New case - Slight burning odor?

[Ohaya]

Hi,

I bought a new case about a week ago. While I'm waiting for my new CPU, I
thought that it might be a good thing to run the power supply, just to check
things out, and I was also curious about how lound the power supply fan
would be, so I installed the CPU-less motherboard into the case, and have
been powering it on for several hours at a time (always while I'm going to
be around).

I've only done this for a couple of times, but I've noticed a very slight
"burning rubber" odor that appears to be coming from the rear of the power
supply. I was kind of hoping that it was something that would just go away
eventually, but like I said, it's been about a week now, and still seems to
be happening.

I can't detect any area of the power supply case that seems to be
particularly hot, in fact it doesn't even feel very warm.

The power supply is an "Austin" 300W, in a Supercases PC-132 case.

Is this odor normal with new power supplies?

Should I wait until I have the CPU installed? I'm guessing that the bard
motherboard (a KT7E) doesn't draw much current by itself.

Should I start thinking about returning the case/power supply and getting an
exchange?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Ohaya]

Hi,

I bought a new case about a week ago. While I'm waiting for my new CPU, I
thought that it might be a good thing to run the power supply, just to check
things out, and I was also curious about how lound the power supply fan
would be, so I installed the CPU-less motherboard into the case, and have
been powering it on for several hours at a time (always while I'm going to
be around).

I've only done this for a couple of times, but I've noticed a very slight
"burning rubber" odor that appears to be coming from the rear of the power
supply. I was kind of hoping that it was something that would just go away
eventually, but like I said, it's been about a week now, and still seems to
be happening.

I can't detect any area of the power supply case that seems to be
particularly hot, in fact it doesn't even feel very warm.

The power supply is an "Austin" 300W, in a Supercases PC-132 case.

Is this odor normal with new power supplies?

Should I wait until I have the CPU installed? I'm guessing that the bard
motherboard (a KT7E) doesn't draw much current by itself.

Should I start thinking about returning the case/power supply and getting an
exchange?

Thanks,
Jim

Hi,

Sorry, some typos in my original post ...

First paragraph, it should read "about how loud" instead of "about how
lound".

Second paragraph from the end, it should read "the bare motherboard" instead
of "the bard motherboard"...

Jim

 

[Dave C.]

Hi,

I bought a new case about a week ago. While I'm waiting for my new CPU, I
thought that it might be a good thing to run the power supply, just to check
things out, and I was also curious about how lound the power supply fan
would be, so I installed the CPU-less motherboard into the case, and have
been powering it on for several hours at a time (always while I'm going to
be around).

I've only done this for a couple of times, but I've noticed a very slight
"burning rubber" odor that appears to be coming from the rear of the power
supply. I was kind of hoping that it was something that would just go away
eventually, but like I said, it's been about a week now, and still seems to
be happening.

Wow. Ummm . . . power supplies are meant to be run with a load of some
type. Usually, this is no problem. You typically have a motherboard/cpu,
ram, hard drive, optical drive, expansion cards, usb peripherals, etc . . .
LOTS of load!!! With a very low load (one motherboard minus CPU?), I
wouldn't be surprised if you are running that PSU way out of design specs.
somehow. If someone had asked me if it was a good idea, I would have told
them . . . well, only if you really HATE your power supply. (!) I know
there are ways to put a dummy load on a power supply to test it, but I don't
think anyone would have a good reason to do that for hours at a time.

I'd advise you to stop running this power supply with (virtually) no load on
it. New electronics can sometimes smell a bit warm, like melting plastic
smell. I've never heard it described as burning rubber, but that could be
what you are smelling. After you get the rest of your components, install
all of them before you turn that PSU on again. With your new system
assembled, watch it closely. If you notice any instability AT ALL that
might be hardware related (not tied to any specific software you are running
or any specific activity), I'd suggest you replace that PSU.

I make that suggestion as:
A) You already have a funny odor which may or may not be normal
B) You've already had this PSU doing something it was not designed to do
C) A bad PSU can damage other components, so better safe than sorry

Good luck, -Dave

 

[Ohaya]

Wow. Ummm . . . power supplies are meant to be run with a load of some
type. Usually, this is no problem. You typically have a motherboard/cpu,
ram, hard drive, optical drive, expansion cards, usb peripherals, etc . . ..
LOTS of load!!! With a very low load (one motherboard minus CPU?), I
wouldn't be surprised if you are running that PSU way out of design specs.
somehow. If someone had asked me if it was a good idea, I would have told
them . . . well, only if you really HATE your power supply. (!) I know
there are ways to put a dummy load on a power supply to test it, but I don't
think anyone would have a good reason to do that for hours at a time.

I'd advise you to stop running this power supply with (virtually) no load on
it. New electronics can sometimes smell a bit warm, like melting plastic
smell. I've never heard it described as burning rubber, but that could be
what you are smelling. After you get the rest of your components, install
all of them before you turn that PSU on again. With your new system
assembled, watch it closely. If you notice any instability AT ALL that
might be hardware related (not tied to any specific software you are running
or any specific activity), I'd suggest you replace that PSU.

I make that suggestion as:
A) You already have a funny odor which may or may not be normal
B) You've already had this PSU doing something it was not designed to do
C) A bad PSU can damage other components, so better safe than sorry

Good luck, -Dave

Dave,

Thanks. I understand that switching power supplies like the ATX power
supplies need some load on them otherwise, they don't function.

With just the bare motherboard, it is turning on the power LED and the
KT7E's Northbridge fan, so I'm guessing the supply is firing up.

I'll take your advice and won't power it on again until the CPU arrives in
my hands (and then into the mobo).

Actually, it had arrived, according to the USPS, yesterday, but I never got
it , so I'm going to have to track it down tomorrow morning.

This whole thing has been a bit trying on my patience... ordered CPU 2 weeks
ago (west coast U.S.), credit card was charged on 4/2, got notification that
it was "to be received" by the USPS on 4/5, but apparently didn't actually
ship until 4/8, then the mailman claims he tried to deliver it Saturday (we
had 3 cars in the driveway) but that "no one was available to receive it"
.

Sorry for the digression, and again, thanks for the advice.

Jim

 

[sdeyoreo]

My new machine smelled lier "warm plastis" for a while. It's ok
though.

 

[Paul Hill]

My new machine smelled lier "warm plastis" for a while. It's ok
though.

Me too. It's been a couple of weeks since I built mine and it still has
a slight smell.

 

[Ohaya]

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who replied. New CPU came in yesterday, and it seems to
be working fine. I'm trying to run it constantly while I build out the
system, watching the temperature, etc.

So far so good...

Jim