Power Supplies

  Remember boys and girls, there are items in your power supply that 
will kill you're if not carefull. 
  That said when a power supply dies, do you remember what happened 
before it died, or started acting up? (smoking, sudden failure, 
cooling fan went silent when it was always noisy or vice versa?)

  1> If sudden death was what occured, smell the vent portion.  Do you 
smell that distinctive smell of burnt plastic? If so this guide won't 
help you as I'm not the sort to go replacing wires and soldering in 
this space.  

  2> Change to the sound of the cooling fan.  Pull out the unit and
 dig out your volt meter, or spare cooling fan and check the voltage,
 or if it powers up the secondary cooling fan.  If the external fan 
spins but not the fan inside, or the voltmeter doesn't register any 
power, then consider opening the "NO USER SERVICABLE PARTS INSIDE" . 
The big lie on any power supply is the lack of user servicable parts.

  3> If you can replace a car fuse or old button style house fuse (ie
 for a stove), you can change the fuse inside most power supplies. 
 When removing the cover of your power supply look for a glass fuse, 
remove the fuse without touching anything else.  Examine the fuse and
check for a break, blackening, or test with voltmeter for continuity
(pass voltage).  Any blackening, breaks in the wire inside or lack of 
continuity means the fuse is dead, stop by a local electronic shop and 
ask if they can help you obtain replacement fuse.

 4> If the fuse is fine, and the external fan was spinning fine, then
 your internal fan is probably faulty/dead/needs to be cleaned (see 
 Cooling Fans 

 5> If it's not any of the above, then consider professional help, or
replacing the unit.  Remember, this is to help save you a few dollars 
by checking the obvious problems, not to teach you how to solder or 
test dead capacitors, etc.




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Article by Slam.  Last revised Sept 2004