Replacing computer power supply?

Ok, it seems that I have lost the use of my desktop pc.

About 10 days ago, when I got up, PeppA told me that the desktop was acting funny.

Acting funny my rear end! Darn thing is dead! It's like it's not plugged in, or a fuse is popped somewhere.

I checked the surge protector. It's switched on and working (red LED in the reset switch is lit). The wireless phone and DSL gateway modem are also plugged into this surge protector; they are up and running.

I pulled the power cord for the desktop out of the socket it was in, and firmly seated it into another socket. I also pulled the cord out of the back of the pc, and firmly reseated it into the socket there.

I hit the Power button, and still, nothing. No fans, no beeping, no lights, nothing!

Someone I work with told me to pull out the power supply and see if it has a reset switch, and to push that switch.

Well, it doesn't have a reset switch. I pulled the panel off the side of the tower, and physically removed the power supply from the case, while still leaving the wires plugged in to the other components.

I did notice that the power supply is CLOGGED with dust. Great. Probably overheated and fried.

I've been told power supplies are cheap. Are they hard to replace? I should just be able to unplug everything from the power supply daisy-chain, put the new one in, and plug everything back up, right? Do all computers run on the same voltage/amperage?

I still have my old tower from a couple years ago. I'm wondering if I can just pull the power supply out of that, and install it into the tower that died 10 days ago?

GOOD NEWS:

Logan, one of my twin boys, actually managed to get my last laptop up and running! It started doing some odd things the last week I was using it. I would shut the lid (instead of logging off) for security reasons (keep the kids off it; they like to mess w/ settings). When I would open the lid, the screen wouldn't display anything. I would have to reset the whole computer to get it to work. After a few days of that, the screen wouldn't do anything. I never did figure out what was causing that.

Now, we are just leaving the laptop on the desk, with the lid up. Log on and log off just like what we did with the desktop pc. Don't touch the power cable or more the laptop, as the power cable has a loose connection in it. The kids managed to pop off half the keys of the keyboard, but we're using the USB keyboard from the desktop pc.

At least it works. I will be able to recover some of the recipes that I had typed between the last time I did a backup off the laptop, and when it "died".

I'm just hoping the HDD on the desktop isn't fried. I did a backup of my recipes, but haven't backed up my pictures, videos, and text-file jokes in awhile, so I would have lost some of those.

Doubt it's the hard drive -- if that were the problem, you would still be able to power on and would get the initial system messages, then a message about a missing drive or bad sector, etc.

Power supplies are inexpensive and relatively easy to install, but you need the right one for your computer. And it seems to me that if the power supply has died, the computer is probably pretty old and other parts may be on the verge -- especially the hard drive. Consider a new system -- you can get something like a Dell Inspiron 546 for with a dual-core AMD processor, Windows 7 64-Bit, 4GB RAM, and a 500GB drive for $400. Move the hard drive from your old machine into the new one (very easy to do), move all your files to the new drive, then reformat the old one and use it for backup, and you should be good to go.

my local shop tested (it was bad) and replaced the power supply for about $100 - plus cleaned & re-seated the cpu heat sink.

a regular cleaning is indicated - dirty insides = heat build up = death of electronic components. I do mine 2x/yr.

fwiw, closing the lid on a laptop/notebook usually sends it into "suspend to disk" or "hibernate" modes - there are settings in control panel for that altho many laptop makes have their own utilities that may override what you set in control panel.

in the days of DOS the suspend/hibernate functions worked just fine; my own experience with XP and Vista - on Dell & HP - is those functions can be very flakey.

too many things running in the background that are inadequately programmed to recognize the machine is taking a nap.

once upon a time I decided I had to be smart enough to figure it out - took 2-3 months and I finally pinned it down to the Logitech mouse driver attempts to "check for updates" when the machine was hibernating (the timer functions went el-goofy...) fixed that, a month later it was something else, so long story short, I don't use the sleep/hibernate/suspend functions anymore - good idea, really bad execution - not usually the OS/laptop function, but something installed that does not properly handle error conditions generated when the machine takes a nap.

I don't have a technical answer, but I agree with FB. You can get a used LT for a reasonable price. Check your local ads. Bought my second (identical LT) on ebay (w/ more memory etc). The adapter light would go off from time to time, if moved. So... now have two identical adapters/power supplies (just in case).

If you do buy a new/used computer, & get yours started...

I have a set of cables (will look up the exact name), where you hook up both computers & transfer your files/data/programs to another computer.

Allen

The power supply is the second highest failure item on a PC (Keyboard is #1). If everything was clogged with dirt then you may be right on. Without getting too technical, it is possible to test the power supply, all you need is a paper clip. Look here

http://www.overclock.net/faqs/96712-how-jump-start-power-supply-psu.html

The concern is that an overheated power supply could also have taken out the mother board. If the entire inside of the computer was dirty, the mother board may have overheated as well. If the mother board went, it may or may not have taken out the hard drive.

The odds are that just the power supply failed. I just wanted to make you aware of all the possibilities. You can get a 300 Watt power supply for about $25.00 or less. Look here.
http://www.google.com/products/cata...log_result&ct=image&resnum=5&ved=0CCEQ8gIwBA#

The newer ones should be backward compatible. It there is a local store, you can get a supply there and save shipping. I would recommend changing the supply and see where you are at. If it comes up, you are good.

FryBoy makes a good point that mechanical things only last so long and the hard drive is mechanical. It is also where your information (Pictures, finances, music, etc.) is. If you get up, your first tactic should be to get a backup of what is on the machine that is important to you.

If you decide to replace the computer then you can get a USB enclosure here.

http://www.google.com/search?q=USB+...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Remove the hard drive, mount it in the enclosure and attach it to the new computer and try to recover your data.

Hope this helps.

Andy

This tower is only 2 years old. I know technically, that's obselete in computer time-frames, but it's not totally ancient.

Most of my data is backed up. Just the pictures that I started taking this year, some videos that were emailed to me, and some text-files haven't been backed up. Nothing really important.

I did clean out a lot of the gunk in Jan. when I upgraded the RAM. I just didn't think to physically pull the power supply and try to clean it out.

Adillo, you don't want to know how fast I go through keyboards. Dang kids keep spilling stuff on them. I refuse to buy expensive keyboards for this reason. I'm about to buy yet another keyboard, and just store it, new in the box, somewhere for the next time a keyboard goes out.

My main worry is if the motherboard fried as well as the power supply. If that happened, then yes, it's time for a new tower. PC's are so cheap these days, it's not worth it to get to expensive in fixing them; just buy another tower and transfer your data.

I've got quite a few local computer shops around here. I'll have to get it in to them and let them test it, most likely.

allen, if you really want to try to repair this yourself, you could try to open up the supply since you have it out and look for a fuse on the circuit board. replacing one will only cost a few cents.

if you really really want to try to fix it and it's not the fuse, check to see if you have any blown capacitors. the tops will be bubbled out, or the seams burst. if so, replace all of them at once, even if they look ok. again, only a few bucks to ghet them all from radio shack or an online place.

otherwise, replacing the entire supply is easy. just be sure to match the type of connectors you'll need for your motherboard and hard drives, and be sure to match or exceed the wattage rating of the supply you're replacing.

Huge word of caution....when opening up power supplies...be careful. Capacitors can hold a charge for quite some time....touch the wrong thing and you'll go flying across the room.

Also, "home built" PCs...generic towers, etc...those usually use fairly standardized power supplies. However...if you have some store bought brand, HP, eMachine, Sony, Dell, etc...those power supplies are often quite proprietary, nothing you'll find at the local PC parts store.

And don't skimp on your power supply..if you're replacing it. Trust me, I live and breath PCs for a living. The el cheapo power supplies tend to not lead to a stable running PC. You want good, clean power, and a power supply that can keep up with your PC. El cheapo basic computers will have a low grade 250 or 300 watt power supply. Get up into mid range...400-500 watts. Get into higher end rigs with beefy power supplies, multiple spindles and optical drives..and you'll have 600, 700 watt..and higher.

Also important, especially for graphics and gaming computers, is a power supply that can keep up with the "amps on the 12+ volt rail" minimums.

YeOldeStonecat said:

Huge word of caution....when opening up power supplies...be careful. Capacitors can hold a charge for quite some time....touch the wrong thing and you'll go flying across the room.
.

Click to expand...

lol, oops, yeah. i forgot to add be sure to discharge any caps first... my bad.

discharging a crt is the most fun. you can almost arc-weld with it.

buckytom said:

l

discharging a crt is the most fun. you can almost arc-weld with it.

Click to expand...

"CRT"? what's that?

j/k!



Yeah, I've heard those can carry a charge for like a year or something....probably exaggerated.

Antex/Enermax/Seasonic....those are my fave brands..esp Seasonic lately. They actually make most of the core components for other upper brands to relabel/resell.