HP power supply: fan not starting

[bigfuz]

Hi,

i got a refurbished HP 1200W power supply (HP - 660185-001 / 656364-B21). Connected it to this simple breakout board:

http://oi66.tinypic.com/sy1pgw.jpg

Switch and LED works. I can put load on it. But the fan does not spin up. Even though the PSU gets very hot. I thought those common slot HP power supplies are all compatible and the fan is auto controlled by a temperature sensor.

Is this because of an incompatible breakout board or is the fan / temperature sensor in my PSU just broken?

Thanks for any help!

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Hi,

i got a refurbished HP 1200W power supply (HP - 660185-001 / 656364-B21). Connected it to this simple breakout board:

Switch and LED works. I can put load on it. But the fan does not spin up. Even though the PSU gets very hot. I thought those common slot HP power supplies are all compatible and the fan is auto controlled by a temperature sensor.

Is this because of an incompatible breakout board or is the fan / temperature sensor in my PSU just broken?

Thanks for any help!

Surprised. The HP's a pretty bullet-proof. I've had dozens with zero problems. Contacted the reseller yet? Ya should..

My guess is the fan is dead. It gets power as soon as the supply is plugged in. Does the fan *ever* run? Since you say the PSU gets hot I assume it is providing 12V power for a while? And - define 'very hot'. The HP's at least typically get comfortably warm before the fan starts. At full load and with fan in hair-dryer mode it is still uncomfortable to touch for very long.

Once the fan does start even with DC off the fan will continue to run (assuming still plugged in) until the supply is near ambient.

[bigfuz]

Before it was too noisy to hear for me. The fan spins when i plug in. But the airflow is very minimal. Almost nothing gets blown out. That is with no load and the PSU being cold. Had it running last night with a 500W load for a good hour. The center of the metal casing was at 48C before i unplugged. At the fan i could not feel any airflow. So then i assumed it was not working at all.

Thanks for your help. I will get a replacement and try again. Too bad i was very happy with the efficiency. 10% less usage then the unit i was using before.

[leowonderful]

I'd just ask for a replacement, but I bet you could just tear the side off of the PSU and get a 120mm fan blowing on the internals and it'd work. Generally server PSUs are only loud because of the form factor, here it doesn't matter and even a $10 120mm should cool it just fine, it'll just look unsightly.

[NiHaoMike]

If that's the same as the ones I have worked with, a 120mm fan would be too wide. 80mm would be perfect.

[bigfuz]

Got a replacement. Same situation. Metal-casing was at round 50C. Fan moved almost no air. Had it running for a couple of hours in the hope of the fan spin up at some point.

It is the platinum plus version (Model: DPS-1200SB A / Rev: 11F). That should not really make a difference.

Seems like i am not the only one with this issue:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=31759372&postcount=6
http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?159,774699

I would not mind a noisy fan. But i do this temperature. You run them like this with or without an external fan, regardless of the heat and slow internal fan?

[bigfuz]

In the meantime i tried a Fujitsu DPS-800GB-3 A unit. It did not work with my adapter. Apparently the pin-out is different and it does not start.

Then i got a HP DPS-800GB A. The fan configuration is different. It has 2 fans on the side of the breakout board blowing in. The HP i got first had 1 fan on the power plug side drawing air out. This works better. The fans are pretty quiet and still push out enough heat. Unit gets warm but not hot.

[gt_addict]

Got a replacement. Same situation. Metal-casing was at round 50C. Fan moved almost no air. Had it running for a couple of hours in the hope of the fan spin up at some point.

It is the platinum plus version (Model: DPS-1200SB A / Rev: 11F). That should not really make a difference.

Seems like i am not the only one with this issue:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=31759372&postcount=6
http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?159,774699

I would not mind a noisy fan. But i do this temperature. You run them like this with or without an external fan, regardless of the heat and slow internal fan?

I got a cheap low wattage one and used the metal case (top and side part), cut a hole in it and attached a fan and running it at a slow speed.