Power supply dead

[Dorkenstein]

My otherwise reliable power supply won't power my pc on anymore. It was a Silverstone decathlon 750w psu. For three weeks it has been taking a few tries to power on my pc and I thought it was my UPS that was going on me. But today I plugged my pc directly into the wall and it still does it. I need a new PSU now and I hope I haven't killed any of my brand new components with this foolishness.

I am upset with myself. It makes little difference now, but how likely is it that I have killed any of my components at this point? Thanks for any help, going to order a replacement tomorrow. Any suggestions are helpful for the 700-800w range.

 

[Zepper]

Have you checked the power switch on your case with a meter to see if it's making good contact? They use really cheap switches on a lot of the cases and cheap contacts in the header connectors as well (check those for tightness). Or you could try hooking the reset switch to the power switch pins on the mobo to see if that works any better. IAC, I'd check both switches with a meter just for my own satisfaction. If you have no reset or other similar switch (SPST momentary contact) on your case, you could just jump the PwrSw pins momentarily with a standard jumper or any other conductive item you have handy. Don't leave the jumper in place and try not to contact any but the PwrSw pins when experimenting. One of those PSU testers can also easily check the pwr up function. Pressing these flimsy switches too hard can damage them as well - this happens often when people get frustrated that their system won't power up and press harder and harder instead of doing proper troubleshooting...

.bh.

 

[Dorkenstein]

I agree about the cheap switches, however this exact same thing happened in my last case with the same power supply.

 

[Zepper]

If those PSUs have a known problem in their remote power up circuit, then perhaps you could get a replacement for design defect. Back when the ATX PSUs first came on the scene, they said not to trip the power button too quickly and ever since then I give a 1-Mississippi count before I let the power switch up - ditto with the reset switch.

I'd still try the old "paper clip in the ATX connector" trick before giving up on the PSU. paper clip trick: bend a paper clip straight connect the power up line (usually the only green wire) to a ground line (usually black) momentarily right at the ATX shell. If it doesn't power up with that, time to call Silverstone - only trouble is is that SST doesn't actually make their PSUs, so the likelihood of them have an aces PSU tech on hand will be quite slim. Luckily most PSUs still fit in a Priority Flat Rate Box, so it doesn't cost too much to ship back for RMA if that's what it comes to.

.bh.