PS2 What is the Bad Part in Early PS2 Slim Power Supplies That Caused a Recall

[finalman]

Just wondering what was the actual bad component in early PS2 slim power supplies that caused a recall for them detailed here.

Following my PS2 FAT in a PC case mod here I'm currently doing a PS2 slim in a PC case mod here and need to disassemble a PS2 slim power supply to put it in a PC power supply. I really don't want to do this to a known good power supply and have come across a power supply with the issue. If I use that power supply I can also replace the component that overheats to fix the problem.

Anyone know the actual component that needs replacing.

 

[bazzarre]

Just wondering what was the actual bad component in early PS2 slim power supplies that caused a recall for them detailed here.

Following my PS2 FAT in a PC case mod here I'm currently doing a PS2 slim in a PC case mod here and need to disassemble a PS2 slim power supply to put it in a PC power supply. I really don't want to do this to a known good power supply and have come across a power supply with the issue. If I use that power supply I can also replace the component that overheats to fix the problem.

Anyone know the actual component that needs replacing.

i can't say for sure but i can tell you what i was told at the time.
before xmas 2004 my partner was trying to get one for me and she was told that they had been recalled due to inadequate cooling,she eventually got one(slim) that had been ordered but not collected so it was a merry xmas in the end.that slim is still going strong today so
whatever the problem was,it didn't affect this one.i got this info second hand so i can't vouch for it's accuracy but it might be a place to start.

 

[60fpshacksrock]

I have had multiple slims. Two SCPH-70012 models including my current one and they never stopped working with me.

 

[Mario87]

The issue was most likely not down to a single bad component, but overall poor thermal design in the aim of cost savings. They say it was overheating…most likely just insufficient cooling around the switching MOSFETs would be my guess.

However you say you want to disassemble the power supply to put into a PC supply case for your mod, all I can say is DO NOT mess with power supplies if you do not know what you are doing, they can injure or even kill, even if powered off the caps can store a lot of energy! If you must mess with one ALWAYS safely discharge the bulk decoupling capacitors (usually located just after the full bridge rectifier).

Also, PC supply cases tend to be metal and accept 3-pin power cables with an earth connection, the PS2 slim supply was double insulated if I'm not mistaken and hence only used a 2-pin power cables with no earthing. How do you intend to properly earth the supply to the PC supply chassis for safety? There is likely no chassis earth points on the PCB you can tie off of, only Live & Neutral, this will leave the PS2 supply floating at a different potential than that of your PC PSU case and no protective earth for your PC case mod at all.

If you do not have a proper solution to put in place for the above then quite simply DO NOT open the PS2 slim supply to put inside a metal PC PSU case. Mains voltage is no joke.

I work with 3-phase 400VAC supplies (designing, testing, etc) for a living and even I am very wary when dealing with such things. I have seen them fail and if not for protective barriers put in place people would have been seriously injured or worse.

 

[finalman]

PC supply cases tend to be metal and accept 3-pin power cables with an earth connection, the PS2 slim supply was double insulated if I'm not mistaken and hence only used a 2-pin power cables with no earthing. How do you intend to properly earth the supply to the PC supply chassis for safety?

I will be putting the PS2 power supply directly inside an old PC power supply. The earth wire/pin will be bonded to the PC power supplies metal chassis.

The PS2 power supply will be sitting on nylon standoffs and I will use nylon/felt washers to Isolate it's circuitry from the PC power supplies metal chassis. The PS2 power supply already has 2 large mounting holes and I have drilled a 3rd one. No traces on the pictured side or no components on the other side will touch the securing screws.

 

[Mario87]

The earth wire/pin will be bonded to the PC power supplies metal chassis.

I think you didn't understand when I said " ...and hence only used a 2-pin power cables with no earthing", the PS2 slim PSU has NO EARTH, the mains supply cable has 2 pins going into the PSU, Live and Neutral, no protective earth at all!

If you connect your chassis to Neutral then you have just created an earth leakage path, if you are lucky and have an RCD in your house it will trip the breaker, if you are not lucky and have no RCD then you could be making your entire chassis at whatever potential neutral is above earth in your region.

A lot of neutrals are within a few volts of earth, but they can be much higher, as neutral is only there to provide a return path for the current in the system.

When they say you have 220VAC mains that is 220VAC between live and neutral, but between live and earth it could be much higher if neutral is floated to some higher voltage.

Neutral should never, EVER be connected to earth. The fact you state you will connected a non-existant earth pin to the PC supply metal chassis is quite worrying and should make you step back and think if this is really something you should be doing. Never mess with mains power when you cannot tell that neutral and earth are not the same things.

I say this for your benefit, not to be an ass, it's ultimately your life on the line here.

 

[finalman]

I think you didn't understand when I said

My wiring will be like:

1. Live pin on the PC power supplies AC input will be connected the PS2 power supply Live trace. The live trace goes through a fuse on the PS2 power supply pcb.
2. Neutral pin on the PC power supplies AC input will be connected the PS2 power supply Neutral trace
3. Earth pin on the PC power supplies AC input will be connected to PC power supplies metal frame.

Obviously for safety reasons I need to use a 3 wire power cable from the wall outlet to the PC/PS2 power supply.

This is exactly the same way as regular PC power supplies are wired.

Below is a Pic.

Brown - Live
Blue - Neutral
Yellow - Fuse
White - Caps

Interesting I noticed with the caps one is connected directly to live before going through the fuse. The other side connects to neutral through another cap. On all other power supplies I've looked at the cap is always after the fuse.

This could be bad if both caps fail shorted I'd have a direct short between live and neutral. I'll probably move the cap to the other side of the fuse for my safety.

 

[finalman]

OK so I decided not to use that power supply as a just in case measure.

Anyway I cracked open another power supply and found out the mounting holes that I'd planned to use don't exist on the different model power supply. So I've had to completely re-think how I'm going to mount the power supplies so that I can quickly mount any replacements if the one in use fails.

So I'm looking at getting custom 3d printed holder brackets made up. Now I'm fine with making the 3d model but I don't know where to go to get them made up or what 3d print material to have them made out of. The material it gets made from must be an electrical insulator.

I'm looking at basically a 10mm solid cube with a 3mm round hole through it and a 10x2.5x1.5mm rectangle subtracted from the cube where the power supply PCB edge inserts. The cubes will be placed around the edges of the power supply PCB and secured to the PC power supply frame with 3mm bolts.

Now is a 3d printed model appropriate for my purpose or should I be looking at different manufacturing process? Obviously it has to be cheap.

Can someone please point me in the right direction here.

 

[bazzarre]

OK so I decided not to use that power supply as a just in case measure.

Anyway I cracked open another power supply and found out the mounting holes that I'd planned to use don't exist on the different model power supply. So I've had to completely re-think how I'm going to mount the power supplies so that I can quickly mount any replacements if the one in use fails.

So I'm looking at getting custom 3d printed holder brackets made up. Now I'm fine with making the 3d model but I don't know where to go to get them made up or what 3d print material to use. The material it gets made from must be an electrical insulator.

I'm looking at basically a 10mm solid cube with a 3mm round hole through it and a 10x2.5x1.5mm rectangle subtracted from the cube where the power supplies PCB edge inserts. The cubes will be placed around the edges of the power supply PCB and secured to the PC power supply frame with 3mm bolts.

Now is a 3d printed model appropriate for my purpose or should I be looking at different manufacturing process? Obviously it has to be cheap.

Can someone please point me in the right direction here.

I'll upload a pic later...

i do a lot of 3D printing,i dont know if it's the best process for you but i'm thinking it probably depends on what print medium you are using.in my job,there are different media for different required properties(eg,one that is suitable for casting in metal using the "lost wax" method) all printed on the same printer,so i think that if you can find a medium that fulfills your requirements im pretty sure they would work.
certainly the method is sound,we can print a full set of screw retained teeth in one piece to go straight into a patient's mouth and you can imagine the hammer it takes.