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PSA: A cheap power supply almost cooked a client's vintage synth board
Honestly, I was fixing an old Juno-106 in my home shop last Tuesday, and the thing just would not power on. I figured the issue was a dead regulator, so I hooked up my bench supply to test. Ngl, I grabbed a generic 12V brick I had lying around instead of my usual unit. The second I plugged it in, I saw smoke and smelled that awful burnt plastic smell. The brick was putting out nearly 18 volts due to a bad cap, and it fried a custom IC on the voice board. I had to spend the next four hours sourcing a donor chip and explaining to the client why the repair bill just went up by $80. Has anyone else had a generic power supply fail in a way that caused more damage? I'm sticking with my Agilent from now on.
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rosepark5mo ago
My friend lost a whole batch of family photos last year because of a cheap USB hub that fried his external drive. It feels like we're surrounded by these little time bombs just to save a few bucks at the checkout. That burnt plastic smell is something you never forget, isnt it? It makes you wonder how much electronic waste is caused by these faulty parts failing early. Do you check the voltage with a meter before trusting any generic adapter now?
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fionat554mo ago
@rosepark Completely get the meter thing but honestly I just avoid generic stuff now after a cheap power strip nearly caught fire. @susan_allen that lamp story is terrifying, sparks in your hand is a hard pass. Burnt electronics smell is burned into my brain from a broken fan motor years ago. Modern "budget" tech is such a gamble, sometimes saving money costs you way more in the end.
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susan_allen5mo ago
Ugh, that's the worst feeling. It's like everything is built to be disposable now, not just power supplies. I bought a budget desk lamp last month and the switch sparked in my hand. Makes you question every little plug-in thing, doesn't it?
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garcia.wren5mo ago
Honestly that burnt plastic smell comment took me back. I had a phone charger melt into my outlet last year and it smelled like toxic popcorn for days. Ngl now I get nervous leaving anything plugged in overnight.
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