Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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~El~Jefe~
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Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Fri Jun 27, 2014 4:50 pm

Hello,

I have not posted in a couple of years I am guessing :)

My psu is not turning on. Now, this sometimes happens. I rarely turn off the psu, maybe 1x every couple of months.

It has done well with my system, AMD 1090T and AMD/ATI 5770. I play a lot of games on it, run it fairly high, many times i pin the system's usage.

There are two lights on the back. TEMP and POWER

TEMP is Green
POWER is Red

Manual online says this Power Fault.

Is the psu dead? It is 4 years old.

If it is dead, is there an equivalent psu I could use? i was reading recomended psu's. I really do not want a fan'd psu if i can avoid it. i would like 450-500+ watts if possible.

anyone know what could be making this code? could something be wrong that it is connected to? or is it faulting itself? or saying line is faulty?

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Jun 27, 2014 7:10 pm

Welcome back.

Unless you are overclocking/overvolting, or have a ton of other stuff in the PC, your stressed load power is in the 280W range.

If you want fanless, there's the Seasonic 400W. If you want a hybrid (fan goes on with higher load), there's:
- Corsair RM 550
- Kingwin LZP-550
for the short list. There's more...how much do you want to spend?

If the Silverstone is 4 years old, is it under warranty?

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Fri Jun 27, 2014 8:10 pm

do you think it is dead?


and, i am wanting to get a nvidia 760 gtx at some point this year.

i was thinking about the 520 seasonic. I dont know if i need that. i hear some people say i need not just the total wattage but enough power on certain lines moreso.

shrug?

And thank you for the welcome back

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Jun 28, 2014 12:26 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote:do you think it is dead?

It might be: can you try it with a different mobo?

Anyway, I second Steve's advice, even for a GTX760 the Seasonic X-400 Fanless is all you should need.
A Rosewill SilentNight-series 500W is the second best (just because it's a tad overpowered for your needs).

As already said, welcome back el-jefecito! :wink:

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:17 am

Don't know if it's dead...you might pursue a conversation with Silverstone. Or, try it with another mobo.

GTX 760 needs a 6-pin and an 8-pin PEG connector.

TDP based stressed load power: CPU (125W), GTX 760 (170W), everything else - call it 50W. So, 350W. Probably 300W while gaming.

Older ATX spec required significant 5V and 3.3V current. However, 12V line current is what runs the PC world these days and any PSU that claims to be Haswell compliant derives the other voltages from the 12V line. So, by default, if you get a Haswell compliant PSU, you get a device that can source all or nearly all of it's rated power to the 12V line.

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:07 am

Oh wow. Very cool :)

I can save 20-40 dollars going for the 400. I am going to do that then if I cant troubleshoot the psu.

I am having a hard time finding the warranty info. I will pursue that route of course. The nightjar 450 was really good to me on 24/7 duty for a few years.

Is it safe to use on a different motherboard?

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Jun 28, 2014 10:43 am

http://www.silverstonetek.com/warranty.php?area=en
It might be 3 years...but your particular model isn't listed. There is a support email address on the page - [email protected]

Start a dialog with them, find out if it's under warranty, ask what this particular error message means. That will lead you to whether it's the PSU or mobo or other item causing the fault.

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Jun 28, 2014 11:41 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote:Is it safe to use on a different motherboard?
AFAIK yes, it's safe.

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Sun Jun 29, 2014 12:28 pm

Hm. Ok. well, I will first find out what the fault code means. tahnk you

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:16 am

Code means:

Popped Capacitor. Tech on phone told me it was dead.

I will miss this thing. It beats out the seasonic whiner.

I just bought a 460 seasonic whiner and have yet to install it. I figured i didnt need the 520.

I recommend silent silverstones if they make one again. some say the one they have now is a rebadge so i didnt get it.

Nightjar had 0 whine and lasted being tortured for 4 years. Not bad. I have had 2 seasonics that died on me in the past way sooner with fans in them.

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:51 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote:Code means:

Popped Capacitor. Tech on phone told me it was dead.

http://www.badcaps.net/ :idea:

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by Vicotnik » Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:07 am

+1

Replacing a cap is not that difficult. If you haven't learned basic soldering yet you now have a golden opportunity. Save that beloved PSU! :) (Read up on safety first)

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:31 am

cant i potentially electrocute myself?

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by xan_user » Fri Jul 11, 2014 5:49 am

good starting point. (ive never replaced a psu cap, only in monitors and flat panels, so no first hand advise here..)

http://www.overclock.net/a/capacitor-sa ... r-supplies

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Jul 11, 2014 6:06 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote:cant i potentially electrocute myself?

With reference to soldering, you could just accidentally burn your fingers (or more likely the whole PSU PCB), eventually painful but very far from being lethal.

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by Vicotnik » Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:29 am

The insides of a PSU can hold lethal charge though, big caps and such. Take precautions. No power connected while messing around in there of course, and make sure the big caps aren't charged up.

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by MikeC » Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:30 am

Actually, the bad cap problem is/was quite widespread, not just limited to PSUs, motherboards and other electronics.

Years ago, I bought a cheap (~$100) modest drill press for my workshop from Canadian Tire, one of our longer-lived commercial institutions. The drill, obviously cheaply made in China, worked well enough for a while, then a couple years later, slowly started to lose power... till one day it would not even start. Just buzzed when the power was applied. I checked all the mechanicals, the belt, etc., without success. I went back to Canadian Tire for help, and of course they'd stopped carrying the thing long ago & could only suggest buying a new one. I abandoned it for a while, resorted to slow careful hand-drilling when necessary. But the drill press bugged me, and in the end, I tore the thing apart -- to discover that there was a large externally mounted electrolytic capacitor covered by a metal "bubble cover" on the back of the unit. This capacitor -- you guessed it -- was bulging like a pregnant thing. :shock: A bad, leaky cap. I found a Chinese replacement with slightly higher capacity & voltage rating on eBay for something like $5 delivered. Replaced it when it arrived a couple weeks later, and magically, the drill press began working 100% again, maybe with even more gusto than before! :!:

That was about 2 years ago. Still working fine.

Spot & swap out the bad caps. If the PSU has been sitting for a while, they're probably totally discharged & safe to handle. If not, then leave it unplugged with the switch on "on" -- for a few days if you want to be totally safe.

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Sat Jul 12, 2014 10:35 pm

wow. ok thank you for all the great advice. I would like to really repair it. I'll keep it on for 4-5 days and then see what's up.

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Re: Help on problem with my Silverstone nightjar/ SST-ST45NF

Post by cheater » Thu Nov 23, 2017 5:49 pm

~El~Jefe~ wrote:wow. ok thank you for all the great advice. I would like to really repair it. I'll keep it on for 4-5 days and then see what's up.
Hi. Did you have it repaired? I am encountering the same issue. I can see one of the capacitors has bulged out. I could replace it, but maybe some of the semiconductors are fried too, and that could make things more difficult for me to figure out. Let me know if you had to repair other stuff, too, please.

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