Power Supply Question

[frankxl]

i'm pretty sure i didn't gather enough information to have this issu
properly troubleshot. Anyway, i just need a little direction. i jus
replaced
a case power supply (115V 6a 50/60Hz 350W). I did not get the wattag
rating on the old one until i got there. it was 450W. anyway, wit
the old one in, the fan in the PSU wouldn't spin when power wa
applied. with th
new PSU, the fan on the PSU, the fan on the processor and the coolin
fan for the chassis all spin briefly, then nothing. the pc had a
issue a few months ago, where it would freeze. i found that th
plastic housing for the processor fan was broken and fixed that. i
is still intact
the pc is home built, it has 2 cd cdrives (one is a CDRW) 1 HDD, 1FDD
1 smaller sound card with speakers powered by their own power supply
the mother board has a PC100 gold chip on it. couldn't tell ya muc
more than that right now though. i don't think 350W is insufficien
power, but i know i may need to test further
thanks in advance..

 

[Gold Fingers]

Some Power Supplies work that way. The PS detects its temperature and
runs the fan for cooling only if needed. I have an ANTEC 500W dual fan
PS. One of the fans actually never run because I have a very nice roomy
tower with lots of air flow. The other fan usually runs at a slower
RPM because the PS doesn't get hot enough to run the fan faster. Get
more information on your 350W PS. You can usually get such info from
the manufacturer Web Site with the right model number. Also, look on
your motherboard for the motherboard model number, go to the
manufacturer's Web Site, download the user's manual, and look up to see
what wattage is required for regular usage and maximum usage.
Motherboard model numbers will not be easy to see without a good
flashlight and even a magnifying glass, even though the model number
will be the largest numbers on the board. Don't assume that if you have
a PRESARRIO computer or a DELL computer that the motherboard would be a
PRESARIO or DELL motherboard. PRESARIO or DELL do not make
motherboards. They only assemble the computer. For instance, an old
motherboard down my cellar has "SY-5SSM". The SY stands for SOYO. It's
a SOYO motherboard. The motherboard I'm on right now has an "AT8". The
word ABIT is elseware on the motherboard. It's an Abit AT8 motherboard.
When you find something that looks like a model number, then go to an
internet search engine and type in motherboard manufacturers to get an
idea about what the manufacturer is. When you are pretty sure you know
what the manufacturer is, go to that Web Site > Products > Discontinued
Models > find your model > and download the user's manual. You can also
find a list of manufacturers under motherboard on NewEgg.com or
PriceWatch.com, etc. Good Luck

 

[Robbie McFerren]

Some Power Supplies work that way. The PS detects its temperature and
runs the fan for cooling only if needed. I have an ANTEC 500W dual fan
PS. One of the fans actually never run because I have a very nice roomy
tower with lots of air flow. The other fan usually runs at a slower
RPM because the PS doesn't get hot enough to run the fan faster. Get
more information on your 350W PS. You can usually get such info from
the manufacturer Web Site with the right model number. Also, look on
your motherboard for the motherboard model number, go to the
manufacturer's Web Site, download the user's manual, and look up to see
what wattage is required for regular usage and maximum usage.
Motherboard model numbers will not be easy to see without a good
flashlight and even a magnifying glass, even though the model number
will be the largest numbers on the board. Don't assume that if you have
a PRESARRIO computer or a DELL computer that the motherboard would be a
PRESARIO or DELL motherboard. PRESARIO or DELL do not make
motherboards. They only assemble the computer. For instance, an old
motherboard down my cellar has "SY-5SSM". The SY stands for SOYO. It's
a SOYO motherboard. The motherboard I'm on right now has an "AT8". The
word ABIT is elseware on the motherboard. It's an Abit AT8 motherboard.
When you find something that looks like a model number, then go to an
internet search engine and type in motherboard manufacturers to get an
idea about what the manufacturer is. When you are pretty sure you know
what the manufacturer is, go to that Web Site > Products > Discontinued
Models > find your model > and download the user's manual. You can also
find a list of manufacturers under motherboard on NewEgg.com or
PriceWatch.com, etc. Good Luck

You're right about the fans, my Thermaltake runs on low unless it needs
to speed up (never happened to me)

 

[Mike T.]

i'm pretty sure i didn't gather enough information to have this issue
properly troubleshot. Anyway, i just need a little direction. i just
replaced
a case power supply (115V 6a 50/60Hz 350W). I did not get the wattage
rating on the old one until i got there. it was 450W. anyway, with
the old one in, the fan in the PSU wouldn't spin when power was
applied. with the
new PSU, the fan on the PSU, the fan on the processor and the cooling
fan for the chassis all spin briefly, then nothing. the pc had an
issue a few months ago, where it would freeze. i found that the
plastic housing for the processor fan was broken and fixed that. it
is still intact.
the pc is home built, it has 2 cd cdrives (one is a CDRW) 1 HDD, 1FDD,
1 smaller sound card with speakers powered by their own power supply.
the mother board has a PC100 gold chip on it. couldn't tell ya much
more than that right now though. i don't think 350W is insufficient
power, but i know i may need to test further.
thanks in advance...

350W should be plenty for any rig that uses PC100 memory, unless there is a
LOT that you left out of your description of it. Freezing is quite often a
sign of a power supply failing. It sounds like the 450W power supply died a
slow death. Unfortunately, it might have taken something else with it.
Unless you power switch is sticking, the fans should stay on and the PC
should boot. If you get NOTHING (not even error beeps) then you are
probably looking at a bad mainboard. -Dave

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

i just replaced a case power supply (115V 6a 50/60Hz 350W).
I did not get the wattage rating on the old one until i got there.
it was 450W. anyway, with the old one in, the fan in the PSU
wouldn't spin when power was applied. with the new PSU,
the fan on the PSU, the fan on the processor and the cooling
fan for the chassis all spin briefly, then nothing. the pc had an
issue a few months ago, where it would freeze.

Is anything shorted? The mobo could be shorting to the case, either at
one of its mounting holes (may need a fiber washer on top or bottom) or
a corner (put a stick-on rubber bumper there), or a plug-in card may
not be fully seated .

i found that the plastic housing for the processor fan was broken
and fixed that. it is still intact.

What CPU do you have? Because Intel CPUs are supposed to be protected
against overheating (Pentium4 and later models won't burn out unless
you apply a torch to them), but 32-bit AMD CPUs are not, except when
used with certain mobos (Asus brags about this). If the heatsink came
loose with a 32-bit AMD, even for a second, it's probably a goner.
OTOH if the fan didn't work, the CPU would probably be OK for at least
a minute (It took at least 30 minutes for my 1.6 GHz running MemTest86
without a fan to reach 70C in 25C surrounding air).

Are there any bulging or oozing electrolytic capacitors on the mobo?
See www.badcaps.net for pictures and info. Because bad caps can cause
MOSFETs to short