Cheap ass manufacturers
Sep. 9th, 2013 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kengrI blew the power supply on my main system the other day. Fortunately, I have a near identical box I don't use much that I could swipe the power supply from.
I contacted a friend in the biz about getting a replacement supply. He doesn't build systems muchj anymore, but he offered me a deal on a used supply he had on hand. This is especially good since he let's me pay as I can.
I finally was feeling up to installing it today.
I discovered that the supply had apparently been from a min or mid tower built by own of the companies that tries to cut costs to the bone.
How could I tell? The spacing of the power connectors for the drives was such that I had to move the HD to a different bay so it'd reach. And even worse, the "secondary" power connector for the motherboard (a 4 pin connector on the far side of the CPU from the PS wouldn't reach.
I had to carefully unweave the wires from the ways they tangled around each other as they exited the power supply, then stretch the cable tightly across the CPU and fan and then it *just* plugged in.
Obvious the cables were sized for a case where the PS was right at the edge of the MB (a mid or mini-tower) rather than a full sized case were the wer a couple of inches between the PS and the MB. And where the lower drive bays were farther away.
I'm sure they most save a few dollars per thousand computers they build by using those shorter wires. But god help anybody who grabs the supply from a dead machine to use elsewhere.
I contacted a friend in the biz about getting a replacement supply. He doesn't build systems muchj anymore, but he offered me a deal on a used supply he had on hand. This is especially good since he let's me pay as I can.
I finally was feeling up to installing it today.
I discovered that the supply had apparently been from a min or mid tower built by own of the companies that tries to cut costs to the bone.
How could I tell? The spacing of the power connectors for the drives was such that I had to move the HD to a different bay so it'd reach. And even worse, the "secondary" power connector for the motherboard (a 4 pin connector on the far side of the CPU from the PS wouldn't reach.
I had to carefully unweave the wires from the ways they tangled around each other as they exited the power supply, then stretch the cable tightly across the CPU and fan and then it *just* plugged in.
Obvious the cables were sized for a case where the PS was right at the edge of the MB (a mid or mini-tower) rather than a full sized case were the wer a couple of inches between the PS and the MB. And where the lower drive bays were farther away.
I'm sure they most save a few dollars per thousand computers they build by using those shorter wires. But god help anybody who grabs the supply from a dead machine to use elsewhere.
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no subject
Date: 2013-09-12 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-12 04:32 am (UTC)What matters is things like attention to design quality, materials quality and inspection of the finished product.
This PS seems to be ok, it's just that the company decided to pinch pennies. Yeah, "extra" slack in wires can be a problem. But cutting it *that* close is silly, even if it's for a specific unit.
It's also stupid because it means that you can't use the PS in other units in the manufacturer's line.
no subject
Date: 2013-09-12 10:32 am (UTC)I think taking power supplies out of old computers is getting very rare. I did that a couple of times over ten years ago, but it wasn't fun even then. Especially the power switch connections were a pain. I don't know really anybody here who would do that now - most people just have laptops or get parts manufactured for home assembly anyway.
My tabletop computer broke last spring, and I had to get new parts for it. After the new processor fan didn't fit into the ten-year old case, I had to get a new case and a new PSU - and they were much, much easier to use than the previous ones. The tabletop PC hardware for the builders at home has gotten way better in these last ten years.
The stuff does cost, however, so it's not always an option to upgrade everything.
kengr, couldn't you have bought extension cords for the power cables? I think there are such things for most connectors, and they're not very expensive?
no subject
Date: 2013-09-12 02:22 pm (UTC)That's the one that was too short. And I've *never* seen an extender for that.
Oh yeah, the connector is "keyed" in that the plastic housing around the pins (on the cable) has corners trimmed so it'll only fit one way in the plastic housing around the connector on the motherboard. Except I have yet to see a motherboard where the the motherboard connector is actually keyed. Instead the holes are just square, so the connector will fit in any of 4 ways.
Fortunately, all that happens if you have it plugged in wrong is that the system won't boot. The "latch" is what actually gives you a clue. And that is easy to miss as the bit it hooks to on the motherboard connector isn't that big.
Oh yeah, this gets important because there's a *second* square 4 pin connector on most power supplies for ATX systems. It has different corners trimmed on the "pins". So it wouldn't go into the same socket *if* the holes in the socket were keyed. Except they aren't. *sigh*