My Antec TPN-650 "exploded"!

[Man-wai Chang to The Door (24000bps)]

The Antec TruePower New 650W was bought on 08 Oct, 2009!

Smoke came out of the power supply. When I removed it from the case,
some light yellow liquid came out. Fortunately, the motherboard was not
harmed.

So... what could that light yellow fluid be?

--
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/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
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[Jan Alter]

The Antec TruePower New 650W was bought on 08 Oct, 2009!

Smoke came out of the power supply. When I removed it from the case, some
light yellow liquid came out. Fortunately, the motherboard was not harmed.

So... what could that light yellow fluid be?

--
@~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
/( _ )\ (x86_64 Ubuntu 9.10) Linux 2.6.32.7
^ ^ 18:00:01 up 4 days 2:06 0 users load average: 1.24 1.31 1.43
???! ???! ???! ???! ???! ???! ????? (CSSA):
http://www.swd.gov.hk/tc/index/site_pubsvc/page_socsecu/sub_addressesa

Electrolyte from a capacitor.

 

[Man-wai Chang to The Door (24000bps)]

Smoke came out of the power supply. When I removed it from the case, some

Electrolyte from a capacitor.

Why did the capacitor leak then? Improper humidity change (I am living
along the sea)?

--
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[Man-wai Chang to The Door (24000bps)]

Electrolyte from a capacitor.

BTW, isn't electrolyte from a capacitor acidic? My skin was not burnt....

--
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/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
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[Jan Alter]

BTW, isn't electrolyte from a capacitor acidic? My skin was not burnt....

--
@~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
/( _ )\ (x86_64 Ubuntu 9.10) Linux 2.6.32.7
^ ^ 21:48:01 up 4 days 5:54 0 users load average: 1.15 1.13 1.16
???! ???! ???! ???! ???! ???! ????? (CSSA):
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You've made an assumption that the discharge was as a result of a leaking
capacitor. That might have been the problem and caused a short or something
else could have caused the 'explosion' that led to the leakage after the
fact.
I don't know how acetic the electrolyte is to cause burning. Get a hold of
of some litmus paper and you can determine it for yourself.

 

[Paul]

The Antec TruePower New 650W was bought on 08 Oct, 2009!

Smoke came out of the power supply. When I removed it from the case,
some light yellow liquid came out. Fortunately, the motherboard was not
harmed.

So... what could that light yellow fluid be?

The article here, has a section on "Electrolyte".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolytic_capacitor

"The electrolyte is usually boric acid or sodium borate in aqueous solution..."

Plenty of information to keep an amateur chemist busy. That list only covers
the basics, and there may be more to the electrolyte, than is described
in that section. For some of the compounds listed in that section, they
have a distinctive smell, which would hint at whether they're present or
not.

The second article on Wikipedia of interest, is the Capacitor Plague one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

And the links at the bottom, include this article. Apparently, the pH can
shift to basic (higher than pH 7), when a capacitor is failing or has
failed. So the drooling liquid might not be acidic at the moment. It
all depends on what kind of solution chemistry problem has happened.
If the capacitor failed mechanically, the liquid might be in good
shape and slightly more acidic.

http://www.dfrsolutions.com/pdfs/2004_Electrolyte_Hillman-Helmold.pdf

In terms of liquid chemistry interactions with human skin, pH isn't the
only consideration. Consult an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for more
details. There is an example here of an MSDS for a particular electrolyte.
This might not be the same as your capacitor, but it illustrates the
basic idea.

http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/msds/HighVoltageParts.pdf

"Ethylene Glycol 80 - 90%
Boric Acid 5 - 10%
Azelaic Acid 2 - 8% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azelaic_acid)
Ammonia 1 - 3%
Minor Additives < 0.5%

Solubility in Water - Soluble in warm water
Appearance and Odour - Brownish liquid with glycol odour.

Mild skin irritation.
Strong eye irritation. [if you get the liquid in your eyes...]

Skin: Wash with soap and water
Eye: Immediately flush eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes."

HTH,
Paul

 

[Man-wai Chang to The Door (24000bps)]

something else... but it is a bit beside the point, a visual

inspection of the PSU would tell you if a capacitor had this
happen but if it is under warranty still then opening it
might mean removing a tamper sticker which may void the
warranty.

Warranty voided if seal opened. I can't open it. I got a replacement
from Altech (Antec's Hong Kong distributor), but interestingly, this new
unit does *NOT* have that "Warranty voided" sticker.

Does it mean someone in Altech have tempered with the power supply and
re-packed with plastic?


--
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/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
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[Man-wai Chang to The Door (24000bps)]

In terms of liquid chemistry interactions with human skin, pH isn't the

only consideration. Consult an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for more
details. There is an example here of an MSDS for a particular electrolyte.
This might not be the same as your capacitor, but it illustrates the
basic idea.

http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/msds/HighVoltageParts.pdf

"Ethylene Glycol 80 - 90%
Boric Acid 5 - 10%
Azelaic Acid 2 - 8% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azelaic_acid)
Ammonia 1 - 3%
Minor Additives < 0.5%

Solubility in Water - Soluble in warm water
Appearance and Odour - Brownish liquid with glycol odour.

Mild skin irritation.
Strong eye irritation. [if you get the liquid in your eyes...]

Skin: Wash with soap and water
Eye: Immediately flush eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes."

Thank you. More than what I wanted to learn about that "light yellow
liquid".

--
@~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
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[~misfit~]

Warranty voided if seal opened. I can't open it. I got a replacement
from Altech (Antec's Hong Kong distributor), but interestingly, this
new unit does *NOT* have that "Warranty voided" sticker.

Does it mean someone in Altech have tempered with the power supply and
re-packed with plastic?

You have been given a 'refurbished' unit.
--
Shaun.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's
warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchet, 'Jingo'.
Nota bene: 'Return to' email is never checked. I changed email clients and
realised that I don't have a record of the password for that account.

 

[Man-wai Chang to The Door (24000bps)]

You have been given a 'refurbished' unit.

OK, but why was the sticker not being put back on?

OTOH, Antec US replied my email concerning the sticker. Antec US asked
me to take the unit back to Antec's HOng KOng distributor and have the
sticker applied.

--
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[Man-wai Chang to The Door (24000bps)]

I should have just posted the reply directly. Here it is:

Trouble Ticket ID: 204947
Description: RMA missing "Warranty Voided If Opened" sticker
Comment By: Eric Chan
-------------------------------------------------------
Comment: Hi Man-wai,

Please bring it back to Altech and have them put the warranty seal back
on for you. Otherwise, they might think you are the one who opened it.
Please do this ASAP.

Thank you
Antec Support Team

 

[~misfit~]

I should have just posted the reply directly. Here it is:

Trouble Ticket ID: 204947
Description: RMA missing "Warranty Voided If Opened" sticker
Comment By: Eric Chan
-------------------------------------------------------
Comment: Hi Man-wai,

Please bring it back to Altech and have them put the warranty seal
back on for you. Otherwise, they might think you are the one who
opened it. Please do this ASAP.

Thank you
Antec Support Team

Yes. You were given a refurbished unit and their tech forgot to put a
sticker on it when he re-assembled it.
--
Shaun.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's
warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchet, 'Jingo'.
Nota bene: 'Return to' email is never checked. I changed email clients and
realised that I don't have a record of the password for that account. :-/