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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : desktop power supply
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palcal Guru  Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
I don't remember walking under a ladder, tripping over a black cat and breaking the mirror I was holding but I had a bad day yesterday. My biggest problem at the moment is my computer power supply. We had 2 blackouts yesterday of about 4 hours each and now my computer is dead. Although it is a few years old it had not been used till I got it a few months ago. It is just dead, I pulled the power supply out expecting to find a fuse but nothing I could see. Luckily I got 2 of these machines at the time so swapped the hard drive over and am up and running again. But surely there would be a fuse. I know SMPS don't like being switched on and off quickly and for that reason thought there would be a fuse. The machine is an OCTEK and appears to be very well made. Any one got any ideas. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
Fuses are often internal to the power supply. If the PC is a 'normal' size system, power supplies are reasonably cheap and it is cheaper to replace than repair. Some of the small form factor PC's have less common power supplies so getting a replacement is not so easy. And the fault could be somewhere else, not the power supply. Swapping the supply over could cause a replacement supply to go belly up too so life can get interesting. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
I opened the supply up but couldn't see anything on the PCB or elsewhere. It is not urgent the other machine is working OK. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Solar Mike Guru Joined: 08/02/2015 Location: New ZealandPosts: 1163 |
Have a look at the mains socket where the power plug fits, often the fuse is in a flush pop out rectangular fitting next to the socket. |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
I'm familiar with that type of fuse, there is nothing. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
I have recently had an issue with a PC PSU that was somewhat strange looking. I fixed it by just using a standard PSU on the outside of the case. Not very cute, but it does work fine. Original PSU:  My way around this issue:  As I say - not attractive, but it works!  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
Should have saved the PSU from the computer I just threw out. I remember when it went in the bin, should I save the power supply?...No just more junk to store. I will find one somewhere. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2950 |
Hi Paul, Pc psu are pretty cheap providing it is a standard form factor.. If no noticeable damage check the high value bleed resistors near the main input caps.. typically 100’k ohm or higher. Mik Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| Bill7300 Senior Member  Joined: 05/08/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 159 |
Haven't had to look at a failed power supply in a computer for years, although I am reminded by this thread that I have one on the bench still awaiting attention. In earlier years of PC history, blown diodes were a regular occurrence and relatively easily checked with an ohm meter for normal diode function.. Bill |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 5091 |
I am not much help here. My advice would be buy a new one. They are dirt cheap. On the other hand, generally power supplies are developed to sustain power ON and OFF switching. Typically they don't die. I can imagine that in the power outage excessive grid voltages have reached you house, and the computer power supply (there is always a weak spot !) absorbed the energy and died. Be aware that next time your TV, dishwasher or solar energy installation might die. There may be value in beefing up the protection of your mains voltage. And then, last but (maybe) not least....most houses get 2 phase or 3 phase from the grid. With a weak neutral, the voltage between phases varies with the load. If you happen to have a large consumer (big airco) on one phase, and a weak neutral he unbalance can destroy electronics anytime. Not only during a grid outage. These issues ae real. I encountered them myself in previous jobs. So be alert. If it happens again, you may have a clue where to look. regards, Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Warpspeed Guru Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
Your local rubbish tip may have big pile of deceased computers out the back somewhere. Just eyballing a few of these might turn up something with a similar shape and size of power supply. Chances are that for about five dollars you can rescue something, and there is a very good chance the power supply in it will work fine. Cheers, Tony. |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
I have to go to the dump next week, they have a shed with such tings, I will have a look. Thanks Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Warpspeed Guru Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
If you see something with a "big old" 5 1/2 inch floppy drive in it, please grab it for me. I have been after one of those for quite a while, they are becoming quite scarce these days. Cheers, Tony. |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
Will do. Paul. edit.... 51/4" drives there are a few on Ebay fairly cheap. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Warpspeed Guru Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
Thanks Paul. I must have thrown away about half a dozen of those big floppy drives over the years, but still have some very old DOS programs here I would like to play with again. Its unlikely you will find one of those floppy drives at the tip, the stuff at my tip all seems to be much more recent. If all else fails its nice to know e-bay is an alternative. You are much more likely to find yourself a low profile power supply, they are now becoming a lot more common. I have also scored from the tip some very nice smaller computer cases that had a hinged lid. I then completely gutted the whole case and rebuilt them as various home brew projects. These can turn out looking quite respectable if the whole front part is removed, and replaced with a flat aluminium panel. Cheers, Tony. |
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| palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1993 |
Well after spending a lot of time checking the power supply, I put the machine away. Then it dawned on me change the CMOS battery. As I said this machine is probably 7-8 years old but never used hence the flat battery. Working fine. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| Warpspeed Guru Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
Well done ! Cheers, Tony. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
Two old Dos Boxes sitting in the shed, Both IBM's an XT & an AT. When you start to think about it, there's a few hurdles to overcome to extract the data from the floppies. Can't just wack them on a USB, Lol. Telnet & FTP came to mind, but quickly realised there's no network interface. Probably just an RS-232 & Centronics ports. Reminds me of the few occasions I needed to extract inventory & accounts data from a THEOS & a CPM system. Entire process involved running a multitude of "Printed" reports with a Centronics to RS-232 Converter. That data stream was piped into my then Win95 laptop & captured with "Supercom"; bit of a Teraterm relation. Then it was off to scripts & queries in MS Access to create some DB's, then a few more queries to export the whole lot to CSV ready for loading on the new system. Vaguely recall the process taking several weeks of development & testing before the live changeover. Something like 5pm to late on-site extracting data, before finally having the CSV's all imported at 3am in the morning. It is interesting to think how much data we have stored these days that is less than simple to access... Like the 4000+ feet of Super & Standard 8 movie film sitting on a shelf in my office. (That's about 5 hours worth). Cheers Phil. |
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| Warpspeed Guru Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
We do take a lot for granted. Today we squirrel away programs and data on something like a multi gigabyte USB memory stick. Twenty years from now it would not surprise me if you cannot find anything anywhere that has a USB port on it. Cheers, Tony. |
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| bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2950 |
Lads, I used to have a dial up modem plan with a max of 90MB download a month.. Now I think nothing of a 1GB download for an UPDATE to a single program or Windows (almost a daily occurrence with WIndows) With how to get the data off your old floppies there are 2 possibilities that I can see. Use an IDE-CF card adapter (about $4 on FleaBay) the CF card can then be read in a cheap USB-card reader. Or there are 3 1/2” drive emulators that allow you to plug a standard USB flash card into it. (These I think are around $10-15). Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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