Bitcoin Forum

Quote from butterflylabs forum  (this happens if you have a fake CE mark on your unit)



https://forums.butterflylabs.com/post-sales-customer-service/4680-europe-different-power-network-burnt-power-supply-unit.html


This is the advised help from bfl:

http://deron.meranda.us/create/case-modding/avocet/water-pump/atx-power-bypass.jpg looks safe!

The green line is a very low amperage sense line that, when pulled to ground, turns on the PSU.

That's a perfectly sane way of powering on a computer PSU...

burnt does not mean fire? iam not native english

So you plugged a 120V item into a 220V line and something went poof?

No he plugged a "voltage auto sensing" power supply sent by BFL in and it went poof.

I know I know its always the customers fault...


https://forums.butterflylabs.com/post-sales-customer-service/4680-europe-different-power-network-burnt-power-supply-unit.html

btw. this is not me

Our power is 120/220 @ 60 hertz,his power is 120/220 @ 50 hertz.

That's where the problem could be,frequency is lower  8)

Lets see if my answer helped him  :D

Frequency does not matter (within reasonable limits) for most switchmode power supplies. Input power is rectified to DC and smoothed by capacitors. Buyer probably just got unlucky and got a bad power supply. If the insides of the little single PSU are any indication, I wouldn't run a regular single from the original power supply either.

I run my little single and other miners from a 750W psu I bought for my GPU bitcoin miner two years ago

I'm guessing he didn't switch it to 220v before plugging it in.

Did you tell him to? Ah yes, gg.

I thought those PSU's were automatic/detect type  ???

Far as I know most are nowadays................  ::)

Yeah it perfectly clear from the OP but it would appear the power supply is standard ATX PSU.  right?  

I haven't seen a manually switched ATX power supply in about ten years.  Power supply companies hate them because you know some x% will forget to switch it and that just means x% more RMAs.

IF BFL is actually shipping manually switched (god I would hate to see how inefficient those low end pieces of garbage are) power supplies to customers in Europe without either setting them to 110V or putting a warning sticker on the plug connector well that is just sad.

pretty sure it was a custom build psu by BFL. Usual without a manual so its pretty difficult for some people. Especially if its not  CE certified

He was using thier "brick",& those usually are auto sensing,most of my PC PSU's are not & have the tiny little switch  ::)  My PC PSU's are at least 2-4 years old.............

But here in the US 220 volt is a very rare outlet in most bed/living/kitchen/bath rooms  ;)

Two things I want to note here:
1) This was NOT advised help from BFL.  This was advice given by a forum member, not a BFL employee.
2) It is perfectly safe to use a paperclip to jump a PSU in this manner.  You can touch the paperclip while the PSU is running to no ill-effect.  I have two such examples running in my house to power my singles.

Wow, trying a Xian for a refund? Calling my solution, to a guy asking how to power up an atx psu without a motherboard, after I gave him the link btw to the tech support form for his failing psu, BFL's answer. It's not gonna work "kennstenich", the new anti BFL troll.

Sounds like a fire hazard with a potential for the loss of human life. (in my opinion)

Hope it fails gracefully....then again...apparently not.

It may be safe but it sucks.  You're gonna bump it and the PS will turn off.

Use a real jumper plug you can get on ebay for a few bucks that won't come loose.

50Hz vs 60Hz  would not cause anything to go poof.  While the lower frequency would cause the power supply to run a bit warmer than usual (and thereby shortening it's lifespan) frequency alone would never instantly burn anything up.  My laptop has run off of 50Hz in Japan, 60HZ here and 400Hz off of aircraft power to no ill effect.  I did fry a power supply in Dubai when I plugged it into a 220V socket (fortunately it was not plugged into the laptop at that time).

I have 8 computers in my house, none of which are over 6 years old, every single power supply has a 110/220v switch.  Dell, Acer, HP... all of them have a switch.  I even checked the Thermaltakes I bought less than 2 years ago to power my GPUs and all of them have this big red slider switch to move between 110/220.  Don't know where you get your auto-switching PSUs from over the last 10 years, but it's obviously nowhere near me.


I find it funny that since it is BFL we are dealing with here that customer error has become BFL's fault.  When I was in the Navy, we'd invariably have someone miss a switch and blow a power supply.  I was acting as a Systems Operator when this happened on a brand new Dell.  I personally called Dell and explained the problem and their response was they could not RMA for customer error.  Fortunately the replacement only cost $25 and had free shipping.  I even just called Thermaltake and asked about getting an RMA on a unit accidentally plugged into 220 and was told they did not RMA for customer error, but they could fix it for a fee.

But, hey, it's BFL, it ALWAYS their fault.  ::)

Why promise if you can't deliver.

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view4/1994456/read-my-lips-o.gif

Say it with me.

BFL is just


SHADY!

Thank god you're not a businessman yourself, hate to see such unporfessional behaviour towards a competitor.... Oh, wait... you ARE a businessman....

TSK TSK

You are a hypocrite and clearly a fanboy.

You seem to have a problem with Bicknellski's unprofessional behaviour and need to point it out but you clearly don't apply the same standards to you beloved Joshua.  The example below how to act professionally to a competitor.

I see, so if 1 person does a wrong it's okay to then also do a wrong in response to that wrong.  ::)

You are a typical hater.  You refuse to see both sides of things.  I however am not a fanboi, I am a realist.  BFL does not have the best track record, and they have taken abuse after abuse after abuse.  I don't have anywhere near the patience Josh has, I'd've been calling you all monumental assholes over a year ago.

The sad point is hate does nothing but cause an untenable atmosphere for all involved, yet you and others like you just stoke the flames for no other reason than because you can.  "We expect" becomes "This is a 100% absolute guarantee!".  Someone makes an impassioned statement and has 4 words quoted making it sound like the opposite of what was said.  I personally wish Inaba would stop posting on here as the trolls go rabid and you have nothing but vitriolic hate spewing for hours afterwards, and then the troll back-patting over thier comments begins.

Bick's suppliers failed to come through, kind of like BFL, yet he gave refunds.  Why?  Cause he already KNEW how he'd be treated if he didn't.  He'd been doing to BFL what others would do to him if he tried to work through his problems, so he took the easy way out and refunded everyone and walked away.  Takes a real big man to quit and walk away.

Steamboat(the bigger man) decided to take BFL's path, he asked who wanted a refund and who wants to wait.  I've already see the rabid dogs snarling over his 3 days of trying to work things out before posting, god help him if the chips get delayed yet again.  BUT, he's not BFL, so it's ok if his suppliers have problems.

The point of all of this is that yes, BFL fucked up, as have many other startups on this forum.  But BFL is still working towards the goal line while the others have disappeared.  We've GOT to have a scapegoat!  There's nobody else left!!!  Damn you guys are pathetic.

Take it outta here boys.

 Par for the course for anyone shilling for Butterfly Labs; a staggering lack of self-awareness and meta-cognition.

I think it is pretty clear he lacks integrity. Shady just plain shady.

Guessing that those rejected BFL orders in Europe were possibly a good thing given this thread. Are BFL shipping something that is potentially dangerous?

A disposable plastic spoon is dangerous if you're clueless about how to use it properly.

Voltage switches on universal power-supplies are extremely common - even my aftermarket laptop brick has one 115/230 on it.

I have a stack of PSU's, from 500w-1200w in my parts room, none of witch have a switch. I have ONE single dam psu in my house that does, and its beige.

I had a look, and out of a stock of 20 PSUs (laptops, MiniITX case PSUs, PC PSUs new and old) and NONE have a switch.  I've never seen a switch on a power brick. 

But, hey, if some piece of shit American stuff has switches on it, then everything in the world must be the same.  Oh, hang on...  ::)

I havent seen one either since 2002, and that was a £6 one.

The problem with BFL custom PSU is that the switch is somewhat hidden on a side of the PSU. You can check the specs on the bottom - it says "INPUT 110/220V AC  50/60Hz", then u can plug in the cable without setting eyes on the side. It is preset to 110V on units shipped to Europe and the PSU will get damaged immediately if plugged right in. Thats not likely on any other commercial PSUs.