Very strange. Partial power?

  • Thread starter Thread starter OmegaSol
  • Start date Start date
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OmegaSol

First I'll explain what happened. I didn't install anything new, or
change anything. I turned off my computer, left it for a week, came
back, and it didn't turn on anymore. The thing is that I didn't touch
it for the whole week. It was untouched and off for a week, and then
doesn't work all the sudden.

Anyway, I opened it up, and pushed the power button. When I do this,
all the fans on the computer move for a second, and the power light
blinks on, then everything just stops and the computer doesn't work.
At first, everyone I knew thought it was the power supply. We took a
cord from my friend's power supply and plugged it into my fan, and
the fan worked. That seemed to give it away. So, thinking that since
I upgraded my system about a month past, perhaps my power supply was
strained because it was low voltage (230watts?), so I just got a new
400 watt one. I plugged it in and all, same exact problem as before.


The three things that don't make sense is:
1) It hadn't been touched for a week, so I couldn't have fried
anything right?
2) I plugged my fan into a friend's power supply and it worked dandy.
3) The fans work for a SECOND then turn off. That means power is
traveling....it's just not consistent or something.

I'm stumped, so if anyone can offer any advice, I'd be grateful.
 
I've seen that, but it could be lots of things. First thing
to do is pull all power connectors and cables to drives.
Pull out all cards. Then power on and see if mobo posts.
If not, pull and reseat one ram stick. Still not, swap in
other ram stick. Still not, it is the mobo ... probably a
weak electrolytic that won't charge up, and is holding
off the power good or something like that.

johns
 
Since you've tried replacing the power supply unit, it sounds like your
motherboard is dead. The later ATX style motherboards maintain power to
many of their components EVEN WHEN THE FRONT CASE POWER SWITCH IS OFF. So,
yes, it may have fried due to a power surge on the line while in the Off
position.
 
OmegaSol said:
First I'll explain what happened. I didn't install anything new, or
change anything. I turned off my computer, left it for a week, came
back, and it didn't turn on anymore. The thing is that I didn't touch
it for the whole week. It was untouched and off for a week, and then
doesn't work all the sudden.

Anyway, I opened it up, and pushed the power button. When I do this,
all the fans on the computer move for a second, and the power light
blinks on, then everything just stops and the computer doesn't work.
At first, everyone I knew thought it was the power supply. We took a
cord from my friend's power supply and plugged it into my fan, and
the fan worked. That seemed to give it away. So, thinking that since
I upgraded my system about a month past, perhaps my power supply was
strained because it was low voltage (230watts?), so I just got a new
400 watt one. I plugged it in and all, same exact problem as before.


The three things that don't make sense is:
1) It hadn't been touched for a week, so I couldn't have fried
anything right?
2) I plugged my fan into a friend's power supply and it worked dandy.
3) The fans work for a SECOND then turn off. That means power is
traveling....it's just not consistent or something.

I'm stumped, so if anyone can offer any advice, I'd be grateful.
Click to expand...
It's not as weird or unusual as you think. It means that the 5V
rail has failed. The 12V supply that supplies the fan is still OK,
but a moment after it's turned on, the internal feedback system
of the PSU detects that there's something wrong with the 5V
supply, and turns itself off.

I'll bet that the fan does not even spin momentarily after the
first attempt unless you cut off the mains for a couple of
seconds in between attempts.

Having the same symptoms with the new power supply IS
rather unusual, but it could be just coincidence or something
in your computer keeps damaging your PSUs.

It's also not unusual to just find it dead one fine morning.
Many electrical components are under high stress at the
moment of switching on. It's highly likely that your PSU did
not die while it was left unused. It probably died when you
first switched it on again.
 
Zotin said:
It's not as weird or unusual as you think. It means that the 5V
rail has failed. The 12V supply that supplies the fan is still OK,
but a moment after it's turned on, the internal feedback system
of the PSU detects that there's something wrong with the 5V
supply, and turns itself off.

I'll bet that the fan does not even spin momentarily after the
first attempt unless you cut off the mains for a couple of
seconds in between attempts.

Having the same symptoms with the new power supply IS
rather unusual, but it could be just coincidence or something
in your computer keeps damaging your PSUs.

It's also not unusual to just find it dead one fine morning.
Many electrical components are under high stress at the
moment of switching on. It's highly likely that your PSU did
not die while it was left unused. It probably died when you
first switched it on again.
Click to expand...

Or a line spike fried parts of the computer while he was away.

--
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I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/
 
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