Possible power supply failure?

[ChrisRChamberlain]

Hi all

Have a self assembled PC, specification probably of no real importance, that has taken to turning itself off without warning, time intervals ranging from a few minutes to several hours.

In order to revive the PC, the power cable needs to be removed and reinserted before the PC will power up again.

Instinct says power supply on its way out.

Ideas, comments, please

TIA

FAQ184-2483​

Chris
PDFcommander.com
motrac.co.uk

 

[xit]

your reasoning sounds correct, try a new supply & check the board over for bad caps.

xit

 

[vacunita]

Agreed. how many things are plugged in to the PSU? and what is the wattage of the PSU in question.

The easiest way to know for sure, is to try a different PSU. If you have one lying around, or can borrow one from another PC just for testing.

Other than that, try unplugging things from the PSU, like optical drives, hard drives, remove add-on cards etc.. Just leave the motherboard and CPU connected, and see if it still turns off.



----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[ChrisRChamberlain]

xit, vacunita

Thanks for your replies.

Without taking the cover off, I believe the PSU is rated at 400 watts.

The configuration of the PC has not changed in over 18 months.

There are 2 SATA hard drives, a case fan, 2 DVD burners, (rarely used), a PCI Express graphics card and a USB desktop drive, (not powered by the PC). O/S is Windows 7 Ultimate.

Since starting this thread, the PC is stable but it is the 3rd restart today following the symptons described.

FAQ184-2483​

Chris
PDFcommander.com
motrac.co.uk

 

[vacunita]

Looks like you are at the edge. 400Watts is just a bit over what a rig like that would use, so maybe the age of the PSU is causing it to fail because it needs to power all that stuff. PSU's produce less power as they age.

Start looking at a 600 Watt PSU. should be around 30 to 50 bucks.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[ChrisRChamberlain]

vacunita

Thanks for your further advice which has been taken.

FAQ184-2483​

Chris
PDFcommander.com
motrac.co.uk

 

[kjv1611]

ChrisRChamberlain,

Another piece to keep in mind. What brand of PSU is in that computer? You said it's a self-built system, so if the PSU was one of those "as cheap as you can find" types, then well, you got what you paid for. I had a couple of experiences with cheap power supplies in the past, and decided no more for me. I'd rather pay a little more and get at least a generally trusted brand, if not getting one of the best.

That said, if you look at 600 Watts, don't buy one that's just "cheap". Make sure you can find some other recommendations/reviews on either the model, or at least the brand.

 

[Stringbender]

Make sure the CPU/processor is not getting too hot. A system will shutdown if that happens. It could be a non-working CPU fan that's the culprit.

 

[FredWagner]

It could also be insufficient airflow around the SATA drives. If you can, rearrange them so they're not adjacent to each other, or at least don't have one of their flat sides up against another drive or a case panel.
Also, this is summertime - is the room where your PC is located air conditioned? is the PC under a desk, or does it have plenty of air circulating around it. Is the case warm to the touch? Are the case fans fighting each other? if the PS fan is blowing OUT, is the second, case fan, blowing in or out? Could you have reversed the wires on the case fan at some point ? How well does the PC run if you leave the side of the case off ?

Fred Wagner

 

[ChrisRChamberlain]

kjv1611, Stringbender, FredWagner

Thanks for your replies, the content of which has been noted.

A new power supply has been been obtained, but not yet installed in the computer.

Since the original post on July 26th, the offending PC has been in daily use up to 8 hours a day and has not missed a beat once.

So, having removed critical projects from this particular PC, I'm simply watching and waiting to see what happens.

FAQ184-2483​

Chris
PDFcommander.com
motrac.co.uk

 

[KellieDobbie]

Hi ChrisRChamberlain,

How's your computer doing now? I have exactly the same problem with my 3-year old PC and I want to know if a new power supply has solved your problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ChrisRChamberlain]

KellieDobbie

Still working as we speak

FAQ184-2483​

Chris
PDFcommander.com
motrac.co.uk

 

[kjv1611]

KellieDobbie,

Do note that ChrisRChamberlain said that he didn't yet install the power supply. So he's not saying the PSU fixed it.

A new power supply has been been obtained, but not yet installed in the computer.

 

[ChrisRChamberlain]

Well, nearly four and a half months later in full daily use, the evil day has finally arrived and the PSU has expired.

FAQ184-2483​

Chris
PDFcommander.com
motrac.co.uk

 

[kjv1611]

Did you swap in the new one? If so, how did it go?

 

[ChrisRChamberlain]

Yes, thanks.

No problems so far.

FAQ184-2483​

Chris
PDFcommander.com
motrac.co.uk