PowerEdge T430 PSU Issues

Question

Hi, We have an out of warranty Dell PowerEdge T430 that has been having some odd PSU issues over the past few months. The server has two hot swap 495W 80 Plus PSU's, each connected to separate APC UPS units. Our load average is 196W with a peak of 296W. The Redundancy Policy is set to Input Power Redundant and Primary PSU is PSU1. Power Factor Correction is disabled.  Yesterday I logged into iDRAC and noticed there was a warning about the PSU's and it listed PSU1 in a power lost state and no redundancy. I checked the APC UPS and the PSU and both had power and the both PSU's had green lights, so I simply unplugged the PSU for a few seconds and plugged it back in and all was well, redundancy was restored. However, throughout the rest of the day, PSU2 (yes, opposite one) kept putting the fan on full speed randomly and then back to normal. It was doing this as I was leaving the office yesterday. I came in this morning and it was still doing it, so I hot swapped PSU2 with a brand new spare PSU we had (try to keep spare parts since this server is out of warranty). So far, seems to be OK but it has only been in for 15-20 minutes and I did hear a fan's RPM go up twice so far, but not full speed and not sure which fan.  This reason I bring all this up is because this isn't the first time we've had this issue. In November, PSU2 lost input power/redundancy, and this happened again in December with PSU2. I recall the fan on PSU2 doing the same thing once I disconnected/reconnected the power cord, going to full RPM randomly even though everything checks out OK.  Is it possible we could have a larger issue going on, such as the back panel the PSU's are connecting to? The server is otherwise running perfectly fine, more of a noise annoyance and redundancy concern at the moment. Thanks in advance.

DELL-Chris H · Accepted Answer

I would also make sure the PIB is installed correctly, as well as seated correctly.

Orient PIB as shown and install on the PSU cage.

1 (1).png

Make sure PIB firmly install into 4 hooks.

Push PIB downward, make sure you can feel the clicks on both sides and the blue latch at upper corner is fully engaged.

DELL-Chris H · Answer

CelticDubStep,

I would start with making sure the server is up to date on the BIOS, iDrac, and also the power supplies. There are 2 different 495w power supply updates available, depending on part number and brand.
Also, have you reseated or replaced the Power Interposer Board prior to the errors occuring?

Let me know.

CelticDubstep · Answer

Thanks for your reply. The server went through an "overhaul" not long ago, upgraded RAM from 32 GB to 128 GB and removed 4x 600GB SAS drives and replaced them to 4x 8 TB SAS drives. We also upgrade from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2019 and performed BIOS, LifeCycle, iDRAC, etc updates at that time.

I haven't reseated or replaced the Power Interposer Board, but I did reach out to Dell today and we got a quote and placed an order for a new Power Interposer Board.

As far as I know, the PSU Firmware has never been updated. I'm planning on doing that this evening as I did run the firmware update utility and it did confirm I am running an outdated firmware.

I'll post back tomorrow after the firmware update. Thanks for your assistance.

CelticDubstep · Answer

Just thought I'd add the following. The server shipped with two of these PSU's:

Dell Part Number: 02FR04

The replacement PSU I ordered (thinking one of the existing was failing) is the following:

Dell Part Number: 0VKDD2

Being mixed didn't seem to be an issue as the system worked OK with one of each. I went ahead and put the 02FR04's back in the system since the 0VKDD2 didn't resolve the issue. We'll see what the firmware update does.

CelticDubstep · Answer

I updated the firmware on both PSU's last night and am still having the same issue, at least the firmware is up to date now though.

I got notification from Dell today that the PIB has been shipped, so I'll plan on replacing that as well as doing some other housekeeping activities in the near future. That will probably be a weekend activity.

CelticDubstep · Answer

Thanks. The server has been sitting in the same spot for the past 5 years and hasn't been moved and the PSU's have never been pulled out of the system until recently. The only changes made to the system in the past 5 years is adding additional RAM and replacing Hard Drives, so I highly doubt that the current PIB is installed incorrectly.

However, thanks for providing instructions and pictures, that's going to be extremely helpful when I do replace it as the owners manual is more vague than what you just provided.

Power & Cooling

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