Scan Refurbished PSUs...any thoughts?

[Tschebyshev]

Howdy folks,

I'm moving over to England from Australia in a month and I plan on buying a PSU and a few other parts when I settle in. I noticed that Scan offers a few "refurbished" PSUs (Corsair HX650, Corsair AX750; would post links, but I'm barred from doing so!).

Does anyone have any experience buying something along these lines from Scan? Was it good/bad? Would you do it again for another build?

Thanks in advance

[Domestic_Ginger]

Not looked myself. I look at OEM and warranty. Warranty wpuld ne my first concern. Corsair are in NL iirc so carriage is a pita.

650/750w are pretty large.

[shaithis]

I've bought a lot of B-grade and refurbed stuff in the last couple of years.....including some stuff from Corsair (although not a PSU). TBH, if the price is right it's worth taking a punt IMO. Especially on a device like a PSU which don't go wrong very often. I'd bet a lot of them just had dead fans in them.

[Wordsmither]

I wouldn't chance a refurbed PSU under any circumstances

I'm overly cautious and dread the whole RMA deal as it is; best not to tempt it, right?

[pastymuncher]

The ones the OP is on about are:-

Corsair HX650 £51.18. The OEM is Seasonic, one of only three psu's that Seasonic still make for them.

Corsair AX750 £74.10. Also Seasonic built but this model was discontinued last year and replaced by the Platinum rated AX760.

Warranty is only a year on these so if it fails after that you have had it. Personally I wouldn't touch a refurbished psu with a bargepole. Yes there are decent savings to be had but these units have been refurbished/repaired by Corsair so may have already failed and been fixed. That 1 year warranty just isn't enough either.

[Tschebyshev]

I wouldn't chance a refurbed PSU under any circumstances

I'm overly cautious and dread the whole RMA deal as it is; best not to tempt it, right?

To be fair, you could also have the RMA drama with a brand new PSU.

The ones the OP is on about are:-

"Insert URL Here" The OEM is Seasonic, one of only three psu's that Seasonic still make for them.

"Insert URL Here" Also Seasonic built but this model was discontinued last year and replaced by the Platinum rated AX760.

Warranty is only a year on these so if it fails after that you have had it. Personally I wouldn't touch a refurbished psu with a bargepole. Yes there are decent savings to be had but these units have been refurbished/repaired by Corsair so may have already failed and been fixed. That 1 year warranty just isn't enough either.

Those were the PSUs I was looking at!

I'll agree that the 1 year warranty, compared to the 3-7 year warranty that Corsair offers on their brand new PSUs, isn't very good and that's the biggest trepidation that I have in buying the refurbished stuff. Then again, there are a number of brand new PSUs that only offer 1-2 year warranty. So I'm still a little undecided.

Thanks for the input, I might end up coughing up a bit more money to get a PSU with a half-decent warranty, perhaps an EVGA Supernova, or something along those lines, which has really good customer support plus 120 months of warranty.

[MrComputerSaint]

If there are decent savings to be had then I'd go for it. I've got a PSU tester somewhere (I got for less than £15 on ebay) I'd dig out before plugging into my mobo. I'd just check all the voltages were correct.

Although if there wasn't a warranty I'd stay clear.

While working we've used companies to refurb other PSU's - for servers and SANs etc - and the refurbs have gone fine and gone back into the respective machines and are still performing to this day.

[Agent]

If there are decent savings to be had then I'd go for it. I've got a PSU tester somewhere (I got for less than £15 on ebay) I'd dig out before plugging into my mobo. I'd just check all the voltages were correct.

Which one is it? The vast majority of "PSU Testers" are little more than a bunch of LED's that show there is some voltage

[Spreadie]

Yeah, I have a PSU tester too, but it's absolutely worthless for stability, load and efficiency tests - PSU test gear is a hefty bit of kit.

These have a 12 month warranty and no moving parts - I'd take a punt if I was in the market for a new PSU.

[MrComputerSaint]

Which one is it? The vast majority of "PSU Testers" are little more than a bunch of LED's that show there is some voltage

I honestly can't remember the brand. It's been a while since I used it and can't find it and yes, it doesn't mention anything about the load over time or in general.

So yeah, just a bunch of LED one though

[Saracen]

....

Does anyone have any experience buying something along these lines from Scan? Was it good/bad? Would you do it again for another build?

...

I've no experience of these, in large part because I wouldn't buy a refurb'd PSU.


I've no reason to doubt Scan's ability to get a PSU refurbed properly, but unless it's done right, and thoroughly, a PSU failure has the ability to do a LOT of very expensive damage elsewhere in the system.

It is an economy that, for me, just isn't worth taking.

I won't buy refurbs, from Scan or anyone, but I would say that a good refurb is a safer bet than many 'budget' PSU's, which personally, I won't touch with a bargepole. I've even had jobs where someone wants me to spec up, acquire and build a PC for them, and when they've 'economised' on the spec with cheap PSUs, I've walked away from the work entirely. If it blows, I know who'll get the blame, and be expected to sort it all out. And I'm not prepared to chance it.

So, personally, while probably a lot better than 'budget' PSU's, it's an economy too far for me. And yeah, brand new well-known name units can blow too, but (IMHO) it's much less of a risk.

So, I'll pay the extra £20-30 and buy new units. For the peace of mind alone, it's worth it.

[Tschebyshev]

I've no experience of these, in large part because I wouldn't buy a refurb'd PSU.


I've no reason to doubt Scan's ability to get a PSU refurbed properly, but unless it's done right, and thoroughly, a PSU failure has the ability to do a LOT of very expensive damage elsewhere in the system.

It is an economy that, for me, just isn't worth taking.

I won't buy refurbs, from Scan or anyone, but I would say that a good refurb is a safer bet than many 'budget' PSU's, which personally, I won't touch with a bargepole. I've even had jobs where someone wants me to spec up, acquire and build a PC for them, and when they've 'economised' on the spec with cheap PSUs, I've walked away from the work entirely. If it blows, I know who'll get the blame, and be expected to sort it all out. And I'm not prepared to chance it.

So, personally, while probably a lot better than 'budget' PSU's, it's an economy too far for me. And yeah, brand new well-known name units can blow too, but (IMHO) it's much less of a risk.

So, I'll pay the extra £20-30 and buy new units. For the peace of mind alone, it's worth it.

Good point. Thanks for the input.

[MrComputerSaint]

I've no experience of these, in large part because I wouldn't buy a refurb'd PSU.


I've no reason to doubt Scan's ability to get a PSU refurbed properly, but unless it's done right, and thoroughly, a PSU failure has the ability to do a LOT of very expensive damage elsewhere in the system.

It is an economy that, for me, just isn't worth taking.

I won't buy refurbs, from Scan or anyone, but I would say that a good refurb is a safer bet than many 'budget' PSU's, which personally, I won't touch with a bargepole. I've even had jobs where someone wants me to spec up, acquire and build a PC for them, and when they've 'economised' on the spec with cheap PSUs, I've walked away from the work entirely. If it blows, I know who'll get the blame, and be expected to sort it all out. And I'm not prepared to chance it.

So, personally, while probably a lot better than 'budget' PSU's, it's an economy too far for me. And yeah, brand new well-known name units can blow too, but (IMHO) it's much less of a risk.

So, I'll pay the extra £20-30 and buy new units. For the peace of mind alone, it's worth it.

I think if there was a little known about the testing of the PSU after it had been refurbed it might curb that feeling of not wanting to risk it. If for example, if it was a simple fuse that had gone, replaced said fuse and then tested to capacity for 8 hours or something like that it would alleviate the worry.

I totally agree with your first point.
I remember those "gold" PSU's from ebuyer from many years ago, I went through 1 a month for 3 months! Spent ~£60 on PSU's and then I said screw this and spent £70 on a tagan 420 watt. Which still works fine after years and years.

I suppose it does come down to the risk you want to take vs the cost and available funds.

on a slightly separate note...
I've been thinking of buying a 2nd hand GPU from ebay, although I am wary as it could be something that is, yes, cheaper than new, however it could have been used at full load doing GPU mining for 6 months which could have overheated a few times and could have lost integrity.
Again, it's about cost vs risk. There are GPU's on ebay where someone is genuinely upgrading and have used it for a bit of gaming in their rig.

[Saracen]

I think if there was a little known about the testing of the PSU after it had been refurbed it might curb that feeling of not wanting to risk it. If for example, if it was a simple fuse that had gone, replaced said fuse and then tested to capacity for 8 hours or something like that it would alleviate the worry.

....

I suppose it does come down to the risk you want to take vs the cost and available funds.

....

On the funds, absolutely. Though .... given that the difference is pretty modest, I gave doubts about "available funds" being much of an issue. What is an issue, IMHO, is people wanting a bargain, to cut costs where they can. And .... me too.

I do entirely agree that knowing more about exactly what "refurbed" means might well settle even my nerves. I bought a £400 "refurbed" lens for my camera a while back, rather than £900 for a new one. But .... it was "manufacturer refurbed", by Canon, with a 12-month Canon warranty. And, if it died, it wasn't likely to blow up the csmera with it.

I'd have more confidence in, say, a Enermax PSU refurbed by Enermax, than by any retailer or any other unknown source. Or, as it happens, I gave a friend that repairs PSUs for a living. I know the equipment he uses, have used him myself for 20+ years, and he's been doing it for about 50 years. I would buy a refurbed unit ftom him, because I know his abilities and expertuse, and trust him. So yep, it's about confidence.

Also, in the absence of more info, "refurb" could cover anything from replacing cable-ties and putting a new manual and packaging on an otherwise brand new DSR return, to a near-complete rebuild of a thoroughly blown unit. While many/most are probably closer to the former than the latter, it's not knowing the background that makes me nervous. Frankly, I'd rather trust my mate's refurb than even an manufacturer refurb. But maybe that's just me. I do tend towards hassle-avoidance, and put value on that, which is why for the relatively small premium on new units, I wouldn't muck about with refurbs. The £500 saving on that lens, however .... that's different. That was worth it.

[Spreadie]

I'd have more confidence in, say, a Enermax PSU refurbed by Enermax, than by any retailer or any other unknown source.

Are you saying you would only trust Enermax or are you using them as an example? Do you mean you wouldn't trust (for example) Seasonic or Coolermaster to refurbish their own products? Just wondering, because these are listed as "factory refurbished".

[Saracen]

Are you saying you would only trust Enermax or are you using them as an example? Do you mean you wouldn't trust (for example) Seasonic or Coolermaster to refurbish their own products? Just wondering, because these are listed as "factory refurbished".

An example. I have Seasonic PSUs, also Delta, and one or two others but mainly Enermax. I've never tried Coolermaster power supplies, though I have used other products.

I'm not a PSU expert, but I would draw a distinction between 'brands' I believe to have a good reputation for supplying new units, and those that design and build. Just because a brand has good name recognition for decent product doesn't necessarily mean they're competent to 'refurbish', especially where that company buys in and rebadges.

To be honest, I don't particularly trust any company to refurbish a PSU, because the price difference typically isn't enough for me to be inclined to take the risk. The point I was making was that I'd rather have a unit refurbed by Seasonic, Enermax, etc, that take a chance on unknown "budget" brands, because the latter I don't trust at all. Some may be okay, but I don't know enough to trust them. Also, for any brand buying in and badging, there's no certainty that what they're badging this month will still be what they're badging next month. At least with companies that dedign and build, it's their own product. But in reality, though I'd prefer a quality refurb to an unkniwn budget brand, I'm still not likely to buy either. I'll stick with brand new items from brands I trust.