Computer power problem

Thats the scariest thing since I met my mother-in-law :shock: I'm afraid the coward in me wouldn't let me disconnect all those wires I really don't think I could put them back in the same place, some of the multi-lead connections were pretty well secure as well. I better leave that for someone else to do
Bill H.

Bill,
this is not as hard as you might think, even if you don't know what to do. If you simply remove the cover as you have done, and follow all the bundles of leads to their respective connections. You'll have 1 large bunch of approx 12 wires going to one white plastic block that connect to your motherboard. It is secured by a simple clip - press it in, and pull on the block of wires from its socket.
Remove all the other connections, and for the heck of it, remove the power supply completely from the pc - by removing the (usually) 4 screws on the outside on the back (around the fan output)

If your pwr unit will not supply on its own with power supplied from the mains, then its gone, plain and simple. Chances are that one of the series of MOV's - metal oxide varistors - inside it, are blown. These act like a set of rudimetary fuses to remove all power from the unit when there is a surge.

I have tested many power supplies before in my line of work, and if you want to investigate further, then simply get a voltmeter and test for voltags - 3.3V, 5V, and 12V. On any plug coming from the pwr supply, apply the ground lead to any black wire in that block (the cd-rom & hard drive pwr supply connectors are called molex connectors, just so you know!), and use the other (red) lead to test for voltages on the red (5V), yellow (12V), and other colours on the motherboard pwr supply block.

This will then determine once and for all, if your pwr supply is gone, and not to bother to wait till Cosmos, so just buy a new one for about €50!

Hope this is of some help Bill!



Seanie.

Bill

If the PSU is a standard type try a local PC shop who may have a second-hand psu (from a caniblised PC). Cheaper still but if you were to ask me my guess is the PSU (bases on personnel expierence).

Btw is the monitor power lead pluged in to the computer psu?



Cheers

this is not as hard as you might think, even if you don't know what to do

You were right Seanie All it took was some of Lesley's home made soup for courage and off we went, I got all the wires out :shock: . I didn't take the pwer unit out though, not enough soup, i plugged the mains back in switched the power on and, Hey presto! same problem I assume then that it's the power unit?

Btw is the monitor power lead pluged in to the computer psu?

Dave, The monitor on this computer has a 15 pin plug which goes in the back of the PC, I assume it takes it's power from the PC.
Now, why should the power unit go? Would it be caused by my laziness? When I close a computer down, I never switch off the monitor, I just let it go off with the PC, would that cause this to happen, or would it not matter that I do that?
Anybody got a second hand power unit for sale?
Bill H.

The monitor on this computer has a 15 pin plug which goes in the back of the PC, I assume it takes it's power from the PC.
Now, why should the power unit go?

Bill,
that connector is a DB15, or simply the VGA/serial-out. This is where your monitor gets its pictures from, but not power. Your monitor has a seperate power cord which is basically identical to the one on your computer or printr.

As your computer is an OLD (yep, old!!!) Pentium 3, my guess is simpy old age. Power supply units tend to have a limited life span of only a few years. What really tires them down is the unreliable electricity flowing through it - power surges (even only 10 volts can have an effect if it happens often), lightning, brown outs, blackouts. If you have connected more dvd/cd-roms, floppy drives, or anything to the computer that requires use of a power cable from the power supply unit, then its going to draw more out of the wattage. Of course it is designed for this, but the more use means less hours left to use it.

Seanie.

Seanie got there before me

Btw is the monitor power lead pluged in to the computer psu?

Dave, The monitor on this computer has a 15 pin plug which goes in the back of the PC, I assume it takes it's power from the PC.
Now, why should the power unit go? Would it be caused by my laziness? When I close a computer down, I never switch off the monitor, I just let it go off with the PC, would that cause this to happen, or would it not matter that I do that?
Anybody got a second hand power unit for sale?
Bill H.

Bill

The fifteen pin (density and a half ) plug is the Video feed but is the 220V supply pluged in to the PC or a normal 13Amp Socket?

Also is there any PSU type printed on the unit?

Cheers

Conor

Seanie got there before me

Sorry Conor! Quickest nerd fingers first!!

:lol: :lol: :lol: