Toasted my Power Supply this morning! HELP!

[Va_mike]

Ok, I've got an old beater machine that I use, its a Celeron 433, motherboard of unknown Origin, running windows 98. None of which applies to my problem.

Last night, while playing games, my monitor would just go black, then have random red lines scambling across it. Turning it on and off would clearn things up, but generally the machine would stop working after 10-15 min.

This morning, while waiting on a Tow Truck for my dead Car (also a Battery Problem).. I thought I'd take the cover off and power it up to see if the Fan on the CPU was working correctly. I was thinking maybe the fan had died and it was overheating or something along those lines.

About.. 30? seconds after powering up, there's a Loud Bang, sparks, sizzling noises, flames and smoke shooting out of the vents on the powersupply.

It was very dramatic.

Needless to say, In Vain hope that I've not fried my machine entirely, I picked up a new Power Supply from CompUSA, decided to upgrade the original 250W supply with a new 300W P4 ATX from NSpire.

I've never replaced a power suppy before, I thought itd be a simple process, unplug the old PS from the Motherboard and the various parts, plug the new connectors in after putting in the new supply.

I find however, I've got an extra 4pin square connector that does Not go to anything on my motherboard. And, after trying to start it anyway I've got Nothing. No lights, no fans, nada.

Left the wattage switch at 115? whatever the shipping setting was, and tried both positions for the switch on the back. Used a New cord, and plugged into different jacks on my extention.

So, the question is, do I go back to CompUSA and get a regualr 250W supply, or am I just doing something wrong?

Mike

 

[Teq]

The extra connector is for P4 boards and the supply should work without connecting it... at least it does on AMD boards.

Sounds to me like the old supply did some extra damage on the way out...



---> <b>Press ALT-F4 for IQ test</b><---

 

[Javic]

For about $5 you can also buy a power supply tester (if you don't have a voltmeter, etc) that plugs right into the MB connector on your PSU to make sure its good, which they should have at CompUSA. But in all reality I'd have to agree with Teq and say that something else got fried when the old PSU went up in flames.

 

[Va_mike]

Yep, just got back from CompUSA, had them test the PSU that I bought on the off chance that I managed to purchase the ONE PSU that would be DOA. No luck, it works fine. Which leads me to look at my Motherboard and the rest of my components being fried too.

With any luck I'll be able to strip out the surviving peices and test them on a friends extra machine and see what else survived.

My big problem is now the cash involved in repairing what I have. I've got to Dig up a MB that will still run a C433 (if that even still works.) My wife is already freaking at the prospect of spening more money that I already have on the replacement PSU.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Unfortunately that is a possibility. The catastrophic death of your old weak PSU could certainly fry the motherboard and other components... who know what was happening to the voltages and currents in those brief seconds before death.

Thats why i allways recommend a good quality grunty PSU. Not only do they work better and more reliably, they last ALOT longer.


<b>"If spam wasn't totally bogus, Hotmail users would be well-endowed, slim people with hair who make big money working at home and having great sex provoked by free porn and herbal Viagra.</b>

 

[Va_mike]

While I freely admit my PSU is/was weak compared to todays standards, it was original to the case and lasted at least 4yrs. But I do wish it'd taken a Quieter way to Exit Stage left.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Well thats life... At least you know that the PSU HAS died

<b><i>Poloticians and Nappies should be changed often... For much the same reason.</b></i>