SGI: Hardware

My Fuel hasn't been powered up for about a month, but it always stays plugged in. Right now it's not turning on, there's no light or fan activity, and nothing is showing up in the terminal. Shirley it's the PSU and not the motherboard. Hopefully.

So... It looks like there's four different Fuel PSU part numbers out there. Mine is the Sparkle 060-0202-001 460W.

When looking for a replacement, should I stick with the exact part number? Or would one of the 430's suffice?

Here's its hinv: http://forums.nekochan.net/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13314

Sparkle made power supplies for SGI?
Dear lord. No wonder they fail so much.

pentium wrote: Sparkle made power supplies for SGI?
Dear lord. No wonder they fail so much.

Yeah that seemed kinda odd. It's the first time I've ever paid attention as to what brand it was.

87Porsche wrote: Yeah that seemed kinda odd. It's the first time I've ever paid attention as to what brand it was.

Yeah - its almost enough to revive speculation that an EPS power supply from a PC could be rewired to work <maybe even a Sparkle >.

If you have the chance a few close up photos of the label, interior and any makings on the PCB would be very interesting.

recondas wrote:

87Porsche wrote: Yeah that seemed kinda odd. It's the first time I've ever paid attention as to what brand it was.

Yeah - its almost enough to revive speculation that an EPS power supply from a PC could be rewired to work <maybe even a Sparkle >.

If you have the chance a few close up photos of the label, interior and any makings on the PCB would be very interesting.

Here you go. I thought I had thrown it away.

I took the cover off and looked around with a flashlight. Didn't see any bulging caps, scorch marks, etc. Then again I don't usually take this stuff apart. I've got a lead on a replacement 430 and 460, but........ I may just part the thing out at this point.

87Porsche wrote:

recondas wrote: Yeah - its almost enough to revive speculation that an EPS power supply from a PC could be rewired to work <maybe even a Sparkle >. If you have the chance a few close up photos of the label, interior and any makings on the PCB would be very interesting.

Here you go. I thought I had thrown it away.

The power supply from your Fuel is labled as a Sparkle FSP460-60PFN. Sparkle/FSP Group has a data sheet for the FSP460-60PFN power supply used in your Fuel / shown in your photo. A cursory google search shows it sold new for $70 to $80, and there's currently one on eBay at $25: http://cgi.ebay.com/FSP460-60PFN-460W-A ... 45f87284e1

No longer a stocked item, but <minus the part number tags added by SGI> the photo of the label of the Sparkle FSP460-60PFN on NewEgg's web site appears to be nearly identical to the label in your photo: 87Porsche, could you post a photo of the the connectors that attach to the Fuel motherboard? SGI might have used a non-standard wiring arrangement in the connector, but other than that I don't see anything that would suggest that the SGI version isn't identical to the generally available PC version.

No guarantees, but it might provide a reasonably priced route to revive your Fuel.

What was the reason for the later higher wattage PSU? Higher CPU speeds, more expansion cards?

zski128 wrote: What was the reason for the later higher wattage PSU? Higher CPU speeds, more expansion cards?

I don't know that SGI has ever publicly given a reason, but your list of suggestions sounds like it includes most of the usual suspects.

Here you go...





I came across that same auction. It was tempting...

The voltage/color values are the same on the label of the SGI FSP460-60PFN Sparkle PS and the Sparkle PC version of the power supply (with the same FSP460-60PFN part number). Having a similar photo of the connector and wiring bundle of the Sparkle PC power supply might help resolve what <if any> changes SGI made in the motherboard connector pinout.

If there aren't any visible changes, I'd say there's at least a reasonable chance the Sparkle PC unit might be a direct replacement of the (currently) hard to find Fuel power supply.

If they the voltage/color values in the connector bundle differ, then a few minutes spent with a DMM, a Fuel <and a working Sparkle power supply> might make re-wiring the connector bundle in the PC version a possibility.

EDIT : If anyone feels particularly brave <or otherwise desperate to find a reasonably priced Fuel PS>, an eBay seller currently has ten of the non-SGI Sparkle FSP460-60PFN power supplies listed for $49.99 (US) - with a 'make an offer' option: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sparkle-FSP460-60PF ... 5642a756a4 Check for yourself, but the connector doesn't appear to be wired to the same color-code combination as 87Porsche's Fuel example, so some work with a DMM is probably still in order.