Need Supermicro replacement parts, where to get for reasonable price

[lpallard]

Hello guys,

So it seems that a plethora of my fans and PSU decided to need replacement more or less at the same time and my girlfriend cant stand it anymore. So.... I need to replace the noisy stuff, until then, the entire rack is shutdown.

• Freenas server (Supermicro SC836 chassis): I can hear an alternating high pitch noise coming from one (or both?) of the redundant power supplies. They're also loud, but I can deal with "white" noise, just NO whine or high pitched noise. I can also hear a whine coming from inside the chassis, maybe a chassis fan? I will pull it from the rack and open the chassis to confirm its not the PSU's whine bouncing back inside of the chassis... The PSU modules are PWS-801-1R. Not sure yet about the fans but once I open it up I'll pull them... (Looking at the forums, I believe they are FAN-0125L4 & FAN-0126L4).
• PfSense router (Supermicro CSE-512L-200B): The non-redundant PSU fan started to loudly hum about a month ago... I myself cant stand it because this noise seems to pass thru the walls... I close my office door and bedroom door, we can clearly pick it up.... The PSU is PWS-202-1H.

I am in Montreal, Canada.

• Supermicro has everything on their eStore, but they dont ship to Canada
• Amazon doesnt carry the PWS-202-1H but has some second hand PWS-801-1R. They also seem to carry the fans (FAN-0125L4 & FAN-0126L4), but pictures are shady (some are not even Supermicro's fans although the ad says the right product number)
• Ebay has gone mad a few years back, and most of the items are outrageously expensive and shipping is just insane (50USD for a 80mm fan????)
• Newegg has gone to "sh*t" a few years back and now are selling from all kind of re-sellers and their prices are just absurd. For example, the 200W PSU goes from 295CAD (cheapest) to 1025 CAD (most expensive)..... I guess they scale the price based on demand like amazon???

Where do you guys get your "genuine" supermicro replacement parts?

 

[i386]

Germany/Europe

Used:
Ebay (can be a hit and miss)

New:
geizhals.de, it started as a website for comparing prices but it includes a lot of information about the products, links to different online shops, has an english version
sona.de

 

[lpallard]

@i386 : Nothing in America? I just fired an email to Supermicro to ask about where to buy... Lets see what they say.

I also asked for "better" parts. I know the PWS-801-1R modules are loud, and I will upgrade them to SQ model (pending Supermicro's confirmation based on my chassis and PDU serial numbers).

Same for the case fans. I just opened the chassis, the fans are FAN-0094L4 (mid chassis) and FAN-0062L4 (exhaust).

 

[i386]

Same for the case fans. I just opened the chassis, the fans are FAN-0094L4 (mid chassis) and FAN-0062L4 (exhaust).

Search the forums there are multiple threads about "silencing" 216/826/836/846 with other supermicro fans.
(I have a 836 and I tried supermicro fans with 5k rpm, they were overall quieter than the stock 6.7k rpm fans but had an annoying whining tone. Went back using the stock fans )

 

[lpallard]

I need to double check to confirm, but its possible in my case, the power modules (801-1R) are much noisier than the chassis fans.... So if I cant justify a quieter chassis fan, I may remain with the original ones for now.... Are Supermicro usually fast to reply to technical inquiries?

 

[j_h_o]

I use Home - CrossBorder Pickups to get stuff across the border. You could use the Supermicro eStore with this service.

Edit: (update)

1. You can find other services that do similar things.
2. CrossBorderPickups will let you either a) pickup in-person at specific locations in Toronto, or b) ship to you anywhere in Canada with nominal shipping fee. I've been doing shipping even within Toronto, to avoid going in-person. They've also been using other carriers to avoid the Canada Post delays.

 

[i386]

Are Supermicro usually fast to reply to technical inquiries?

I like to write them walls of texts of what I have, how I modified/replaced parts, what I'm trying to do, what I expected and what happened and I get usually a reply within 24 hours.

 

[NablaSquaredG]

Can you please remove the PSUs and send us a picture of the power distribution backplane connectors or the part number of it?

That will allow us to tell you which PSUs can fit

 

[lpallard]

@j_h_o : sounds interesting! I will take a look , thanks for this!
@i386: Sounds good, lets see then!
@NablaSquaredG : The SC836 has serial no. 21030421 and the PDU (Power distribution unit) seems to be SN: PT8251839QT4456. Thats the sticker I see on top of the PDU.

 

[NablaSquaredG]

@NablaSquaredG : The SC836 has serial no. 21030421 and the PDU (Power distribution unit) seems to be SN: PT8251839QT4456. Thats the sticker I see on top of the PDU.

Okay, that looks like an old rev.

I'd like to confirm: When you use a flashlight and look right through the grille where the power distribution backplane ends and the PSUs start: There should be a sticker on top of the upper connector of the PDB with "PDB-PT825-8824" on it

 

[lpallard]

The internal sticker says PDB-PT825-N24

 

[NablaSquaredG]

The internal sticker says PDB-PT825-N24

Ah, close enough. the -N24 version is quite old (should only have 1 8pin EPS and 1 4 pin EPS instead of 2x 8pin / 2x 6+2 pin).
You might want to replace it at some point...

Anyway, it's a 19-pair PDB. That means you can only use small PSUs with a 19-pair output (e.g. 920P-SQ or 501P-1R)

 

[lpallard]

When you say "You might want to replace it at some point..." are these PDU prone to fail after so many years?

Push to shove, I'll upgrade the PDU and modules and be done with it....

 

[NablaSquaredG]

When you say "You might want to replace it at some point..." are these PDU prone to fail after so many years?

Not really, they basically live forever (I've never had a failed one as of now).

The only reason would be to get a full 2nd EPS connector for modern boards and perhaps, if you upgrade to a PDB-PT826-8824 or similar, a wider range of possible power supplies (because the PDB-PT826-8824 has a 23-pair input instead of 19-pairs) in case you ever pack a really powerful board in there.

 

[lpallard]

This server has a X9SCL-F mobo. Would you have a recommendation for a modern PDU and power modules?

 

[NablaSquaredG]

X9SCL-F mobo

in the 836 or the 512L?

PSUs you might want to look at:
PWS-501P-1R -> Smallest hot swappable (fits in your 836) Supermicro Platin. 500W. Should be considerably more efficient than your 801s. Usually quite affordable (Sub 40$)
PWS-341P-1H -> Non hot swappable Supermicro Platin, 340W. Also quite affordable (40-50$ range). However this one neither fits in your 512L nor in your 836 (you'd have to remove the PDB and give up hot swap and redundancy) without modifications

You might want to look at the PWS-203-1H. It seems to be the successor of your PWS-202-1H and should be more efficient and make less noise

 

[lpallard]

In the 836.

EDIT: I just read the 501P is the 500W version of my 801-1R and probably just as loud? If upgrading the power modules/PDU, noise is definitely something I'd want to reduce... especially with the low power draw...

What about the PWS-920P-SQ? Clearly overkill for me from a wattage POV, but they're praised on this forum for quietness and efficiency. Would they be too "powerful" for my needs? This is a Freenas server with only 8 hard drives and a single Xeon quad core CPU. Power draw according to my APC UPS is around 180W....

 

[itronin]

to my ears the 501P are a lot quieter than the 801-1R and I read that others have reported the same. I found the 501P about the same as a 920P-SQ - maybe a little very slight high pitched whine in the background of a 501P that I don't hear with the 920P-SQ. 501P is a LOT cheaper than the 920P-SQ.

My Compellent SC030's came with the 801-1R and they are LOUD LOUD LOUD. Swapped out to 920P-SQ for some. When the price became ridiculous on the 920P-SQ I purchased a few 501 based on reading up on the sound level of different SM PSU's.

I'm running dual 501's in an SC216B, some single 501's in SC826B and have tested in SC836A... worked fine in all... No idea what PDB versions are inside of each chassis though.

 

[NablaSquaredG]

No idea what PDB versions are inside of each chassis though.

Considering that the 501P and 920P are 19 pair PSUs, they fit into all PDBs (there are no PDBs smaller than 19 pair), so no need to worry about PDB versions if you want to go for 501P and 920P

 

[lpallard]

maybe a little very slight high pitched whine in the background of a 501P

Ehhhhh.... This is what I have with my 801-1R's.... Not only they are loud due to airflow and fan speed, but one (or both, will do some testing tonight) of them have a strange alternating high pitch noise which almost sounds like a distant car alarm going off.... These machines are in my office, next to our bedroom.

My lady is NOT happy

Noise and quietness are the main criteria.