testing the seller did before offering it in the forums.

But since klh6686 seems to agree with the rest of you. Then he should go buy a new one from Amazon, Newegg or his choice of a seller. Just lock the thread and move on now. Chalk it up as a lesson learned.
 
This is a though one- I feel for you but the seller came through on his end- sold a working product- product worked for like a week and then somehow died. As far as why seller didn't register it for lifetime warranty- perhaps he is not the original owner? I always assume no warranty when buying used stuff- if there is any then that is a nice bonus- that is the risk you take buying used stuff. To expect the seller to refund the money- I don't think that is fair.
 
KILLER_K said:
Why not get skandaluz that sold it to come in here and post how he feels about the problem. Since most of you think it is okay for the buyer to eat the power supply because it stopped working on him. It would be nice to see what kind of testing the seller did before offering it in the forums.

But since klh6686 seems to agree with the rest of you. Then he should go buy a new one from Amazon, Newegg or his choice of a seller. Just lock the thread and move on now. Chalk it up as a lesson learned.
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Your exactly the type of seller I hate, reason is you always think the seller is doing something fishy or trying to screw you in some manner. Since we are all sharing feelings here at this small intervention, your wrong. The buyer didn't lose anything, hardware is hardware. Sometimes it breaks and sometimes it works for decades. All in all shit happens and the seller couldn't prevent it. Damage did not happen in the sellers hands, nor did it happen in shipping so why fault the seller?

Seller sold PSU
Ships it
Buyer receives it
Buyer confirms it works for 4+ days
PSU dies.

If it had not worked from the get go, I might agree with you. Thank you for letting me share my feelings.
 
You hate for me backing up a product I sell? Okay makes perfect sense right? I even do follow up pms/emails after they use my items to make sure everything is good and they are still happy. You can hate if you want to but you are 100% wrong about me. This is what is wrong with the forums here. They all assume stuff. This is why we need the seller to come in here and post. One side of a story is just that.
 
KILLER_K said:
You hate for me backing up a product I sell? Okay makes perfect sense right? I even do follow up pms/emails after they use my items to make sure everything is good and they are still happy. You can hate if you want to but you are 100% wrong about me. This is what is wrong with the forums here. They all assume stuff. This is why we need the seller to come in here and post. One side of a story is just that.
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What do you want the seller to say- I sold a working PSU- Shipped it > Buyer got it and confirmed all is well > 4 days later it died > seller doesn't know how the psu was used in those 4 days or what was done with it......
 
agree with some of the others in that theres no way the seller coulda known that it was on its final week of life. as far as registering the product, would you have passed on it had you known it wasn't registered?

sucks you didn't buy it on ebay. they seem to suck the dick of buyers and will screw sellers over in a heartbeat.

bol on the getting it worked out with any rma.
 
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Sorry for your misfortune, klh6686. A decent seller would try his best to help with the RMA, and it looks like that is what's happening. But if the manufacturer refuses the RMA, I'd say you are out of luck and the seller is not obligated to do anything more beyond that.
 
Votey said:
Sorry for your misfortune, klh6686. A decent seller would try his best to help with the RMA, and it looks like that is what's happening. But if the manufacturer refuses the RMA, I'd say you are out of luck and the seller is not obligated to do anything more beyond that.
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I agree with Votey 100%. As a buyer I always hope that the seller will stand behind his or her product. As a seller I always try to stand behind what I sell. There have been a couple of times I refunded due to issues as well as a partial refund. But as Votey stated, he or she is not "obligated" to help really.

If the seller does not have the ability to RMA or help shoot me a PM as I may have a solution.
 
stinger608 said:
I agree with Votey 100%. As a buyer I always hope that the seller will stand behind his or her product. As a seller I always try to stand behind what I sell. There have been a couple of times I refunded due to issues as well as a partial refund. But as Votey stated, he or she is not "obligated" to help really.

If the seller does not have the ability to RMA or help shoot me a PM as I may have a solution.
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Thank you, this is how I feel as well.

After all it is the whole point in being a part of this community vs just buying and selling on craigslist IMHO.
 
klh6686 said:
Thank you, this is how I feel as well.

After all it is the whole point in being a part of this community vs just buying and selling on craigslist IMHO.
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Yep, this is unfortunate BUT that's the gamble with saving on buying used vs. new. If you want a warranty and want to be able to RMA, you should buy new. Otherwise as others have said, if the seller helps with the RMA, that's the best you can hope for but if it is denied, there is little you can do.
 
An update to this, The seller has replied and is contacting ultra to see if he can assist in facilitating an RMA. If not he is willing to do a partial refund which I told him is VERY generous of him.

But I'm hoping we can get the PSU replaced as I'm just wanting a working PSU.

Thank you all for your input, It looks like some replies got a little out of hand but it has helped me in handling the situation in the best way that I could.
 
klh6686 said:
An update to this, The seller has replied and is contacting ultra to see if he can assist in facilitating an RMA. If not he is willing to do a partial refund which I told him is VERY generous of him.

But I'm hoping we can get the PSU replaced as I'm just wanting a working PSU.

Thank you all for your input, It looks like some replies got a little out of hand but it has helped me in handling the situation in the best way that I could.
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and you'll send the psu back to him, correct?
 
klh6686 said:
Hey guys,

Without delving into the details quite simply I purchased a psu from a member.

It's an 850w Ultra X4, It's no seasonic or anything but it seems to be a decent PSU.

Well I've had it for about 4 days now and I'm running it on a system that couldn't have been pulling but about 550W, but lets say 600w MAX.

Well today the PSU made a very loud POP and died.

http://i.imgur.com/WJQxDP7.jpg This little guy fell out when i was removing the unit.

Thank goodness all of my hardware seems to have survived just fine, massive relief.

I've sent a message to the member and haven't heard back just yet (I'll give it time), but I don't really know how to handle this.

Any input on the situation?
Click to expand...

This is 100% a case of buyer's remorse.

-You bought a crappy power supply
-You overloaded crappy power supply and it exploded exactly the way it was supposed to
 
ScottSwing said:
This is 100% a case of buyer's remorse.

-You bought a crappy power supply
-You overloaded crappy power supply and it exploded exactly the way it was supposed to
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I overloaded it?

That's why it's been running 100% fine on the 750w psu I bought to replace it.

Please go.
 
yeah, that was a bit uncalled for

but it is true that those ultras are not very well regarded from what I undeerstand
 
jojo69 said:
yeah, that was a bit uncalled for

but it is true that those ultras are not very well regarded from what I undeerstand
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I do understand that the brand may not be the best, but it certainly should have been capable of providing the load I was asking from it from the reviews I saw when looking up this particular model. example http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3250/ultra_x4_850_watt_full_modular_power_supply/index7.html

And like I said, the NZXT hale82n 750w that I replaced it with has been doing the job just fine for weeks now and doesn't even blow out warm air when the pc is loaded 100%.

And to update the rest of the thread, the psu was not able to be RMA'd but the seller did refund 50% which was appreciated.

I have an interesting paper weight now.
 
klh6686 said:
I overloaded it?

That's why it's been running 100% fine on the 750w psu I bought to replace it.

Please go.
Click to expand...

All PSUs are not created equal. There's a reason why Silverstone is charging way more than Logisys for the "same" wattage.

Recently, I used a Powork 650 in a single-GPU setup and it exploded after about two hours. I replaced it with a Diablotek 400w and it ran fine. That's right, a 400w bad PSU puts out more power than a 650w crappy PSU.

If you don't want them to explode, you either need to go waaaay over the wattage you want, or get one that's actually certified to supply the power it's claiming.
 
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ScottSwing said:
All PSUs are not created equal. There's a reason why Silverstone is charging way more than Logisys for the "same" wattage.

Recently, I used a Powork 650 in a single-GPU setup and it exploded after about two hours. I replaced it with a Diablotek 400w and it ran fine. That's right, a 400w bad PSU puts out more power than a 650w crappy PSU.

If you don't want them to explode, you either need to go waaaay over the wattage you want, or get one that's actually certified to supply the power it's claiming.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I am well aware of this, which is why I did research on this particular model before i purchased it. All of the reviews were able to pull the rated watts and more from this power supply.
 
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post photo of PSU

it seems standby 5V regulator popped

I think its not due to over load. standby chip pop unknown reasons, power surge, faulty capacitors, etc..
 
i would honestly say that the seller did nothing wrong, as some of you have mentioned.

The PSU was working when arrived. Even if it wasn't pushed to the limit it was still functioning properly for four days (most likely straight) without a hitch.

Who knows how stable the outlet is, or how secure cables are. There could have been a lightning storm or something that surged thru the surge protector and caused the problem.
 
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