Up until now the only way to replace your power supply was to follow the instructions found here in the Wiki which requires you to modify an existing power supply. I am pleased to announce the availability of direct replacement Power Supply Units for the EXxxx Series MediaSmart Servers now being produced and sold by OverTek Ltd.
I have spent the past two weeks exchanging emails with Jon Hutson discussing the power supplies his company is currently selling on eBay. Unlike other companies that claim to sell direct replacement power supplies his company purchases power supplies, modifies them for compatibility for the MediaSmart Server and then tests them before selling them.
While NEW reworked power supplies are available Jon Hutson has also made me aware they also sell USED reworked power supplies at a reduced price and has indicated the used power supplies work equally as well as the new ones. Also, even though OverTek LTD is located in the UK they do ship international.
OverTek LTD has a 100% positive feedback rating on eBay worth taking time to review including a recent user of a MediaSmart Server. I am also happy to report that MediaSmartServer.net forum member canofunk aka Eric Kemp has purchased one of these power supplies for his EX475 and this is what he had to say about his experience.
Very positive experience with Overtek. The PSU in my EX475 died a couple of months ago, and while I’m comfortable with hardware mods (already did the E1640/RAM upgrade, VGA cable, and fan replacement), I just didn’t feel like going through the process of locating and rewiring a power supply to fit in the MSS. Overtek was one of the few options I found on eBay, and while I was initially reluctant since Overtek was located in the UK and I’m in the U.S., I decided to give it a shot. I didn’t expect to see a package for a couple weeks, but less than a week later I had a fully functional replacement that I swapped in without problem. It’s been running perfectly since February. One nice bonus about the replacement unit (at least in my case) is that it’s actually an inch or so shorter than the stock unit, which means that there’s now finally enough room for VGA cable to sit comfortably beneath the drive bays.
Finally, I am also pleased to announce that during my discussions with OverTek LTD, they agreed to offer MediaSmartServer.net forum members a 10% discount on these power supplies until the end of July 2010. To take advantage of this special opportunity or for more information about the power supplies please contact Jon Hutson via his Ebay store.
For those not comfortable with modifying a power supply using the instructions in the Wiki then having these power supplies available should prove to be a very welcome alternative.
For anyone who has purchased one of these power supplies already or is about to please share your experience.
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Article by Stephen Bruce
By day I am a Plant Engineer running a food container manufacturing facility which supplies containers to the Chinese Restaurant Industry. By night I spend my time helping others with their Windows Home Servers, working on various server projects. My other interests are animals, photography, media streaming, cultural history and linguistics. You can find me in the MediaSmartServer.net forums as Comp1962
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For me, the million dollar question is: “Is it quieter than the stock one in the EX48x series???”
@ Ryan you could also send canofunk a PM and ask him how quiet the Power Supply is as he has one
@ JohnBick ~ Your welcome and I could not agree with your more. These PSU’s have been out for a while now and I have no clue why I did not see them sooner.
YEA!!!!! At last!
Thanks for the information!
I too have purchased one of these replacement power units for an EX475 (2mb,be-2300 upgrades) and have had no problem with the new power supply. It has been stable for two weeks now. It fits the underside of motherboard, where the other one was perfectly, in fact it is somewhat smaller/shorter in length. I ordered on a Sunday/Monday, and it came Royal Mail which wound up to be turned over to USPS on our side, it arrived on Friday that week (New Jersey). I cant say enough of how good this is, as I could not see myself with the little crimpers and wiring diagrams … I was about to just chuck my little EX, so this really allowed me to prolong the life of my server. Thank you again, Overtek!
@ Matthew Miller ~ Thanks for sharing. Your feedback will help others know these PSU’s are definately direct replacements for the HP MSS EXxxx Series Servers
Matt, thanks for posting your experience. Can you comment on the noise level? Would you say that it is louder, quieter, or the same?
Ryan – as best i can recollect what the other sounded like, it seems to me that these power units are quieter or just as quiet. They are somewhat smaller and lighter. I really don’t notice it. I was just happy to have a replacement that i didn’t have to pay a fortune in tools/time to create and hope that it worked. These are just perfect and they are reasonably priced. Money well spent.
cool thanks for all the info guys. my ex485′s PSU must be going bad because it’s getting quite loud and buzzy. i blew out all the fans and everything and that didn’t help so i think it’s the PSU fan. i’m going to buy one of these and report back. i turn the thing off all the time now because the noise is so annoying.
ouch, on second thought, $113 is a bit too much with the exchange rate. i will wait until one is available for cheaper or i just decide to replace my MSS.
@Ryan they also sell one’s that have been lightly used, they work out at about $90 if you contact Overtek for the 10% discount. I think canofunk’s one is a used one which seems to be working well for him. Alternatively you can always rework your own one using the wiki page if your a fairly competent electronics engineer or experianced enthusiast. At least buying one ready done means you don’t have to worry about making a hash of it and accidentally killing the power supply you have bought to modify.
There is one other benifit to these PSU’s and they do come with a waranty. I point this out to everyone because once you modify one of the other PSU’s you actually void your waranty. The other thing to note also is that working inside a PSU is dangerous as PSU’s may have stored energy inside so if your not experienced with them then they can be hazardous to your health. So yes you can buy new PSU’s and modify them but buying a direct replacement often makes more sense.
I bought an Overtek replacement for my 470 supply. Installed easily and works well. Its probably a tad quieter than the stock unit. I bought the reworked (used) unit.
I just want to drop a note here to say thank you for your article. My HP Mediasmart Server EX485′s PSU just died a couple of weeks ago, and I was desparately trying to get it repaired/replaced. I bought a new replacement unit from OverTek. It costs US$99+$25 S/H to ship from the U.K. Unfortunately, the 10% off deal already expired. OverTek’s unit is shorter, quieter, and lighter than the original, but otherwise works perfectly. The replacement procedure is simple. Within 30 minutes, my server is back up and running, and it has been on 24×7 since. I am happy with the result. Thanks very much.
@ tmok2000 ~ Your very welcome. I know when I first discovered Overtek and started talking with them the more I found out the more excited I became. Up until that time no one was offering direct replacement PSU’s for the MSS. So to find them and to bring it to the attention of others was just the right thing to do. Prior to that the only way to get a PSU to work with your MSS would be to modify an existing PSU which is covered in the sites WIKI and its a great resource for more experienced or adventurous individuals.
A quick update:
We are now producing these PSU’s based on FSP250-50GUB(85). This PSU is an 80plus Bronze certified PSU delivering efficiencies up to 85% at 50% load. It also features ErP compliance. ErP is a European directive to lower power consumption when PSU is in standby mode. The power consumed in this mode is <1W. Previsouly PSUs in standby mode would typically draw up to 10W of power.
Feedback on noise variance.
I purchased the new power supply from Overtek entirely in hope of having a quieter ex485. I replaced the stock power supply which was noisy under no load, just fan noise but would get even noisier under what I presume to be load. The type of noise being made would change from just fan noise to a electrical whinny noise that is hard to explain but certainly even harder on the ear. I bit the bullet and paid the money for a brand new overtek figuring at least I would now have power supply fallback if something goes wrong down the track. I’m extremely pleased with my purchase, fan noise is marginally quieter, my iphone decibel check pre and post installation says about 5db quieter but it’s an iphone app so take that as unscientific evidence. What is without doubt absent is the electrical hum/whining that would be heard occasionally with the stock power supply, it’s gone…at least since installation about a week or so ago.
Overall I’m pleased with purchase, if you can spare the money and your existing power supply is noisy, do it.
Thank you for posting that feedback. Glad I was auto-replied.
You convinced me, despite the high price with the exchange rate, I’m buying one now.
@Ryan, glad you got the confirmation you were looking for. Now that I’ve got my head on the chopping block I hope you’re as satisfied with the results as I was. For me the electrical noise got unbearable. Post back with your findings, I’ll sleep easier knowing someone else got the same results.
@ Darren I can confirm that the PSU is indeed quiet and stable. OverTek does very nice work modifying these PSU’s to be compatable with the MSS.
Which one of these works for an EX487?
Can anyone comment on whether the latest version of the MSS PSU from Overtek is as quiet as the original for EX490? Low noise was an important factor for us.
And given the small but significant number of comments I’ve read here and there about original PSU failures, is it worth pre-emptively replacing the PSU, do you think?
I have one of the newer modified PSU’s from Overtek that I tested out in an EX470. I do not recall it being loud when I tested it. Thing about the PSU is you do have a supplier to contact should you need a direct replacement PSU. It would be difficult for me to tell you if it were as quiet as your PSU since I do not have an EX49x to compare it to. One thing you could do is swap out the fans between the 2 units should your original PSU fail or purchase another 40mm fan that is known to be quiet but have the same or higher CFM rating. Oh yea the fan on the PSU I have here has the fan in the front of the PSU where I believe the fan on the EX49x PSU is in the rear.
Just a quick not to say we currently have no stock due to a supply issue / error. However we will have further units available next week and a new 300W unit in a couple of weeks.
Glad you posted an update. I know you do an excellent job with your power supplies and provide a valuable option to those who desire a direct repacement PSU for their MediaSmart Servers.
hey guys
I am looking for a replacement PSU for my ex 485, I have already spent over 400 bucks trying to find the correct PSU… I keeP getting the wrong set of connectors !!! PSU looks good but will not connect to my server
the problem is that I only have 3 connectors coming off of my PSU the first one is the big 20 pin connector for the MB and the other 2 are small 16 pin data connectors….
the 2 power supply units I have received have both had several SATA and IDE drive connectors as well a a few 4 pin connectors… MORE FOR THE EX 475 I BELIEVE
anyone know where I can get the CORRECT replacement for A HP-U200EF3, HIPRO PSU??? THE ONE THAT ONLY HAS 3 CONNECTORS???
I run a state certified recycling center and most of my business info is on that box NEED HELP PLEASE!!!!
THANKS EVERYONE…
ooops…sorry everyone I was looking at the cable for the lights on the front of the box and the front usb port it was all zip tied together and looked there was 2 extra plugs coming out of the wire harness from the PSU
my bad
thanks again
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