Will dell refuse to service a machine if the PSU was swapped out?

yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,408
39
91
Say a service guy came to replace the motherboard, and saw that I saw the huge Antec logo on the PSU, and immediately noticed it wasn't stock. Would he cease to replace the motherboard and claim the warranty is voided?

The service is actually not done by dell themselves, but contracted by a computer servicing company called bentech. Thus, I'm quite certain that it shouldn't be an issue.

Thoughts?
 

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
16,930
7
81
If nothing else, put the original PSU back in (if you have it) and then swap it out again afterwards.

I don't know what the fin eprint in their warranties state but as long as that is supposed to work with that board and it isn't overclocked or anything, it should be fine. BUt if anything isn't normal they can just blame you for the problem and not fix it...
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,273
10,777
136
Dell actually does allow swapping some parts by the end-user without voiding the warranty but I'm not sure if the power supply is one of them ... putting the original unit back in until after the service is performed is your best bet provided you still have it of course.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
LOL I think the warranty would be automatically void for using an Antec product in it. :laugh:

Definitely return it to stock.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
Originally posted by: reeserock
I thought Dell power supplies had a different pin-out than standard ones???

Some do - we have a few of the new Vostro 200's and one was freezing so I swapped out the PSU with a Seasonic and it worked. (but still locked up due to a faulty onboard NIC)
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,273
10,777
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Originally posted by: reeserock
I thought Dell power supplies had a different pin-out than standard ones???


They used to but I believe they changed to standard ATX awhile back ... Antec also made a model for use in Dells.
 

yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,408
39
91
Originally posted by: Rubycon
LOL I think the warranty would be automatically void for using an Antec product in it. :laugh:

Definitely return it to stock.

Sarcasm? what's so humorous about antec products? :confused:

I don't have the PSU with me anymore :(
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,273
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You could try calling up Dell support & just asking them ... that was how I found out it was ok to swap parts like the video card or DVD drive.
 

bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
11,288
7
0
Whenever I modify OEM computers, I always keep the original parts so that if it needs serviced, I can toss them back in and not worry about it.
 

lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
11,709
8
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Did you tear or remove any of those stickers that say "Void warranty if removed" ? If not I'd say you're safe
 

hanoverphist

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2006
9,928
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Originally posted by: Captante
You could try calling up Dell support & just asking them ... that was how I found out it was ok to swap parts like the video card or DVD drive.

ya ive sent back systems with different hardware in them and they still fixed stuff. they even replaced a bad vid card they didnt supply for one system i sent back. it was sent back for other issues, not video but it came back with a new vid card too. i dont think youll have too many issues with it, unless the prob is due to the psu you put in.
 

yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,408
39
91
Well the tech came today.
He noticed the power supply and ram I put in, but he still helped service it.
 

Nitemare

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
35,466
3
76
Originally posted by: astroidea
Well the tech came today.
He noticed the power supply and ram I put in, but he still helped service it.

that's surprising, usually they have those stickers saying void if opened on them and Dell does usually put in the weakest crappiest PSU known to man...
 

isekii

Lifer
Mar 16, 2001
28,578
3
81
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: astroidea
Well the tech came today.
He noticed the power supply and ram I put in, but he still helped service it.

that's surprising, usually they have those stickers saying void if opened on them and Dell does usually put in the weakest crappiest PSU known to man...

Actually Dell puts in pretty decent PSU's
 

Nitemare

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
35,466
3
76
Originally posted by: isekii
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: astroidea
Well the tech came today.
He noticed the power supply and ram I put in, but he still helped service it.

that's surprising, usually they have those stickers saying void if opened on them and Dell does usually put in the weakest crappiest PSU known to man...

Actually Dell puts in pretty decent PSU's

I have yet to see any decent sized ones. Most of the time if you upgrade the graphics card and add a hard drive you have to replace the PSU because it's tapped out.
 

cdmccool

Golden Member
Mar 21, 2006
1,041
0
0
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: isekii
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: astroidea
Well the tech came today.
He noticed the power supply and ram I put in, but he still helped service it.

that's surprising, usually they have those stickers saying void if opened on them and Dell does usually put in the weakest crappiest PSU known to man...

Actually Dell puts in pretty decent PSU's

I have yet to see any decent sized ones. Most of the time if you upgrade the graphics card and add a hard drive you have to replace the PSU because it's tapped out.

Dell underrates their PSUs.
 

BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,335
1
81
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: isekii
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: astroidea
Well the tech came today.
He noticed the power supply and ram I put in, but he still helped service it.

that's surprising, usually they have those stickers saying void if opened on them and Dell does usually put in the weakest crappiest PSU known to man...

Actually Dell puts in pretty decent PSU's

I have yet to see any decent sized ones. Most of the time if you upgrade the graphics card and add a hard drive you have to replace the PSU because it's tapped out.

Have you actually toyed with the newer PSUs?

They are rated very conservatively and they'll easily take mid-range cards (some have reported success with the 8800GT cards) and another hard drive or two these days.
 

oogabooga

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2003
7,806
3
81
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: isekii
Originally posted by: Nitemare
Originally posted by: astroidea
Well the tech came today.
He noticed the power supply and ram I put in, but he still helped service it.

that's surprising, usually they have those stickers saying void if opened on them and Dell does usually put in the weakest crappiest PSU known to man...

Actually Dell puts in pretty decent PSU's

I have yet to see any decent sized ones. Most of the time if you upgrade the graphics card and add a hard drive you have to replace the PSU because it's tapped out.

Have you actually toyed with the newer PSUs?

They are rated very conservatively and they'll easily take mid-range cards (some have reported success with the 8800GT cards) and another hard drive or two these days.

I dunno, there is nothing quite as amusing as watching someone buy a dell budget system then being frustrated at not being able to just drop a top of the line video card in without issue. (not claiming anyone in this thread did this) Especially if it's accompanied with a rant along the lines of "Dell sucks and you can't use real quality components".
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,967
19
81
Originally posted by: astroidea
Well the tech came today.
He noticed the power supply and ram I put in, but he still helped service it.

YMMV with the techs. If he wanted to be a prick an 'improper' psu could have been the cause of motherboard failure.

I always request no tech, we have 24 hour response included, but everytime one of these guys comes I am spending more time showing them where a restroom, soda machine is or they end up breaking something and need another part.

I almost think they purposely do this to get another job out of it.

The funny part is the syringe they give you of heatsink compound...we got affected by the bad cap issue and had about 20 workstations to R&R...my manager found the syringes in the burn-in room and spoke with everyone individually about 'drug use'...I had to explain to her what was up :)