• sabreW4K3@lemmy.tf
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    11 months ago

    Why? What’s the benefit of adding weights? Surely smaller and lighter is better?

    • RememberTheApollo@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      People think weight = quality.

      Sometimes it can indicate something is better made, like something made with lots of plastic vs more metal. In a PSU you need lots of metal for the windings, cores, and power stabilization components. It should have some heft to it.

      Unscrupulous manufacturers will sometimes throw chunks of metal into an item (like Beats headphones) that do nothing except make a thing weigh more to prey on the sense that weight means better quality.

    • r00ty@kbin.life
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      11 months ago

      In certain devices (batteries and power supplies) there’s a minimum weight that can realistically store or convert a specified amount of energy or power.

      So if you buy a 1000w PSU and it’s too light, you’re going to know it is fake. So they add the weight to make it feel right for the power rating. In this case this is a double-whammy of a failure waiting to happen. A PSU with a lower than advertised rating, coupled with a lack of safety circuitry means it’s more likely to fail due to the overload applied, and when it fails it’s more likely to go out in a big way.

      • Kayn@dormi.zone
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        11 months ago

        I think they were asking about legitimate benefits of adding weights to consumer electronics.

        • voracitude@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          There legitimately aren’t any, so no, I doubt they were asking that. Derp, yes they were, context is important kids! Leaving the rest of my original answer, as it’s accurate:

          In some handhelds, you might see small counterweights added to make them easier to hold for long periods, or to stop them tipping over when in a table, but for internal components (like power supplies) there’s never a need to add weights.

          • TheTetrapod@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            That’s definitely what they meant, I don’t know why you’re so certain otherwise. Just because a question doesn’t have an answer doesn’t mean it wasn’t asked.