As if something else could possibly go, it did. Friday morning I was chatting with a couple of my friends in the doorway to my shop when I got a good wiff of burning insulation. I traced it to my computer and more specifly my PSU. As I really didn't have the time to trouble shoot, I just shut it down and left it. When I came in that afternoon I fired it back up. After about 2 mins it just went bye bye. Total power supply failure. This unit is/was 6 weeks old and right up to it crapping out was doing just fine. I zipped right out and got an Allied 400 watt jobber and installed it. Boy has it got some LONG cables. Made hidding all the slack a real excercise in anger management.
Having only paid $29.95 for the now defunct unit, I decided it would cost more to ship it back that I gave for it. I conducted a post mortum inspection. Fans both ok, so now I have a 120mm and another 80mm to add to my collection. But what I found on the PCB side of the board would make a grown man cry. Some of the shodiest workmanshipI have seen in a while. The main wiring buss looks like a rookie built this. I truely hope someone from MGE-USA will read this. And to think I told a friend of mine mine was running ok and to go ahead and get one. He's scared to death of the thing now and is putting his old PSU in the new psu case and putting it in the computer he has. Totally un-acceptable craftsmanship. Extreme Gamer Vigor 400.
This link will take you to Photobucket and a pic of the POS. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v707/setishock/Vigor400001_thumb.jpg
About a 1/4 of the way from the left end near the top is three connect points that look like they have been done by hand. You flip the board over and it's one of the regulators.
Part number>(top line)> FEP6DT (bottom line)> 9804
Just goes to support my saying> Shop around for reputable products. I didn,t and I was lucky it didn't fry my system...

I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid...

The directions to the part of the board where the regulator is should have read> From the right end. Sorry...

I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid...

A PSU for thirty bucks! Obviously there would have to be some shortcuts taken in the manufacturing process. Most commonly, it's in the Quality Control area. It's cheaper to replace a failed component than to througherly test and inspect each item before it leaves the factory. This is especially true when people (such as yourself) don't bother sending them back.

My guess is that the final soldering was done by a rookie. Some components can be damaged by the wave soldering process and require hand soldering. In the absense of a (proper)QC inspection,it slipped through to the retail market.

Another possibility is monkeys are cheaper than people!

Assure your friend that his is probably OK.

Or it could be a refurbished unit. It was being sold at Microcenter in the bargin bins they have in the store. But it was in the factory cellophane.
Could just be I got a lemon.

I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid...

IMO you got what you paid for. If it wasn't you, it would be someone else. The vendor knew by offering those PSU's for that price they may be able to sell something they should have junked unfortunately the buyer is the one left to deal with the short end of the stick in all this.

B4 you criticize a bigger man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, you're a mile away, and you have his shoes.