DL380-G5 power supplies overheat when plugged in but off

[oldtrlrnr]

I recently installed a couple of new ProLiant DL380-G5 servers with max everything including RPS. I noticed one of them that had been powered off but had both its power supplies plugged into AC outlets, was very hot at the left rear corner where the power supplies are. Seems these over heat when RPS modules are plugged in but not turned on.

Anyone else seen this?

[Ivan Kuznetsov]

Hello!

I see too. Not only on DL380 G5 but on some other DLs too.

I suspect that at some condirions server completly turn off air cooling. PS does not have own cooler inside so it became hot (~50C). I think this temperature is not critically high

Regards, Ivan Kuznetsov

[RaMpaNTe]

That's normal since these power supplies don't have a fan inside, so when the server is off (therefore its fans) The power supply might get hot but once you turn the server on they will be cooled and there will be no problem at all. This does no occur with the DL580 G3 since those PS have fans.

[KennyLogsdon]

I have about 24 of the new DL380-G5 servers all with dual RPS and I have replaced three power supplies so far in the last month to due to failure. I am browsing posts to see if there is a known problem with the design of the new G5 power supply and to see if others are having excessive failures like I am. I see that the RPS for the G5 does have two small fans inside but I do not know if they run while the server is powered off. None the less, I have also noticed the power supplies getting hot (almost too hot to handle) while the server is off but plugged in. I wonder if sitting in this state for a while can damage them. This has never been a problem with previous models that I am experienced with. In fact, I have only replaced a handful of server power supplies in my whole career.

[Prabhulj]

Hi All,

Hope this Customer Notice Explains the heating Issue.

This behavior occurs by design to reduce noise levels and does not affect the performance or functionality of the server, the power supplies, or the fans.

Check the Customer Notice
Link:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c00772855&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Regards,
Prabhu

[KennyLogsdon]

Thanks for the link to the customer notice which was interesting to see.

[Prabhulj]

Hi Kenny,

Saw your post reporting that you have replaced the power Supplies.
I remember seeing a customer Advisory regarding False Power Supply failure Alerts on SMH (Sorry Cant re-call the Advisory) will try to get them.

May be the P/S's replaced could have been a false alert ( My thoughts) :-)

Regards,
Prabhu

[KennyLogsdon]

We have a server farm with about 175 HP servers which we monitor using HPSIM 5.1. HPSIM reported the power supply bad in all three cases and HP gladly replaced them each time. None the less, prior to creating a case with HP, I try to verify that the PS indeed is bad by verifying power to the PS and swapping with a known good spare PS. In all cases the LED on the back of the failed PS was dark but lights briefly when the power cord is unplugged and re-plugged in then goes dark again. I did not test by unplugging the remaining power supply to see if the server would stay up since these are production systems. I can't help but believe that there is an issue with the design of this guy and so far I have not seen if HP has addressed this. Maybe it is just my bad luck. We'll see.

[Dave Simon]

Hi.

I am now replacing my 3rd power supply in dl380g5s. This is the second supply to go in the same box.

Is this another issue like we had with the 360g1's?

[c.wolf]

Hi,
we replaced 3 PS on 2 Servers DL380G5. They was bought Nov 2006.
I wonder that the new PS have different Part Numbers.
defect PS PartNr: 379123-001
new PS PartNr: 379124-001

Anyone an idea what HP have done?

Greetings
Chris