GotNoRice
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2001
- Messages
- 11,962
One paradox that I've always had trouble being able to reconcile is the short lifespan of many power-supplies. It's not uncommon at all to have a PSU fail after only a year or two, and a PSU that is, let's say, ~8 years old is already considered to be both old and have had a long, productive life.
When we compare that to electronics in just about any other aspect of life, things are dramatically different. I have numerous stereo components that date back to the mid 70's, most of which are 100% original and have never been serviced or repaired. I know many people who have appliances - microwaves, refrigerators, washing machines, etc that date back to the 70's or 80's also.
Typical reply when this comes up in conversation seems to be that power-supplies are often used 24/7, where most audio equipment, appliances, etc are only used occasionally, actually being turned off or not used most of the time. That doesn't really fly in terms of a refrigerator, but none the less, let's go with that.
That brings me to my ultimate question - To what extent do power-supplies "age" independent of usage? As in, I'm talking about a PSU sitting new in the box that has never been used, or maybe a PSU installed in a system that is only turned on briefly once every few months. To what extent does the PSU age, primarily due to the passage of time? I have read posts on here from people who say that the capacitors age even if the PSU isn't being used and ~8 years is about as much as you can expect. I don't personally see how that could be true unless the PSU is built with sub-standard components.
One reason I'm asking, I was just offered an amazing deal on a number of new in box old Antec powersupplies. The powersupplies are brand new, still wrapped in plastic and everything. Problem is they are 10 year old models. They are EPS12V units with 24+8 main power cables, and plenty of SATA and PCIE power cables, so they should still be compatible with new builds and adequate for office systems, etc when I get called in to replace a dead PSU. What I don't want however is to be installing a PSU that is basically a timebomb due to it's age.
When we compare that to electronics in just about any other aspect of life, things are dramatically different. I have numerous stereo components that date back to the mid 70's, most of which are 100% original and have never been serviced or repaired. I know many people who have appliances - microwaves, refrigerators, washing machines, etc that date back to the 70's or 80's also.
Typical reply when this comes up in conversation seems to be that power-supplies are often used 24/7, where most audio equipment, appliances, etc are only used occasionally, actually being turned off or not used most of the time. That doesn't really fly in terms of a refrigerator, but none the less, let's go with that.
That brings me to my ultimate question - To what extent do power-supplies "age" independent of usage? As in, I'm talking about a PSU sitting new in the box that has never been used, or maybe a PSU installed in a system that is only turned on briefly once every few months. To what extent does the PSU age, primarily due to the passage of time? I have read posts on here from people who say that the capacitors age even if the PSU isn't being used and ~8 years is about as much as you can expect. I don't personally see how that could be true unless the PSU is built with sub-standard components.
One reason I'm asking, I was just offered an amazing deal on a number of new in box old Antec powersupplies. The powersupplies are brand new, still wrapped in plastic and everything. Problem is they are 10 year old models. They are EPS12V units with 24+8 main power cables, and plenty of SATA and PCIE power cables, so they should still be compatible with new builds and adequate for office systems, etc when I get called in to replace a dead PSU. What I don't want however is to be installing a PSU that is basically a timebomb due to it's age.