[Tfug] power supplies & motherboards

[erich]

OK,
         I still have the dead power supply in my shop, and another ATX 
PS lying around
The wikipedia link you gave me I still have to digest.

                                                                                                                    
Erich

Harry McGregor wrote:
> erich wrote:
>   
>> OK,
>>        Thanks. The person I had the conversation with was a non-technical
>> hear-say person.
>>         My first attempt to resuscitate  this box  ended in failure
>> because
>> it was later determined that the "new" power supply was bad. My friend
>> has assured me that another "new" power supply  will be tested first
>> before it enters my shop. If this 2nd attempt fails then I will end up
>> with an uninstalled power supply and a motherboard that is e-waste.
>>         It is difficult to test a power supply stand-alone. The new ones
>> have many sensing feedback controls that work only in the
>> appropriate environment.
>>     
>
> That is not true...  You just have to short the correct pins in the ATX
> connector, and it will fire up.
>
> You can then test voltages all you want.
>
> The pin is between the mess of black (ground) wires in the connector,
> and is PS_ON or Power ON
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX#Power_supply
>
> I used to use this trick to power a bunch of hard drives for wiping with
> DBAN.
>
> You can also get a handy dandy power supply tester rather cheap.  I
> think SWS has them in town, or you can order one:
>
> http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=KM-LCD-1&cpc=SCH
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899887102&cm_re=power_supply_tester-_-99-887-102-_-Product
>
> Also, some older motherboards (mostly with ISA slots) need a -5 volt
> rail, and a lot of newer power supplies don't have the -5V rail.
>
>                       Harry
>
>
>   
>>                                                                                           
>> Erich
>> Harry McGregor wrote:
>>     
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> erich wrote:
>>>  
>>>       
>>>> OK,
>>>>        I have a vintage 2004 tower that had a power supply failure.
>>>> At least I'm pretty sure it was the power supply: the smell
>>>> of burnt components came from the power supply. The
>>>> motherboard smells/shows no signs of damage.
>>>>
>>>>        Then I heard a rather disturbing thing in a conversation.
>>>> Power supplies have been known to fail on some models
>>>> of computers and take out the motherboard with them.
>>>>
>>>>         So I have two questions:
>>>>
>>>>            1) If a power supply fails, is there a chance that
>>>> it will take out a motherboard?
>>>>     
>>>>         
>>> This can of course happen, depending on the failure in the power
>>> supply.  I have seen far far more power supply failures that did NOT
>>> kill the motherboard, but I have seen a couple that did...
>>>
>>>  
>>>       
>>>>            2) If a motherboard is suspected to have failed.
>>>> will it take out a power supply?
>>>>
>>>>     
>>>>         
>>> Unlikely, power supplies have short protection built in, about the worst
>>> you could do is try to draw more power than the PS can provide, but that
>>> would most likely be noticeable ahead of time.
>>>
>>> I would suggest getting a cheap power supply (I know, in general, not a
>>> great idea), and if it works with that, get a good power supply, and
>>> keep the cheap one as a bench supply for testing.
>>>
>>>
>>>                    Harry
>>>
>>>
>>>  
>>>       
>>>>                                                                   Erich
>>>>
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>>>>         
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>>>   
>>>       
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>>     
>
>
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