IWILL ZMAXDP Power Supply Replacement

[wiretap]

I so recently obtained an IWILL ZMAX-DP Dual Opteron "shuttle" size PC. Part way into the Windows XP install, the power supply blew. It was caused by a crappy molex splitter that had a high resistance connection. The original power supply is a Channel Well (CWT) T43B014 (300w / 350w peak). This power supply is impossible to find -- it was made specifically for this model PC (size + dual 70mm fans to draw air through the proprietary CPU heatsinks), and there are none on the market anywhere I searched.

I decided I would give it a go at fixing it.. I had to order a new fuse and while I was at it, I would re-cap it. Well, I replaced the fuse which was blown, along with all the primary and secondary electrolytics. Plugged it back in and pop -- it blew again. There's likely a shorted MOSFET, but I figured since the power supply was so compactly built, it was not going to be worth the effort to unsolder tons of stuff to get to the components.

Here's the power supply board outside of the case:

Inside of the power supply shell:

After looking at that, I compared it to an Enhance Shuttle power supply I had on hand. (short 1U Flex-ATX power supply) It was a perfect fit. I ended up ordering a FSP400-60FGGBA FSP 400w Short Flex-ATX power supply to try to fit in there, along with some new B-gears b-blaster 70mm high flow fans. I needed to go with this power supply since it has the necessary power for an AGP graphics card, and two 89w Opterons that require an 8-pin EPS connector along with a 24-pin ATX connector.

Well, it fit perfect..

And here it is mounted back into the case:

Both heatsinks installed:

And we're back up and running!

I hope this helps someone out there who might have one of these computers with a blown power supply, or is looking to mod an existing SFF size power supply. I'll also note, when the original power supply blew, I took out both CPU's with it, so I had to replace those. Luckily the Opteron 250's were only $7each on Ebay.

 

[Choidebu]

Nevermind all that,

Part way into the Windows XP install,

XP? What? Why?

 

[wiretap]

Because it is an XP era machine? Nvidia nForce3 Pro chipset.

 

[thewizzard1]

I'm not sure if this helps, but I had my own Shuttle FF system, which used this PSU (which I still have)

CWT / Channel Well Technology CWT-220 FXC Server - Power Supply 220W, CWT-220 FXC

220W PSU For Server / Computer CWT-220 FXC CWT / Channel Well Technology CWT-220 FXC Server - Power Supply

www.pchub.com

Maybe this can help you find a compatible model?

Another recommendation - Adapting to DC-DC PSU care of @guryhwa . Highly recommended, and they are highly efficient, extremely powerful, and most importantly COMPACT. You might be able to fix a high-power 12v supply inside the case you have there (as opposed to an external brick), but you'll need to add your own fans to that heatsink.

 

[Choidebu]

Because it is an XP era machine? Nvidia nForce3 Pro chipset.

nForce! brings back many memories.. Have to say though, it's really clean. Must've been filthy before, job well done.
Do you have a use planned for an XP machine though? If I'm in your shoes I'd just go for Linux for anything, really.

 

[wiretap]

Surprisingly, it came looking brand new. Hardly a spec of dust even on the inside. The seller said it was barely used and he was the sole owner.

Use case is early 2000's workstation software, era appropriate games, and just because of the rare factor of owning one in my collection of older hardware. I'm also looking for the ZMAX-D2, which is very similar with Dual Opterons but has SLI support.

I thought about using a DC-DC power supply, but it would have been a lot more work, and deviate from the original design too much. Luckily the 400w FSP power supply ended up working really nice.