At 01:24 AM 11/21/2020, Ralf Mardorf via freebsd-chat wrote:
My experiences with modern computer power supplies aren't bad, but
my impression about switching power supplies in almost everything and
the sustainability of this approach ... voltage undersized caps etc.
isn't good.
Not sure what you mean by "sustainability" here. If you mean their
environmental
impact, well, it depends. If properly designed, switchers are more
efficient than
linear supplies, generate less heat, and waste less energy.
However, because they're
more complex and contain more toxic metals and more solder, they
have the potential
to generate more harmful waste when they're retired.
If you mean reliability, they're actually pretty close. Switchers
are more resistant
to power surges (because they can withstand higher input voltages
with no damage)
but suffer due to their complexity; there are more parts to fail.
And the part that
fails most often in power supplies - the electrolytic capacitor -
is present in both
types. (The "capacitor plague" of the last decade is still haunting
us today, because
even now millions of power supplies made with the faulty capacitors
are still in use
and/or still in supply chains. But even good electrolytics are essentially
quick-charging batteries and do fail more often than other components.)
That's why Glass's Law of Electronic Diagnosis states: Whenever you
are asked about the
failure of an electronic device, simply say, "It's the power suppply."
You will be correct about 99% of the time, and since you came up
with the right answer
before you even looked, you'll be considered to be either psychic
or a bloody genius. ;-)
--Brett Glass
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