How can I be sure my power supply is dead?

[Tanukitsune]

The other day my PC simply shut down and it simply won't turn on, no fans turning on, no lights, no sound, nothing...

I'm pretty certain it is the PSU and the PC should be under warranty, but the repair should take two weeks minimum.

Money is tight, so I'd rather have it fixed for free, but the wait is just too long so I think I can afford buying a new PSU, but only if I'm sure that the problem.

I've heard it's possible that the PSU can take everything with it when it dies, which is what worries me, I can't afford the spend the money on a PSU if everything is dead!

I had a similar problem last year and I could swear that when they fixed it under warranty they put some white sealant or coolant gel in the PSU, because I'm sure those white globs aren't normally there.


Anyway, any advice is welcome, but take in mind that I can't afford much now.

 

[night wolf]

the only way to know for sure its just the psu is to borrow another one and run your pc to see.

its safer than to buy a new psu and your mobo was blown, so then you just waste money on new parts

 

[aviral]

yes,your psu is 100% dead because it is not at all giving a slightest output.

Don't worry your other hardware will be safe but to make sure get a psu /borrow it from someone and try it.I am pretty sure that it will power your system and will let you use your system.

I am pretty sure that it would not affected your hardware because one of my friend's psu died and it was also giving sparking when the system was switched on.When he got a new psu his system perfectly worked without any problem.

In simple don't worry just get a new psu or get the old one replaced.

 

[jsc]

yes,your psu is 100% dead because it is not at all giving a slightest output.

No activity at all would seem would seem to indicate that your PSU is dead, but without testing, you really do not know.

Completely disconnect the PSU and use a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

If the PSU fan does not turn, the PSU is dead.

The PSU fan can spin up and the PSU still may not work. But no fan = dead PSU.

 

[Tanukitsune]

I just found out I'm out of warranty, so I went to the PC store where they were nice enough to test it....

It worked?! Which means it's the motherboard? Or maybe something else? I really don't know what to do now.

 

[aviral]

I just found out I'm out of warranty, so I went to the PC store where they were nice enough to test it....

It worked?! Which means it's the motherboard? Or maybe something else? I really don't know what to do now.

Are you sure that all the connections which you have done on your system are properly plugged in?

Just take out your cmos battery of your motherboard and after few minutes say 2-3 minutes insert it back to the motherboard.It may work for you but not too sure.Just try it out and post the result.

 

[aviral]

No activity at all would seem would seem to indicate that your PSU is dead, but without testing, you really do not know.

Completely disconnect the PSU and use a paperclip or jumper wire to short the green wire to one of the neighboring black wires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4&feature=youtube_gdata

If the PSU fan does not turn, the PSU is dead.

The PSU fan can spin up and the PSU still may not work. But no fan = dead PSU.

99% of times when ever psu does not work will always result in the psu failure but here he luckily comes under 2% when some other fault had caused the psu problem.