Corsair AX860i goes into protection - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: bogdan2014
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2019, 07:05:23 am
content: I'm trying to repair a Corsair AX860i ATX power supply that goes into protection immediately after power up.I checked for output shortcircuits, shorted diodes and transistors, bulged caps, all fine. Nothing shorted or suspicious on the board. The auxiliary power supply runs fine.Something must be triggering the overcurrent protection circuit, but I can't even tell how it's sensed. Maybe the small inductor with tape on it is a current transformer?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2020, 11:11:22 pm
content: Same problem threw it out, Corsair sucksstay away from DSP power system. i fucking knew it too, i was like 'oh i must be being jaded against all this new fangled shit' and then i get fucked in the ass by these peoplestick to your gut instinct lol

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2020, 12:49:26 am
content: and I have a feeling its not a safe / well made device, that is ALOT of power in a very small package for no good reason (make it longer).You can't get a probe in there (seriously) and it trips a fault, meaning OC, OV or isolation, I thought i heard a bit of ticking or something from mine too. Probably some kind of hairline short in there that grows with current flow.Also, it has WAY too many riser boards and weird shit like floating sideways TO220 packages. They crammed wayyyyy too much shit in a small package. I bet its dangerous. There is a fucking switching transformer sideways on a daugther board! They are supposed to be used when you mess up a circuit for a small bodge to maintain end of life crap. This thing is wired crazzzzzzy. there is also a giant non insulated bus bar in the middle all exposed with heavy wire bolted to it, it rings like a tuning fork when you flick it with your finger.. so they decided to solder sideways mount with only 1 side PCB solder a daughter board with a large ferrite transformer on it. i wonder why this unit shows up with 3 pages of problems and recalls on google?/??? if its so high end you could put a small bracket there at least.i can play the guitar on this fucking thingwhats a gaming PSU manufacturer that does not make shit that 'looks sick' and performs like junk? it does look great though, at first, before you realize its not done properly and someone wanted to play arts and crafts and skip real analysisdaughter boards should be a penalty and a red flag in your design, they are there if you need highly modular systems or small scale repair/life extension on a line. and they need chassis mount brackets.. especially if you put a TRANSFORMER on them.don't feel too bad about your broken unit, normally I repair the stupidest useless crap.. not this thoughinfact, the PCB for the fan controller is right next to a large torrodial inductor (located on another daughter board), separated by a very thin adhesive foam. if you yank on it slightly the inductor hits the other pcb because the clearance is so low (maybe 0.3mm). then there is basically another heat sink touching an unused connector on the fan control boardbasically, its arranged like dominos that knock into each other separated by little foam cushions. i bet you its not really analyzed either, just like oh this shit is available from 3m lets use itthe only bracket is the one that is also a heat sink and a bus bar, and its just soldered in two points as far as I can tell.. did they ever hear of something called a fastener??look on the bright side, you bought a 100-300$ musical instrument that plays two notes if you flick the poorly designed extension cardsah yes, they also soldered the mains crimp tabs, so the solder can crack when you plug and unplug it.yup,soldered safety ground(it should be a good crimp). non heat shrinked of course.mine also has power wires pressed into the metal chassis (no one bothered to yank it clear at least).this thing must look like a tom and jerry cartoon if its struck and viewed in slow motion. i actually like the design of the 15$ chinese model better because it has one pcb on the bottom clear of the walls lolalso, nice unfused mov directly soldered to the power inlet, so it can fuck up your home electrical rather then blowing a fuse on a transient. brilliant, rely on a breaker to stop the MOV, a 2 dollar power strip has a fucking thermal break infront of the MOV. you know its going to go eventually too. its bad enough they put those mains protectors without fuses (tsk tsk), but at least those have x and Y caps in them, but you can get the fused ones for barely anything extra.maybe its an y cap, but its still no excuse, I know the design is bad if you had to solder a y cap to the mains inlet leads anyway, since crimps would be cheaper and faster. they musta been living in the RF test facility for a while to get this POS to pass if they had to solder a capacitor across the IEC inlet leads lollets get them a contract for boeing great use of manufacturing technologies if you are on a battle cruiser being attacked by the zerg and you need an escape podhttps://au.news.yahoo.com/womans-plea-after-boyfriend-dies-phone-charger-shock-234704030.htmlalso, it has a giant plexiglass sheet obscuring half of the 120mm fan. thats a great design. make turbulance infront of the 'yate loon' fan , so that high voltage parts can press into a sheet of plastic rather then being sucked into a over sized fan. I think from far away it looks like 'made in london' rather then 'yate loon' . this whole thing is marketed for cool operation and noise reduction, which is some how achieved by blocking half the fan with plexiglasssomeone was burning rock during the design and over sight, it looks like a high tech prototype that was made on a destroyed starship to get it home.. designed in 5 minutes while you are being shot at by phasers. i don't want to buy premium shit with dead bugged emc compliance and heavy tomb stones everywhere (get it, your design is so dead you need to put a fucking tomb stone on it)IMO the ATX standard form size that this thing fits in is not capable of supporting the power levels and features required by modern computers, these people need more space to work. reminds me of a lasanga. needs to be like 4 inches longer to prevent this kind of 'pound it in there' design.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2020, 03:26:11 am
content: Apparently the AX860i is a bad design by Flextronics, with random shutdowns with red light.Somebody added a resistor as a fix post #52 to ICInfineon ICE2HS01Gbased onCorsair marketing picshttps://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=115157&t=115157Without a schematic, and the hardship to desolder the little boards, I wouldn't consider repairing it.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2020, 03:30:25 am
content: Quote from: floobydust on March 08, 2020, 03:26:11 amnot worth it to mod a circuit connected to thousands of dollars of hardware, potentially dual expensive GPU, many core processor and expensive ram/ssd. or in my case, 12 year old hardware that is reliable. i just cant shut the PC down without it having bootup problems anymore.. I just wanted to future proof my caseimagine someones simulator going kaboom because of some shit like thatthe one I have is already refurbished and it lasts.. 15 seconds...........and like I said, there is a ghetto rigged fix for emissions by soldering something to the IEC pins and a soldered ground wire. this thing is a hackjob.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2020, 04:56:45 am
content: Had an 1000 watts corsair who had the 3.3 volt line drop to 2.9 volts, blue screen, random restart ....... simply trashed it, switched to thermaltake gold series, no complaints, and damn silent.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2020, 06:36:28 am
content: for those interested, I fished it out of the trash to see the little resistor. don't know if it will fix it because its late, but you can access the bottom of the PCB by disconnecting the crimps, bending the chassis apart and removing a few screws... it looks like you do not need to desolder anything to access the point in the picture where the IC next to the 560k resistor is. details to follow on what will happen when I add itthe bodge part is NOT on a daugtherboard, it is on the bottom of the PCB next to a big IC with like 0805 packages so its not a japanese repair joband, it looks like the daughter board is attached by pins, so its not the standard shitty non-lap joint solder daughter board in a slot shit you usually see (much better then expected). I would like to see a bracket but its a tall order probably given how things are made.i hope its not a fix for a blown gate in a transistor or something by reducing the current and having it operate weird. and I hate the fact that you need to open it like a clam to get the PCB out lol, but still if it works it will be an improvement to the power supply I am not allowed to shut down

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2020, 04:58:53 pm
content: nope, the 470k resistor changed nothing, waste of timewonder if they are pulling current through one of those shady board mount hall effect sensors that broke (these guys seem to really like SMD). I still put my money on fracture

author: ChunkyPastaSauce
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 08, 2020, 05:56:09 pm
content: 10 year warranty, why not RMA?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2020, 06:41:26 pm
content: its rmaed once already, it should be put down probably. i have a feeling this will end up being a financial circuit between me and a RMA place, not worth the cardboard. product sales should not need closed loop control lol.. everyone is saying its a dogrepaired, does not work out of box, missing parts... YIKESnot to mention those trollex connectors are unpleasant on the hands and I am sick of plugging them in already. If they gave me 50$ i might mess with it lol.rma = unpaid technician that needs to pay post out of pocket for mail and deal with telephone conversations, blame game, shipping etc. Also, you pay by keeping the box around in the cardboard 'might need to mail it back' filled attic. They should pay rent on that shit. Makes cleaning difficult, generates dust, acts as a moisture/insect home, etc. I don't like businesses that take warranty into account while dealing with MTBF. It should work. I refuse to keep a shipping department in my house to deal with mailing or pay for warehousing cost with my property.

author: bogdan2014
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2020, 10:41:42 am
content: Tried the resistor hack and it didn't work. I'm beginning to think that one of the rails has gone below the power monitoring IC threshold so it's shutting down the whole power supply. I has this problem before.I tested the 12V rail with a bulb and for a moment it lights up before going into protection. So at least the primary side is ok.

author: PKTKS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2020, 11:01:29 am
content: 2 cents of jambo...This "PLUS" "GOLD" PFC little **** became a **** ****The folks in Corsair RMA around here just ditched them.They are all made by 3rd part a complete crammed pile of "stuff"No surprises Intel is ditching the whole nightmare (PSUs GOLD 80 PLUS...WTF)above 500/700W ... ditching for good with the 12V only cleaner design.Above all Corsair is top of the bad list or troubleI am avoiding these over 500/700W pile of **** while thenew 12V only is not standard - HP GPUs are obviously a problemSo far only Seasonic and some 2 other brands are really capableof doing a decent over 700W in ATX housing.Too much power crammed in too little space.Too much crap standards... 80 bronze goldPile of junk and ****Last crappy detail... PFC designs do not work with semi-sinusnobreaks. They just go crazy or overheat.. In the very endresult PFC sucks... far more than non PFC half-bridge designs.That certificates 80 plus bronze *** are just garbagePaul

author: TheMG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 01:06:24 am
content: Quote from: PKTKS on March 09, 2020, 11:01:29 amWelll... not really. They've been cramming 800+ watts into form factors less than half the size of an ATX power supply in servers for quite some time now, and those units are generally extremely reliable. The technology exists, you could pack 2000W into an ATX PSU and still have it be a perfectly reliable unit.Thing is... cost is more of a concern with consumer ATX units and no one wants screaming 15,000RPM fans in their desktop PSU, so there's definitely some compromises being made as far as component choice and cooling that do affect overall reliability.Quote from: PKTKS on March 09, 2020, 11:01:29 amThere is one major disadvantage to not having PFC, especially when it comes to high capacity power supplies: significantly increased apparent power (VA), which translates to a much higher current draw.A typical 800W power supply with PFC under full load would draw in the whereabouts of 7.5A (900VA) from the mains @ 120V. The same power supply without any PFC would draw up to 12.5A (1500VA)!!! Receptacle circuits in most home in Canada and the USA are 120V 15A, so that's very little capacity left for anything else!This means you can have less computers/electronics connected to one circuit breaker, and you need a much larger UPS to be able to support the same load than you would otherwise.Considering these disadvantages I think a UPS with sinusoidal output is a small price to pay. Sinusoidal output UPS are usually better units to begin with, and the used market is flooded with UPS units that need nothing more than a new set of batteries, so they can be obtained relatively cheap.

author: PKTKS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 09:31:16 am
content: Quote from: TheMG on March 10, 2020, 01:06:24 amIndeed - but you got the point - which is not to cram high power densityinto smaller spaces... the point is doing this inside the (cheapos)competitive ATX market price class.Results are well below sanity - recent 1000W ATX I would "be confident"in just 2 brands (Seasonic - may be SuperFlower) the rest... welll the rest...You will surely cram even more 1000W into ATX housing...however I would not put my hardware under that "stuff"...My 1200W (60Vx20A) BENCH PSU is EXACTLY 4x times the space of a regularATX case.. with 3 fans being ONE a HIGH power >7000 rpm server class turbo fan..And above 15A it does get past the warm... e.g.HOT.But reliable sustainable "hot"Paul

author: PKTKS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 09:39:50 am
content: Second considerations apart ...Quote from: TheMG on March 10, 2020, 01:06:24 amIMHO PFC designs REQUIRE BOOSTS - which are damn crappy power convertersThey will raise voltages and diminish current - not to mention design concernsinherently of the boost topology. (e.g. they have a poor dynamic response)In other words.. PFCs (BOOST front ends) are doing EXACTLY THE OPPOSITEREQUIRED BY MODERN SYSTEMS.. GPU requires LARGE AMOUNTS OF FASTDYNAMIC CURRENT AT LOW VOLTAGES... - boosts regulators do the oppositeof that - raise the voltages with pathetic low dynamic current response...In the specific case passing the barrier of 500/700W (considering inrush and VAproblems) the boost topology front end is more a hassle than solution - it fitshairy heads (green) and marketing climbers...A half-bridge or more costly full bridge does the same for less than 1/3 pricemore than 10x reliability in design (less parts, less heat) at expense of more spaceand a bit less "efficient ratings"..Who really cares for that ratings? I am far more concerned having a reliablePSU which will last longer and prevent collateral faults than expending 0.001%in VA power bill...Am i considering these in all my setups from latest decade when GPUspassed the 500W barrier.. They can scale "cores" but obviously the powerdoes not scale that easy - or that cheap...P.S.: Add that the 3x triple cost of a true sine inverter REQUIRED by any PFC.You have a questionable "cost effective" to throw back on those hairy heads..Paul

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 10:02:40 am
content: What a bunch of BS in the 2 posts above.QuoteQuoteSo what?They have around 400V before converting it down. High voltage bulk capacitance needed is much lower, voltage before conversion is much more stable. PSU can work in 100-240V range out of the box.QuoteShow one?Especially one that has efficiency even remotely close to good PFC designs.QuoteMost of PFC PSUs work with modified sine just fine.QuotePower dissipation is low due to low losses/ high efficiency, so no issue with that.Quote

author: PKTKS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 10:11:21 am
content: Quote from: wraper on March 10, 2020, 10:02:40 amCOST. COMPLEXITY - Not surprisingly Intel ditched the whole crap.Although I doubt the marketing folks will let the "rating certificates" just go away... keep in mind the ATX case should not vanish overnight.Seasonic reviews and bullet proof tests are quite good..Perhaps other brands would last ... price is hard to beatAround here as said above Corsair RMA just ditched them.Bunch of problemsPaul

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 10:15:01 am
content: Quote from: PKTKS on March 10, 2020, 10:11:21 amAdded complexity is quite small and you will recover large part of the cost just by needing much smaller bulk capacitor on primary side.QuoteLOL what?

author: PKTKS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 10:18:16 am
content: Quote from: wraper on March 10, 2020, 10:15:01 amWell if you still are not aware of the new single rail ATXspecification by Intel.... just grab their pdf...A step of sanity into ATX although I doubt they will ditch PFC designs

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 10:25:59 am
content: Quote from: PKTKS on March 10, 2020, 10:18:16 amPFC has nothing to do with output voltages at all. And it's completely right to get rid of other voltages because in modern motherboards basically everything is powered from step-down converters. There are very little things which are powered from 3.3V or 5V directly. So having additional voltages is pretty much pointless. Added complexity in PSU cannot be justified by anything rather than backwards compatibility.

author: PKTKS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 10:46:12 am
content: Quote from: wraper on March 10, 2020, 10:25:59 amWell i could not get your point straight but for the record:- i have nothing against PFC designs.- thing is adding PFC design to ATX is a cost effective problemI can however put a fairly simple small example which in facti have seeing is a primary cause of failures in those quite complexand expensive recent power ATX ..I am yet to see one PFC "solution" which can cope with harmonicdistortion of the zero time current incomes... one of two:- or they just went crazy and wacko trying to compensate thehigh harmonic distortion ..- or they blew by overheating ...simple as that .. PFC is not (obviously) made for no sine feeds.Fast things from my designs and analysis to compensate the current lag...- note the insane amount of harmonics in semi-sinus feeds..- and total lack of current and long dynamic recover time...What will happen if that "bulk capacitor" dries ?no current zero voltage.. maximum conductance....geezzz... long periods of adhoc zero current are a damn hassleresults: they cost considerable more... and they fail considerable more.Paul

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 10, 2020, 11:26:51 am
content: Quote from: PKTKS on March 10, 2020, 10:46:12 amPSU fails, usually without other parts other than cap failing. Just as it will fail with faulty capacitor and no PFC.

author: timkoers
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2020, 10:32:39 am
content: A little off-topic, but can you consider posting some images of the COMM PORT and how it's connected to the various PCB's inside the device? I'm doing a little research on my own for the AX860, to see if I can still get some data out of it