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Optiplex XE/980 power supply wires lost insulation
I have 19 Dell Optiplex XE SFF computers that were manufactured between 2009 and 2013, and I've noticed a severe defect with insulation falling off of the wiring on the power supplies with early (<10000) serial numbers.
What is the appropriate way to report this problem to Dell. Is this a known issue?
Is there some specific date code/serial number where they fixed this problem?
I've had those set aside for a while and presumed I'd be able to fix them in the future. I finally disassembled one and found that the wires on the interior of the power supply were in even worse shape:
I should note that the metal part of the wires are fine, it is rather the insulation on the wires that is falling apart. Clearly, these are a fire/electrocution hazard and un-fixable; they *will* be disposed of. Any slight bend in these wires causes the coating to break, so it isn't just parts of these wires, it is the same along the entire length.
The specific wires with the breakage problem are labeled:
AWM STYLE 3385 18AWG VW-1 105 deg C 300V E236360 YUAN TAI
AWM STYLE 3385 22AWG VW-1 105 deg C 300V E236360 YUAN TAI
The wires on the power supply fan, the ground wire, and the positive and negative wires to the transformer and outlet plug are not breakable, nor do they have the same markings reported above.
The date codes of the Power Supplies I've found with this problem are R1003 (Serial No. 00002749), R1006 (Serial No. 00005511) and R1010 (Serial No. 00009700):
I've cross-posted this to StackExchange as well.
JOcean
9 Legend
9 Legend
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12.3K Posts
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November 16th, 2018 14:00
That is absolutely caused by heat and age. Having worked with electronics in many applications before retirement, I have seen that happen for the aforementioned causes. And I agree, the power supplies are unsafe and must be disposed of.
vallismortis
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November 18th, 2018 05:00
I agree, it really does look like heat and age, but these wires are only 7 or 8 years old. I have power supplies from 1993 that don't exhibit this kind of problem. The rest of the wires in these systems are just fine, so this problem is only happening to these specific wiring harnesses from the power supply (and not just internal to the power supply, as evidenced by the first photo - it can't be a heat issue that close to the front of the computer).
DELL-Alasdair R
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754 Posts
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November 20th, 2018 03:00
Hi vallismortis,
Please send me a Private Message(click on the envelope icon at the top right of the page) with the service tags of the affected systems and as much detail as you can about the environment and circumstances that the systems have been used in.
Thanks.