ATX Power Supply Died...Dirty Line Power?

[stevegt]

My ATX power supply seems to have died. I've had it for about three months. It seems to be outputting a lower voltage than it should (i.e. standby voltage is 1V, not 5V).

I have also noticed that the power in my apartment seems kind of variable. The lights dim and brighten on a regular basis. Could this possibly be the cause?

Anyone have any bright ideas what the problem might be, or how it can be repaired (if it can). Or, more importantly, how it can be avoided in the future. Is it just a bad supply, or might the line power have killed it? Should I invest in a UPS or line conditioner?

If anybody has any wisdom to share, I'd love to hear it.

 

[frostgiant]

To stop those brownouts, go get an UPS. I suppose it could have been the cause since lower in voltage makes the components inside work harder and thus they get more hot.

 

[larrymoencurly]

I thought switching supplies could withstand most brownouts well because they were designed to operate over a wide range of line voltage, and the main reasons for failure were bad electrolytic capacitors and shorted power transistors.