Topic: Power Supply Died

[fsufan13]

Ok, I need some help.  My power supply has fried 5 times on my Dell Dimension 4600.  I have even replaced the tower twice.  I moved from a simple surge protector to a UPS.  Didn't help.

The last time, I replaced the PSU, my computer worked fine for an hour.  Then I turned it off and went to bed.  The next morning it was dead again, even though it was still plugged into the UPS, but I hadn't turned off the UPS.

Can anyone tell me if there is such a thing as a less touchy PSU?  Or do I need an electrician?  All my other components, plus my TV, DVD, VCR, etc. work fine.

I would appreciate any advice anyone can give me.

Thanks,
Cheri

[Simon]

Hi Cheri, and  

Hopefully a techie will be along soon to help you out.   I assume you've tried different power leads?

[ketamininja]

Hi hi!

Simon is right with the check there - remember your power lead has a fuse in it. If its the wrong type of fuse, then a power surge could get through (instead of blowing the fuse) and blow your PSU.

But, to give you an idea of how sensitive things are, ANY device, even a mouse, can cause power issues that make voltages unsteady on the mainboard, and of course, therefore the main power PSU.

Are you attaching ANYTHING to the DELL that didn't come with it? You have had the tower replaced twice, so I would doubt that it is anything inside that came with the dell. But, nothing is in stone which is why you get warranties. It is possible that you got two duff dells' (they received a duff shipment of mainboards say), but its unlikely.

What about the monitor? Was this replaced when you got a new box (assuming its a dell and came with the original)? This could be causing the power problem (through the VGA connector, or loopback PSU if its plugged into your base unit for power).

So, to recap really:

Did you add anything that didn't come with the dell?
- remove items, they may be faulty. Test.

Did you replace the monitor?
- ask for a replacement or try someone elses.

If none of the above, I would suggest you gave some faulty electrics... possible just your house, but maybe the surge protector (the UPS is just a battery really, but yes it does try to regulate). But if the UPS was still running, well that has better load balancing, but should send the best output even with a surge....


hard one. Go through these tests and get back to us.

[Reno]

try a different outlet on a different circuit in your house, see if the problem occurs again.

It might not be that your ciruit is grounded. The serge protectors only work if the outlet itself is grounded. At least thats the way i understood/remembered it in electrical class 4 years ago lmao.

[fsufan13]

Everything that is hooked up to my PC is Dell and has been there from the beginning.  I forgot to mention that my computer was fine for 6 months then this started.

I have tried different circuits.  And I did check my outlets and they are grounded.

I guess it's time for an electrician.  But thanks everyone for trying to help me.

Have a great week.

Cheri

[ketamininja]

I doubt very much that your house has a problem if the surge protectors and the UPS are ok IN FRONT of the PC.

but its another strange one...

[Reno]

this is an old thread but i got the email nontheless.

If the voltage is low it will burn up the powersupply even if theres a surge protector in place.

[ketamininja]

I thought that all UPS's had some electronics built in that could identify that problem? I might have been wrong there then. Thanks for the correction!