Recently purchased an AT case to start building my DOS build. Case came with a Star 230W Switching power supply. I can’t find much information on this PSU. Here are a few pictures.
I'm no expert in PSUs, but usually an old one shouldn't be trusted with expensive and rare cards. I've never heard of this brand either.
Usually the brand on the two big capacitors on the primary side should indicate the quality.
Good brands use Japanese caps, lower quality PSUs use Chinese ones. It makes a huge difference if you find a Rubycon or a Chingfeng 😀
Also a good indicator is the fact that it can keep good voltages under load. It should output clean 5V/12V. If it's lower, say 4.7V/11.5V then it's not good. The proper way to actually test it would be connecting to an oscilloscope and check the ripple (noise) under load.
I am even less of a PSU expert, but the unpopulated spots where components would be expected likely points to a cost reduced build compared to what was probably the original design .
EDIT: Not having a model number written on the sticker does not exactly inspire confidence either .
aaronkatrini wrote on 2020-07-19, 06:25:Good brands use Japanese caps, lower quality PSUs use Chinese ones. It makes a huge difference if you find a Rubycon or a Chingfeng 😀
The above PSU hardly uses any capacitor, so it should be safe 😀
It's not decent at all, might not explode and catch fire right away, but I wouldn't trust it powering more than a few bucks worth of hardware.
aaronkatrini wrote on 2020-07-19, 06:25:Also a good indicator is the fact that it can keep good voltages under load. It should output clean 5V/12V. If it's lower, say 4.7V/11.5V then it's not good. The proper way to actually test it would be connecting to an oscilloscope and check the ripple (noise) under load.
Hmm, are the Bios reads accurate? I have a P4 build and it often shuts down suddenly whenever I push a bit more for it. Temps are stable for the most part but then of a sudden they read 85ºC and I know it'll shut down in a few minutes if I don't reboot. The jump is so fast that's practically impossible to be an accurate read (Open hardware monitor reads with 1s intervals and the jump is in a single interval). I've noticed in the Bios the 12V often reads 11.4V but at that stage there's barely any load. I don't know how can I safely (isolated from the rest of the components) stress test a PSU and don't have an oscilloscope but I suspect it's not in a good shape and atm I don't have another to swap.
well, actually half of the PS is missing ...
I just consider these junk PS 's as an electronic kit to be completed 😀
I had one exactly like yours (Star brand) that exploded a month ago and took out some expensive components. I was stupidly procrastinating replacing it with a Startech. Junk it immediately.
staticelement wrote on 2020-07-19, 03:38:Recently purchased an AT case to start building my DOS build. Case came with a Star 230W Switching power supply. I can’t find much information on this PSU. Here are a few pictures.
No transient voltage suppression. No line filter. Schottky diodes in a barrel package using the inadequate heatsink as a conductor.
It's junk.
All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder
A stupid name is usually a dead giveaway. Star, super power computer (it's an actual brand!), Sparkle power, Bestec, Everbest, Pro power, Sunpower, Truefaith and the rest of the chinese junk that was dangerous to use even as new. Forget them and use more expensive but reliable brands: anything made for HP, Compaq or IBM; Antec, CFI, Hipro.
Final rule: do a full recap even if it looks and measures okay.
Miphee wrote on 2020-07-20, 06:11:A stupid name is usually a dead giveaway. Star, super power computer (it's an actual brand!), Sparkle power, Bestec, Everbest, Pro power, Sunpower, Truefaith and the rest of the chinese junk that was dangerous to use even as new. Forget them and use more expensive but reliable brands: anything made for HP, Compaq or IBM; Antec, CFI, Hipro.
Final rule: do a full recap even if it looks and measures okay.
Sparkle and Bestec are fine, except for the ATX-250-12E and the like which had a flawed 5vsb rail.
All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder
gdjacobs wrote on 2020-07-20, 04:16:staticelement wrote on 2020-07-19, 03:38:Recently purchased an AT case to start building my DOS build. Case came with a Star 230W Switching power supply. I can’t find much information on this PSU. Here are a few pictures.
No transient voltage suppression. No line filter. Schottky diodes in a barrel package using the inadequate heatsink as a conductor.
It's junk.
What do these missing components look like? do you have an example of a good one?
IBM Valuepoint 486 DX4-100, Opti 802G, 50 MHz FSB, Voodoo1+S3 864, Quantum Fireball EX 4.0 GB, Seagate Medalist 1.6 GB, 128 MB FPM, 256k L2
Astec is another good maker.
Cheers,
Great Northern aka Canada.
gdjacobs wrote on 2020-07-20, 15:56:Sparkle and Bestec are fine, except for the ATX-250-12E and the like which had a flawed 5vsb rail.
And the SPI-200 that I have 3 of, all with bulging caps and burned wires placed too close to the current limiting resistor. They all smell really bad.
Yeah, Sparkle is good despite the name, those units are made by FSP. In addition to the brands mentioned I can add Delta, a very reliable manufacturer. Also the StarTech AT units that were available brand new until not long ago are well built.
well it all pretty much depends on the OEM, there's brands that have absolute trash units and very good respectable OEM built ones in their lineup side-to-side, sometimes hard to tell just by name.
Bestec is not best either since I mis-remembered "Astec" because it rhymes with Bestec by memory as I had Astec long ago in use.
FSP is what know this, had this in one PC and later on that thing died. Got replaced with Seasonic that lasted long time and still working, after another PSU with large fan but got failed again.
Cheers,
Great Northern aka Canada.
If in doubt about a PSU, the best rule of thumb is weight: good PSUs are chock full of heavy components and heatsinks. Bad PSUs tend to be full of air (at best). It's almost always best to take the heavier PSU, regardless of whatever is written on the label. Unless some really unscrupulous factory poured cement into the unit...
Wow.
Some fake Dell power bricks is weighted with steel waste parts.
Cheers,
Great Northern aka Canada.
dionb wrote on 2020-07-20, 22:31:If in doubt about a PSU, the best rule of thumb is weight: good PSUs are chock full of heavy components and heatsinks. Bad PSUs tend to be full of air (at best). It's almost always best to take the heavier PSU, regardless of whatever is written on the label. Unless some really unscrupulous factory poured cement into the unit...
Let me guess, Sun Pro?
All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder
gdjacobs wrote on 2020-07-20, 23:18:[...]
Let me guess, Sun Pro?
No, "Hantol" - not that brand name means a lot in that segment.
