Power Supply 600W FLEX PSU for 30 bucks? What you pay is what you get!

[REVOCCASES]

For one of my projects I was looking for some powerful FLEX PSU and found one supplier offering a 600W version for just EUR 30,- on Taobao. Well, I didn`t expect much but I wanted to see what I would get for that money.

Long story short: I got a thing (even under idle) hotter and louder then my hairdryer but even worse, it lacks all kind of mandatory safety features!

So please beware if an offer sounds to be good to be true. What you pay is what you get...

 

[mindad]

The general quality doesn't seem up to par for a 600w unit, but aside from that, can you point out what safety features are lacking and what we should look out for?

 

[REVOCCASES]

Well, from the components they used, you can see that it is definitely not a 600W PSU. Just for example you can see a small label on one of the transformers mentioning "Flex-250W". MOSFETS and diodes also do not match with the 600W claim. Concerning safety, a PSU should have at least over-current and temperature protection to be able to shut itself down but the circuit they used does not support these features. If you push that PSU too hard it will sooner or later blow up and damage your components or set your house on fire. If you buy a PSU, please look out that it has the relevant approvals like UL, CE, TUV, etc...