Flashing Blue (power) led on Lian Li PC-65 case

[sygyzy]

I noticed this starting a few weeks ago. During my whole computing session, the blue LED on the front bezel (power, I believe) blinks instead of staying solid. What does this mean?

Thanks.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Just a guess mind you.

If it's a steady blink and not just a bad connection, switch out the PSU if you have a spare one.
If the blue power light now stays on as it should. Buy a new PSU.
A fella posted in TS about 7 weeks ago with a similare problem and his brand new PSU was NFG.

How old and what brand/kind of PSU are you using?
Is you rig a high amperage eater?


...Galvanized

 

[sygyzy]

It is a steady blink, it's not random at all. Very consistent.

What is NFG?

Yes, my rig uses lots of power. I mean I assume it does. There are 4 hard drives, 2 optical, the AGP card requires power, etc. Alright, time to get a new PSU. Any recommendations? This is a standard ATX running an Athlon XP. Not dual core or 64bit. I don't even know what the deal is with new PSU's. They have different connections right?

Oh, the PSU is a good quality brand. I bought a nice one from Newegg way back when. It and my rig are 3.5 years old.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

OP, I said that I was guessing. Check you PSU with a DDM(digital multi-meter).

PSUs can have intermittent problems that are very hard to diagnose but since your power
light is blinking all the time, just take readings off all the rails, 3.3, 5 and 12V while the comp
is under load. See what you got. NFG=no f-ing good.

I would check the PSU voltages first. You just need an ATX PSU. A really good Fortron or Sparkle
can be bought for around $60-$80 shipped.
There are cheaper Fortrons but for $20 why bother, that's my attitude.
Three weeks ago I bought a Zippy/Emacs HG-2 6400P for $100 to the house.

You can't order today anyway, so give it a day or two and you will get more imput.

Do a search for PSUs here at Anandtech, they have been talked to death.


...Galvanized

 

[sygyzy]

I realize you said it's a guess, but don't worry. I definitely appreciate your insight and I don't plan on "blaming" you if you were wrong. Paying $60 for peace of mind is fine by me. I don't have time to sit there trying to troubleshoot a PSU which I know nothing about then suddenly have my system fail.

How exactly would I take readings off the rail? Can I simply connect a multimeter to a hard drive power cable that is currently not being used? What are the degrees of variance I can expect that are safe?

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

With 7300+ posts you should be able to find the

info you need in the PSU manual or at www.formfactors.org.

EDIT: I was doing some homework and came upon this, www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/181/1
Read the whole thing, it even offers pin-out.



...Galvanized