Front panel keeps getting fried. Help would be MUCH appreciated.

CrazyAngelDude

New member
Hey there everyone. New here on the forums, been subscribed to the Youtube channel for a long time!

I have a bit of an issue. :confused:

I have an XFX XXX 750W that I thought was broken so I bought a new one and thought I was unlucky with the first one. Turns out this new one has the same problem as the old one. It's an XFX Limited Black Edition 1000W 80+ Platinum.

I have contacted both the reseller and XFX themselves but they can't seem to help me in any way at all except with an RMA. It's like they're clueless whether or not this even requires RMA or what the issue is here. Obviously I couldn't RMA the 750W while I was still using it as I would be without a computer for weeks, so I bought a new one when they declined to send me a temporary one while mine was being repaired. (The law in Sweden actually says if the customer has to wait more than a few days to get the problem fixed he/she should get a replacement in the meantime.)

Over to my problem. When I connect my 4-pin female molex (PSU) to the 4-pin male molex (Corsair Carbide 400R front fans) the front panel emits a smell that is everything but pleasant. It smells fried electronics. The fans work perfectly, but the button that toggles the LED's on and off does not work. I got to the root of this problem and found a tiny copper cable on the back of my front I/O panel that was fried. This copper cable is necessary for the fan LED's on and off button to work.

So I kept looking for what could have caused this, and contacted Corsair who then sends me a new front panel free of charge. I connected the modular 6-pin to the power supply, but in another port this time thinking the other might be broken, and connected the 4-pin female molex to the male one in the case. Again, the burning smell and the button does not toggle the LED's. Another copper wire fried. I explain this to Corsair, who sends me a third front panel free of charge and I have not bothered since.

I then downloaded OCCT to check voltages in my power supply and it turns out this power supply uses -12v which I thought was an old standard removed 7 years ago, powering serial ports etc. I read that it may fluctuate +-10%, so between -10.8v - -13.2v. Mine reaches -14.6v and I think this might be the issue, not sure though.

I just want to know if anyone have a clue what causes this, and if you don't, could anyone who has a XFX power supply download OCCT and check for me if yours fluctuates just as much as mine or if yours is stable at -12v all the time?

I saw a bunch of people on Youtube testing their power supplies with this program but none of the ones I have seen even has a -12v reading! It's so frustrating!

So if anyone who has an XFX power supply could do that and take a screenshot and link it to me so I see how yours fluctuates I'd be so thankful you have no clue. I've had this issue for over a year without being able to solve it and I'm not sure if it's worth performing an RMA since it may simply just be some kind of BIOS setting or incompatibility with the way my case fans want power or power supply deliver power. Maybe they should be plugged in via a male molex to a fan controller or something. I tried connecting the fans to the motherboard and the LED's started working right away. They were toggled on and didn't require me to push the broken button.

Here are some screenshots I took of how it looks for me.

negativevoltageidle.png

negativevoltagetest.png


As you can see, even in idle it fluctuates too much IF it's allowed to fluctuate +-10%.

This is on my 1000W XFX. I get the exact same readings on my 750W XFX one.

Thank you,
CrazyAngelDude
 
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Hi there, and welcome to the forums,

Since I don't have an XFX PSU I can't help you with testing, but I do have one remark and three questions: According to the ATX specs (pdf), the -12 V is actually still in there (it was the -5 V that was taken out).

Questions:
  • How would the -12 V line, which is one single wire connected to the M/B and has nothing to do with the Molex connectors (which are +12 V, Ground, Ground, + 5 V) affect the Molex connector connected to the fan controller? I'm not saying there can't somehow be a connection, I'm seriously interested in what that connection could be though.
  • I'm not familiar with OCCT (Linux user ;) ), but if I interpret the screenshots correctly, your other voltages are in spec?
  • What do you have hooked up to the fan controller?

EDIT: Could you try running the fan controller off a different (non-XFX) PSU? Or something like this?
 
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Hi Alpenwasser. Thank you for welcoming me.

Alright, let's answer your questions. :)

I don't know much about power supplies or electricity to be honest. I was just assuming the -12v had something to do with it since I read it powers peripherals and serial ports, and fluctuates very much. In the power supply where I connect the 6-pin to molex it says peripherals so that's the second reason why I assumed it was faulty.

I'm not sure if it's related to this issue at all and everything might be perfectly fine with my power supplies.

Yes, my other voltages are fine.

I don't have a fan controller. I have a front I/O panel which all cases come with. It has all the regular cables you plugin to the motherboard and two extra cables that you connect with the cables from the two front fans, that also came with the case.

The front I/O Panel:

http://www.corsair.com/en/parts/cas...placement-with-all-cables-and-connectors.html

Picture of the cable that connects to the fan cable (connected):
http://s18.postimg.org/61xkvx2bd/IMG_20130407_075359.jpg

The connectors on the front fans are not regular 3-pins.

This is what I connect the female molex from the power supply into:
http://s13.postimg.org/sc8j5zbon/IMG_20130407_075849.jpg
http://s15.postimg.org/pqfzly617/IMG_20130407_075830.jpg

The two cables from this black male & female molex goes straight to the copper cable on the front I/O panel. On the other side of the copper cable the fan LED on and off button is located. There does not appear to be any voltage/power regulators there. The power goes straight from the female molex connected to my power supply, through the molex from the front I/O panel, to the copper cable.

This is how it looks when connected:
http://s23.postimg.org/y7crzz2wb/IMG_20130407_073438.jpg

Keep in mind: When I don't have the female molex from the power supply plugged in to the molex from the front I/O panel, the fans does not work. They do not get the power to run from the cables connected to the motherboard from the I/O panel. (Those cables are only there for the power on, off, restart button etc.)

Maybe the molex from the I/O panel is supposed to be connected to this little thing, which I did not notice with my older XFX power supply, although it was probably in the box as well:
http://s12.postimg.org/jyr4fhxz1/IMG_20130407_073651.jpg

The problem here is that I have no fan controller to connect those two cables with. I should not be required to purchase a separate fan controller just to get the two front fans running and glowing without frying my front I/O panel, right?

I also only have one 3-pin CHA_FAN connector and one PWR_FAN connector (which is too far away for this adapter to reach) on the motherboard to connect the fans to so whatever I do I'll only have one fan running. The fan cable connectors themselves are also not regular 3-pins as I said so they do not attach to the motherboard CHA_FAN and PWR_FAN connectors correctly, so that's not an option. They're too short as well.

Help is still greatly appreciated.
 
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Maybe the molex from the I/O panel is supposed to be connected to this little thing, which I did not notice with my older XFX power supply, although it was probably in the box as well:
http://s12.postimg.org/jyr4fhxz1/IMG_20130407_073651.jpg

-dude that by the looks is a floppy connector. dont go plugging fans into that. please.
-your psu is fine.
these are rebranded seasonic units, the build quality inside these psu's are simply awesome.
-hate to say it but is sounds to me you are doing something wrong.
-dont force connections that arent the same together.
-another thing you said was you connected the '6pin to the molex'. why??
there are designated cables for your gpus.
-maybe post up some clearer pics. so we can all have a better look at what your problem is.
:)
 
The pictures I posted are perfectly fine. I will not buy a better camera solely for this issue.

No, I never said I connected a 6-pin to a molex. I said the cable is a 6-pin to molex, meaning one side has a 6-pin that connects to the peripheral port on my fully modular power supply, and the other side is a female molex which is used for connecting fans and peripherals.

I would never force any connectors together that aren't supposed to be connected to each other.

Kindly tell me what I'm doing wrong so I can resolve this issue.

I know my power supplies are manufactured by Seasonic, that's why I bought them in the first place.

FLOPPY CONNECTOR?!
 
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i would entirely put my faith in software readings. I know for my board the occt readings are close but still incorrect.
if you can get hold of a multimeter -
disconnect everything, turn your psu on with a paper clip. then check each individual voltage reading. the -12v should be blue, orange 3.3v, red 5v, & yellow +12v.
I have a xfx 750w, has been running fine for the last 6 months. OCCT wont give me 12v/-12v for some reason.
ill have a look in my shed for the multimeter and do my own readings on my psu.
 
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