BFL custom made PSUs burnt in europe

[candoo]

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

Europe - different power network and burnt power supply unit

    Hello, today I have received my 60GH/s unit and I noticed that after connecting it to the european power network via special adapter, my power supply unit got burnt. This is something I wasn't thinking about before and looks like that in my country this is impossible to use these kind of devices.

    So, my question is, what can I do with this situation? The Single Unit looks unharm and I would like to ask is it possible to send it back to BFL Company and have my money returned?

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:

looks safe!

[1714490357]

1714490357

[1714490357]

1714490357

[1714490357]

1714490357

[Bitweasil]

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...

[candoo]

Can I just say that you are an asshole for using a highly misleading thread name.

burnt does not mean fire? iam not native english

Hi -

We are working to start shipping soon and have a backlog in the queue, so new pre-orders will likely ship sometime in June, sooner if possible.

Thanks for your patience!

Brian
BF Labs, Inc. Customer Service"

[bcp19]

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

[Flying Hellfish]

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...

Hey, yes I did use the PSU that came with the Unit. It says: Input 110/220V AC 50/60HZ, Output 13V 31A.
I am from Poland and electricity here is is 220volts, 50 Hz AC.
 I did use the regular flat pin to EU round pin.
 I do not have that kind of regular desktop pc psu :/ if I could get one, what vats should it have?

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

[candoo]

btw. this is not me

[Unacceptable]

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

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

Lets see if my answer helped him 

[Photon939]

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

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

Lets see if my answer helped him 

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

[Inaba]

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

[dogie]

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

Did you tell him to? Ah yes, gg.

[Unacceptable]

I thought those PSU's were automatic/detect type 

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

[DeathAndTaxes]

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.

[candoo]

I thought those PSU's were automatic/detect type 

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

Yeah it seems unclear from the OP but if it is an ATX power supply 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.

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

[Unacceptable]

I thought those PSU's were automatic/detect type 

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

Yeah it seems unclear from the OP but if it is an ATX power supply 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.

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 

[SgtSpike]

This is the advised help from bfl:

looks safe!

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.

[SLok]

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

Europe - different power network and burnt power supply unit

    Hello, today I have received my 60GH/s unit and I noticed that after connecting it to the european power network via special adapter, my power supply unit got burnt. This is something I wasn't thinking about before and looks like that in my country this is impossible to use these kind of devices.

    So, my question is, what can I do with this situation? The Single Unit looks unharm and I would like to ask is it possible to send it back to BFL Company and have my money returned?

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:

looks safe!

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.

Thank you very much SLok for all your advise. I did send a support message, the person adviced me on ATX style power supply before the next supply unit from BFL arrives. Any idea what is that ATX and how to make it work?

Moreover, I found out that my deskopt computer has a power supply unit with 2x PCI-E with 6 pins in it. I, however, do not know how to make it working. If I disconnect it from my PC, then the power unit does not power up. Any ideas or help?

One more question, do I really need 2x PCI-e with 6 pins to power up the BFL device? Or will one be enough?

If you can use that desktop psu, do it! You need both PCIe connectors on the 60GH/s. You can make a short between the green and black wire on the main atx plug, the one that normally connects to the mainboard of a pc. Connect those with a paperclip or wire, permanently. Do that before you plug the atx to the 220Volt net. It should start right up.

[PuertoLibre]

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.

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.

[Bogart]

This is the advised help from bfl:

looks safe!

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.

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.

[bcp19]

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

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

Lets see if my answer helped him 

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).

[bcp19]

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.

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.