What Am I Dealing With Here?

[K9ZMD]

About two months ago, we had two power interruptions while my 11 year-old Gateway 500C desktop was operating. After power was restored, I ran up the computer again & it seemed to work fine. Three or four weeks later, the computer quit after a few hours of idling, leaving just the standby light illuminated. It would not run up until after I disconnected the power cord and held the power button for 15 seconds before reconnecting the power cord. A couple days later, it quit again after a couple hours of operation, and I had to go through the same routine to bring it back to life. It worked OK for a few more weeks after that, but I never left it running unattended during those weeks.

Last week, it quit within a few minutes of run-up, and now it won't run up at all. Only the standby light and motherboard green LED illuminate when I press the power button. The fan does not operate and there's no video output to the monitor, nor even a whisper of HD activity. These symptoms do not change when I try the power cord disconnect/button push routine.

Inside the case, I've inspected the motherboard and all other PCB's. There's no sign of burned tracks, overheated components, or bulging capacitors.

I've reseated all power & PCB connectors as well as all RAM modules. I've tried to power up after disconnecting keyboard, mouse, and all other lines except power & monitor . . . the symptoms do not change. I've also tried this with all drives except HD disconnected. No change.

I'm OK with buying a new power supply if that's indicated, but I don't know enough to leap to that conclusion. I sure don't want to troubleshoot by randomly buying & installing new sub-assemblies one at a time until I get it to work . . . I'd like to fix it, but if that's what it would take, I'd rather just have a new computer built up.

Has anyone seen & resolved this set of symptoms before? Are there other tests I should do to narrow down the possibilities?

[KL7AJ]

About two months ago, we had two power interruptions while my 11 year-old Gateway 500C desktop was operating. After power was restored, I ran up the computer again & it seemed to work fine. Three or four weeks later, the computer quit after a few hours of idling, leaving just the standby light illuminated. It would not run up until after I disconnected the power cord and held the power button for 15 seconds before reconnecting the power cord. A couple days later, it quit again after a couple hours of operation, and I had to go through the same routine to bring it back to life. It worked OK for a few more weeks after that, but I never left it running unattended during those weeks.

Last week, it quit within a few minutes of run-up, and now it won't run up at all. Only the standby light and motherboard green LED illuminate when I press the power button. The fan does not operate and there's no video output to the monitor, nor even a whisper of HD activity. These symptoms do not change when I try the power cord disconnect/button push routine.

Inside the case, I've inspected the motherboard and all other PCB's. There's no sign of burned tracks, overheated components, or bulging capacitors.

I've reseated all power & PCB connectors as well as all RAM modules. I've tried to power up after disconnecting keyboard, mouse, and all other lines except power & monitor . . . the symptoms do not change. I've also tried this with all drives except HD disconnected. No change.

I'm OK with buying a new power supply if that's indicated, but I don't know enough to leap to that conclusion. I sure don't want to troubleshoot by randomly buying & installing new sub-assemblies one at a time until I get it to work . . . I'd like to fix it, but if that's what it would take, I'd rather just have a new computer built up.

Has anyone seen & resolved this set of symptoms before? Are there other tests I should do to narrow down the possibilities?

Almost certainly a power supply. Very typical of how they go south.

Eric

[KJ3N]

I'd go with replacing the power supply as well.

[K9ZMD]

Thanks, Eric & Jim -

Power supply failure was my first take on the problem, but I really don't know enough about pooters to make that leap. I've replaced floppy drives, fans, and RAM modules over the years; now it seems opportunity (to learn) has knocked once again. 73

Gary

[WA9SVD]

I'll agree on the likely suspect IS the power supply, and (usually) an easy solution. If THAT solves the problem, that's a great and relatively inexpensive solution.

Good luck, and let us know of your r3esolution.

[K9ZMD]

I installed a replacement power supply this afternoon, an ATX 350-PN by Sparkle. The computer started & ran up normally, so apparently the old power supply didn't take out the motherboard as it failed. A local shop had the replacement in stock at the same price I found on-line, sans shipping cost. With no waiting time & no penalty for instant gratification, what could be sweeter?

That was the silver lining, and now to check for a cloud. Once I button it all up, I'll scan for birdies on HF. If anyone has had experience RFI-wise with Sparkle power supplies, good or bad, please share the info, OK? The shop has a 30 day return policy. 73 and thanks again for the guidance.

Gary

[K8ERV]

Luvit when a plan comes together.

If the old supply works at all you may be able to make a nice 12v bench supply with it. Easy to do.

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

[K6ABZ]

I installed a replacement power supply this afternoon, an ATX 350-PN by Sparkle. The computer started & ran up normally, so apparently the old power supply didn't take out the motherboard as it failed. A local shop had the replacement in stock at the same price I found on-line, sans shipping cost. With no waiting time & no penalty for instant gratification, what could be sweeter?

That was the silver lining, and now to check for a cloud. Once I button it all up, I'll scan for birdies on HF. If anyone has had experience RFI-wise with Sparkle power supplies, good or bad, please share the info, OK? The shop has a 30 day return policy. 73 and thanks again for the guidance.

Gary

It's been my experience that Sparkles are cheap supplies - both literally and figuratively. However, that's not a guarantee of failure: I have had $10 power supplies last the life of a computer, and I've had $100 PSU's fail. So congrats on fixing the problem, and good luck!

[K9ZMD]

It's been my experience that Sparkles are cheap supplies - both literally and figuratively. However, that's not a guarantee of failure: I have had $10 power supplies last the life of a computer, and I've had $100 PSU's fail. So congrats on fixing the problem, and good luck!

Thanks, Tom. Power supply longevity is not much of a worry for me; it won't take much luck for the Sparkle supply to outlast my tired, 11+ year-old Gateway.

Luvit when a plan comes together.

If the old supply works at all you may be able to make a nice 12v bench supply with it. Easy to do.

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

Tom, some part of the old supply was still working, based on the illuminated standby & motherboard LED's. I'll mess around with it later to see what use I can make of it. I hope 12VDC is still alive because I like the bench supply suggestion - thanks for the tip.

Meanwhile, I'm happy I can resume keeping our budget records on the Gateway. All my data was safely backed up to an external HD, but I was surprised to discover that the other three computers in the house don't have MS Money or spread sheet installed. That will be rectified as soon as I determine where I stashed those software packages (somewhere in the 60 or so moving boxes that we haven't touched yet since moving here). 73 and thanks again to all.

Gary

[WA9SVD]

Thanks, Tom. Power supply longevity is not much of a worry for me; it won't take much luck for the Sparkle supply to outlast my tired, 11+ year-old Gateway.

Tom, some part of the old supply was still working, based on the illuminated standby & motherboard LED's. I'll mess around with it later to see what use I can make of it. I hope 12VDC is still alive because I like the bench supply suggestion - thanks for the tip.

Meanwhile, I'm happy I can resume keeping our budget records on the Gateway. All my data was safely backed up to an external HD, but I was surprised to discover that the other three computers in the house don't have MS Money or spread sheet installed. That will be rectified as soon as I determine where I stashed those software packages (somewhere in the 60 or so moving boxes that we haven't touched yet since moving here). 73 and thanks again to all.

Gary

I wouldn't bother. If "part" of the supply has already failed, the rest is likely to fail soon after. And trouble shooting and repair is often not worth the effort and expense as well. If the 5 Volt bus has failed, the voltage regulation may no longer function properly, and could damage equipment if used as a "bench" supply.. I'm the last person to want to scrap something that's working, but if it's already only semi-working, I wouldn't waste time or money trying to "repurpose" it; just extract usable parts and recycle the rest.