Don't buy Antec Power supplies

zabado78 · Post by **zabado78** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:13 am

Well, that's my advice. I'll tell you my story(and sorry for my english).

I know there's a thread about Antec NeoHe 430 power supplies, but i want to open a new one about my bad experience.

Like others that bought a P150 case, i've got a NeoHe 430 power supply. i bought my p150 a year and half ago. After some months of usage, my power supply mysteriously died.Just a day stoped working. After contacting Antec i got a RMA number. They indicated me to send the power supply to Holland. Well, i live in Spain so that cost me(shipping costs) 30 euros.

After a month of waiting for my new neohe, i got it. But after some months of usage, it died too. So i dediced to send it again to Holland, wasting 30 euros, but this time i bought a seasonic s12-430. Which it's still working very well. The returned NeoHeo from last RMA was stored for future use.

This weekend i needed my neoheo to test a new PC, so i used my stored neohe 430, and.....it didn't work. it was dead on arrival. So i got very furious.

Yesterday, i sent an email to Antec, telling them the whole story. And his response was a stupid automated mail with the RMA form attached. No Pardon, or Sorry, even my ticked was closed so i can't respond.

Do they think that i should send them back(by third time) the power supply and waste 30 euros.

Should i start some legal actions against them? Because due to their defective product, i wasted a lot of time(two months) and 60 euros, and they want to waste again 30 euros more, so total shipping costs are greater than the value of the powersupply.

Also, can silentpcreview, remove from recomended power supplies, a power supply that has so bad quality control as cheap ones.

Should Antec just pay shipping costs for a RMA power supply that was DOA(It was their fault)?.

What do you think?

TheZeroorez · Post by **TheZeroorez** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:21 am

Legal issues will be useless, to start off with.

Actually, is the power socket you are using for the computer grounded?

By the way, don't forget that if Antec helps you out with RMA they're being nice to you, as they don't have to. Usually, RMA goes via the reseller

Oh, and SPCR really isn't going to change the list because only you have had some bad experiences

zabado78 · Post by **zabado78** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 11:07 am

Actually, is the power socket you are using for the computer grounded?

What do you mean?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 1:47 pm

This weekend i needed my neoheo to test a new PC, so i used my stored neohe 430, and.....it didn't work. it was dead on arrival.

it's possible that it is not dead. if I recall correctly the Neo He is very sensitive to the distribution of power within the PC, if possible you could try adding an extra hard drive and some fans, see if it starts. The Antec Neo HE thread has more suggestions that may help in this matter.

Oh, and SPCR really isn't going to change the list because only you have had some bad experiences

how about the bad experiences of the 200-300 people who have complained about the Neo HE? For sure, SPCR has never recommended a PSU with such a high failure rate, except maybe the Antec Phantom. By comparison, I can count on the fingers of my hands the number of times I have heard of a Seasonic S12 failing in the way that the Neo HE's have. If they won't remove it, there should at least be a strong warning about the Neo HE's problems.

zabado78, if you don't want to buy Antec power supplies again, there are many other brands which are much more reliable, for example fortron, seasonic, silverstone, etc.

meansizzler · Post by **meansizzler** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:56 pm

Reason I never got the NeoHE, was casue of all the bad reviews, if I did get one, it would probably be dead on opening it.., I don't have it, never used it, but I think it's one of those products which really is unreliable..

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:21 pm

Greetings & welcome to SPCR!

zabado78 wrote:
Actually, is the power socket you are using for the computer grounded?
What do you mean?

The AC outlet where you plugged in the Antec power supply -- is it grounded with a third contact?

Also, if you load the PS too lightly, then it might not start; as was pointed out. Try loading it with another hard drive and/or another optical drive, and see if that helps?

victorpst · Post by **victorpst** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:25 pm

IMHO it is important to post such experiences as it keeps the companies on their toes for the fear of loss of customers. Legal route is always there, but posts on reputed forums (like SPCR) tend to afftect the companies more.

Though I fell that you have used a rather improper title for your post. It should have been something like 'Poor RMA from Antec' or 'Bad Neo 430 Supply' etc.

I have been using Antec supplies since ages and only one of them came DOA, that too bitten by a Rat (probably the mistake of the local warehouse rather than Antec). I once had an issue with Antec SOLO cabinet which was solved in a just about satisfactory manner.

Even I will post here if I come across a problem like yours. But try to change the title if that is possible. With the current title the substance is lost. I hope I am making sense here..... sorry if not!

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 11:39 pm

theres a whole thread dedicated to just this sort of thing. theres no reason to spam up the forum with individual posts.

how do you not know if your outlets are grounded? i wouldnt be suprised if all this was nothing more than User Error.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:56 am

Here's more from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_A ... nd_sockets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Schu ... socket.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Dome ... _B_USA.jpg

You get the idea: three prongs or metal contacts for power and protective earth, just two contacts for unearthed power. 'Grounding' is important for user and device safety, as it provides a secure outlet for excess power. Grounded devices should operate more reliably, as they can use all their intended safety mechanisms.

My old no-name PC case had a detectable current running through it when I plugged my PSU into an ungrounded outlet. I could feel a slight vibration with my hand when I touched the sides. That vibration was more or less gone once we got grounded outlets in that room.
--

Regarding Antec PSUs: mostly complete bollocks. You can add Sonata II Truepowers to the list of dud PSUs. Bad quality of power and short lifespan. They've just recently entered the business though, and immediately started off on the cheapo path - Corsair did the right thing and bought working stuff off of Seasonic. Buy Corsair!

This message was not approved of, commissioned, paid for or otherwise influenced by the Corsair corporation in any way, except their wise spending decisions and proper PSU design and quality of production thereof.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 8:04 am

Aris wrote:theres a whole thread dedicated to just this sort of thing. theres no reason to spam up the forum with individual posts.

I agree. This one is locked.