Psu Problem

Hi i have a 1200watt power supply unit in my tower and just lately there as been a popping sound when i turn the power on via a trailing lead its all surge protected the pc works fine once its on.

As anyone come or heard of this before i know the corsair psu's did it years ago but i have never come across it it in 15 or more years no matter how i do it if i plug it straight into the wall its the same ,tried different sockets on the trailing lead same thing its a brand new PC cost alot of money but i am trying to elimiate the problem my self if i can anyone got any thought on this be really grateful for advise ,sugestions .

 

Kind regards

 

Andrew

I've never heard of this, but you're not the only one to have this experience.

 

There are lots of comments to be found here:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=corsair+ps+poping+sound

 

It would make me leery, but from all those comments in all those forums, not one of them mentioned a PS failure associated with the popping noise.

Perhaps it is your speakers popping? I have one computer that does that when I turn it on because the volume is turned all the way up.

thanks for your reply guys i'm afraid its a little more than speaker popping the first time it happened it switched the power off to all the upstairs sockets I have one last thing to try and that's changing the trialing lead everything is plugged into i just cant think for the life of me why this has happened out the blue it dont make much sense.

kind regards

Andrew

Presumably it’s to do with the number of amps required? (are you in the USA?) 1200W divided by 120V = 10amps. The psu will run at full power for a moment when you first switch on. Could it be tripping the sockets if it’s requiring too many amps?

 

Regards

Steve

nooo not in usa I dont really understand what your saying what do you mean by tripping the sockets it only tripped the sockets once when it first started do you mean something is not up to the job and is there a way round it ,I have 3 other things plugged into the trailing lead but its a good lead with power surge built in i suspect this wont go away in a hurry, is there anything you can sugest I mean it is presumably what most people do when there power cord wont reach a plug socket I am going to try a new Trailing lead otherwise its back under warranty to change the power supply.

 

Kind regards

Andrew

The reason I was asking if you were in the US was because of their 120v mains supply. Here in the uk we have 230v of course so less amps are needed (only about 5amps) I’m not an expert on these things, but I was thinking on the lines of the fuses etc. If several appliances were plugged in to the trailing socket and if the total amperage was (over 13amp?) then would it cause it to trip. I don’t know, it was just a thought.

I read somewhere that psu’s usually run at full power for a second when you first boot up.

 

Regards

Steve

You may have multiple problems. It sounds like your computer shares a circuit with the upstairs of your home. This means that that circuit is not only serving your computer plus the other three devices plugged into your power strip, but may well have a bunch of lights and other apparatus using the circuit upstairs. Most home circuits have limited amount of current they can support, typically 10-15 amps. You may need to have an electrician check your circuit to see if you have enough capacity in that circuit. Second, it isn't a good idea to run a powerful computer off of a power strip, particularly one that shares other loads. I suggest using a dedicated uninterruptible power supply such as APC makes. Third, is your PSU made by Corsair? From the search Jim posted, it looks like most of the units that manifest this problem are Corsair PSUs. It may be that the Corsair units have a high transient peak demand on startup. Many PSUs do have a high demand at startup, but some are more efficient than others. Fourth, how old is the power strip? Most power strips have a limited lifespan, particularly if you get frequent brownouts or lightning strikes.

My understanding is that this noise comes from capacitors inside your power supply not from anything outside. Although the PS only draws 10 amps, when you first turn it on, it charges some very big capacitors (in the electrical sense), and for a microsecond or a few hundred nanoseconds they can draw a thousand amps. This causes the electrolytic or dialectic material to expand and that's where the noise comes from. Edited April 7, 2021 by sfojimbo

“can draw a thousand amps” -

I don’t think this could be correct. For that fraction of a second.. the psu would be using 230,000 watts! 10 amps is quite a lot..however it’ll only be drawing around 5.2 amps max

 

 

Regards

Steve

Hi Steve,

Although that number may be incorrect, the process is correct, and the unit may briefly exceed the capacity of his home circuit, thus "the first time it happened it switched the power off to all the upstairs sockets". Even if it is 30 amps, it still might trip his circuit breaker. Jim, I agree the noise is from the inside of the unit, but he may have other problems also.

Edited April 7, 2021 by plainsman

Hi Steve,

Although that number may be incorrect, the process is correct, and the unit may briefly exceed the capacity of his home circuit, thus "the first time it happened it switched the power off to all the upstairs sockets". Even if it is 30 amps, it still might trip his circuit breaker.

 

Hi Bob, that’s fair enough.

I think (as you pointed out earlier) the other appliances won’t help either if they’re all drawling power at the same time.

 

Regards

Steve

“can draw a thousand amps” -

I don’t think this could be correct. For that fraction of a second.. the psu would be using 230,000 watts! 10 amps is quite a lot..however it’ll only be drawing around 5.2 amps max

 

 

Regards

Steve

230,000 watts true. But if for a microsecond, that would only be 2.3 watts average for that second, if a nano second, then it would only be .00023 watts for that second. But the peak current only occurs for that microsecond or nanosecond, so the energy transferred is not large.

 

If you look at a filter capacitor larger than say 10ufd, you will notice that the leads are bigger (fatter) than you would expect, electrolytic's often have large screw terminals. This is to accommodate the surge currents. The op's 1000 watt PS will be using some very large capacitors.

 

Surge currents are a well known attribute of capacitors.

 

I will repeat, this has nothing to do with anything else in the house outside the power supply case. Look at the forums shown in the link from my first post.

Edited April 7, 2021 by sfojimbo

Hi i have a 1200watt power supply unit in my tower and just lately there as been a popping sound when i turn the power on via a trailing lead its all surge protected the pc works fine once its on.

As anyone come or heard of this before i know the corsair psu's did it years ago but i have never come across it it in 15 or more years no matter how i do it if i plug it straight into the wall its the same ,tried different sockets on the trailing lead same thing its a brand new PC cost alot of money but i am trying to elimiate the problem my self if i can anyone got any thought on this be really grateful for advise ,sugestions .

 

Kind regards

 

Andrew

 

So I must start by saying I am not an expert at all. I barely know what my specs for the pc are, as long as it works. I have been having the popping recently and it's very random and nothing to do with using msfs. It will be at any time, maybe a pop every minute maybe none for a day. My pc is 10 years old and the subwoofer and speakers much older so I thinl it's just wear and tear for me. The pc has not been moved from its location for 15 years and nothing has changed in my flat. I have found that if I unplug the subwoofer from the mains it stops, then of course no audio but the headphones work. My solution. I've bought speakers which get audio from the headphone socket and power from the usb. Dunno if it will work as the speakers have not arrived yet.

I have been having the popping recently and it's very random and nothing to do with using msfs. It will be at any time, maybe a pop every minute maybe none for a day.... (subwoofer and speakers much older....)

This is not the problem described in the OP which was a popping that occurs at turn on.

 

Your problem is most likely to be a different type of capacitor problem; the electrolytic capacitors in your subwoolfer's amplifier are drying out and breaking down. If it were an expensive rig worth fixing, and you brought it to an audio shop for repair, they would replace all the electrolytic caps and give it back to you.

Shouldn't this be in the PC Hardware Help section?

Hi Everyone thanks for all the replies not sure where to start i cant connect to a dedicated power source my pc is too far away i have ordered a new trailing power lead if that doesent do it i will send it back to have the psu changed I am 75yrs old been using computers for the last 20yrs at least and never had this problem before and neve had a psu break on me ,I will sift through the information everyone as given me and try all the options I have, I in fact only have my pc and tv connected to the power strip I am not a technical minded person but i do understand what everyone is saying I did have a big old sub woofer connected have disconnected thati will see what happens when i turn on tomorrow. Thanks again for all the replies and advice etc.

 

Kind regards

Andrew

With all respect I found that a thourough clean of my pc's internals worked absolute wonders. I mean airbrush, damp cloth's, small vac.cleaner etc. My PC now looks, feels, sounds and works complete as new. I clean once every 2 years, but plan to do it more frequently. I have less than minimum specs, I7 6700k with stock Intel cooler which looks like a child'stoy from a fair, GPU which is held together by adhesive tape, my extra double fragmented 15yr old HDD, my 1 stick 16GB 2133 ?hz. Only new is my 500GB SATA SSD. My FSX still works allmost complete maxed 30fps, except cities. I have Global mesh, all UTX's, FSceneX etc. Allmost 70yr now and saving for last sim rig, hopefully MSFS, anyone know if GTX1060 6GB can do that? regards, Edited April 7, 2021 by piet06273

First, as Jim correctly pointed out, the popping noise is a result of a rapid transient demand that falls off in a fraction of a second. Is your PSU a Corsair unit?

Second, the tripped circuit breaker is a function of a number of things. Yes, you could get away with a lot of things when the typical PSU was 300 watts back 20 years ago. I am quite certain you have not had a 1200 watt PSU before. With a 4 times larger PSU, the old power strip (you call it a trailing power lead) may not be a good choice anymore. A dedicated UPSU such as this may be a better choice.

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Power-Saving-Back-UPS-Pro-700/P-BR700G

This will solve several issues. You don't need to be at the wall outlet, it will give you time to shut everything down appropriately in case of a power failure or brownout, it filters out electrical spikes and surges much better than the old power strip, it will even out the current draw on you circuit.

It is important that PCs be shut down correctly instead of just dropping off when your power goes out. These also typically have much more heavy duty wiring than many power strips.

It isn't just what you have connected to the power strip, it is the total load on the circuit. If the PSU demand tripped your circuit breaker for your upstairs, then the lights and other appliances in your upstairs also make demand on the circuit to which you are drawing at the PC. Again, back 20 years ago this was a minor draw, now it becomes an issue. You may need an electrician to check that your circuit can support a modern PC plus all your monitors and TVs and audio equipment. This is important as a safety issue. It will also add life to your appliances and the expensive PC. In the past, I have had to add an additional power circuit for high demand audio and PC components.

Hi Plainsman thank you for your advice I will have to source the product you mentioned i buy most of my goods on Amazon as a rule and i see they don't have the exact one that you mentioned but I get what your saying I will have a look around I am sure I will get something its useless here in the uk not like USA lol

I am not recommending a particular product, I am sure someone in the UK makes a similar product or the appropriate model is offered over there. They come in various sizes. The larger versions will give you more time to get everything shut down when your power goes out, but are a lot more expensive. I have one that gives me ~30 minutes to shut my system down. My wife has a smaller unit that will give her about 5 minutes. Office supply stores may carry these devices as well as places like the U.S. Best Buy. I am sure you can get a UK version from Amazon, but I don't really know anything about which models will work there.

thank you so much plainsman you are a star, do you think this will do the job https://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerWalker-650-IEC-360W-UPS/dp/B000QWJ84G/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pl_foot_top?ie=UTF8&th=1 I don't really know what to get lol I can get this tomorrow.

I am not familiar with that unit, but it looks like it would work well. It also has excellent reviews, so others like it. It will probably give you ~40 minutes to get everything shut down. If you set it up properly, it will also shut down critical components automatically.

With all respect I found that a thourough clean of my pc's internals worked absolute wonders. I mean airbrush, damp cloth's, small vac.cleaner etc. My PC now looks, feels, sounds and works complete as new. I clean once every 2 years, but plan to do it more frequently. I have less than minimum specs, I7 6700k with stock Intel cooler which looks like a child'stoy from a fair, GPU which is held together by adhesive tape, my extra double fragmented 15yr old HDD, my 1 stick 16GB 2133 ?hz. Only new is my 500GB SATA SSD. My FSX still works allmost complete maxed 30fps, except cities. I have Global mesh, all UTX's, FSceneX etc. Now saving for MSFS rig, anyone know if GTX1660 6GB can do that? regards,

I think the op has just bought a brand new PC, so I don't think cleaning will help him, but it might help others with older equipment.

The GTX 1660 ought to work pretty well on MSFS, a GTX 1660ti would be a better choice, especially if you plan to run 1440. For 4K, even the best GPUs out there are still challenged at higher settings.