A Power Supply is the most reliable component in your computer and one of the important ones. Without it, imagine using the computer with just seeing one thing, NOTHING. Now, wouldn’t you hate to see that? Haha..
Here’s a trivia about power supplies : it only has one moving part and if something wrong happens to it, one probable reason would be the cooling fan so check it out once in a while.
And now to the easy part, troubleshooting and repairing. Start by disconnecting the power supply. SAFETY FIRST everyone.
You will have to open the case to do the following procedures. You may have to take the power supply out before you even find the new one, if you have a digital camera take some pictures of the interior of the computer, you can refer to the pictures when you reassemble it, especially if it takes a long time to get the new part.
If you have a proprietary computer then you can check the web site for the correct power supply for your computer by make and model. For those of us that have clone, home built, or BIG computers we will have to check the power supply for information before we purchase a new one. Most power supplies have a label on them that give you the wattage and maybe a manufacture with a part number. The main thing we are looking for is the wattage. If you have to replace a power supply because of failure I suggest you go to a higher wattage power supply. Next you want to look at the connectors. The connectors are two types, the mother board power connector and the accessories power connectors (connectors for drives, fans, etc.). Some ATX power supplies also come with the SATA power connectors. The main power connector will be the AT (almost obsolete) or ATX, the AT has 20 pins, the ATX has 24 of pins. Next you need to know the dimensions of the power supply, if you purchase a power supply that is to big to fit into the bay the old one came out of you will have to return it and get the correct size.
Ok, got the new part, set it beside the old one, do they match up? Some power supplies have tabs that lock into the bay where the power supply is installed. Everything OK? Do you remember how it came apart? No? check your pictures!! Reassemble the computer, power supplies do not need a burn if in case you are wondering.
All back together? Check your connections one more time, tug on them, they should not come out of the sockets. All good, put the case cover back on, reconnect the external cables, power it up. Good to go??
No? Disconnect the power cord!! Check your work something is going to ground. Check all the connections, compare your work with the pictures you took before disassembling the computer. Check the memory and any card in the slots, one of them may have been bumped and came partially out of the slot.
Til` Then! Jya`ne!!
Sources:
Do It Yourself Computer Repair E-book by Monte Russell
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