How do you check a failed PC ?

[caveman16]

Good morning Guys, wishing you a nice day.

     I'll keep this short and basic.   Everything was working OK when I  turned off the PC but it wouldn't turn on the next morning  :-?     The PC isn't old - - [ 6 months].   The power supply appears to be OK as I see some LED'S working inside the case.  The power light did flicker a few times then died.

    I think it's the power supply even tho it's not old and has been kept cool [5 case fans running @ max output  and clean filters ].

    If it isn't the power supply,  how do you check the other componets ?   I'm handy with tools, meters etc.    

     I'll stop at this and ask for your input.   Sure do thank you for your time on my request.

     Have a good one,   caveman

[Brett_Henderson]

Most mother-boards will give you a diagnostic set of beeps while they POST (power on self test). If you aren't getting any beeps at all (make sure there's an internal speaker), it's a good bet that you're right, and it's a bad power-supply.

If not.. it get's tricky, because if the board is bad, you'd never get to the point where it would matter if it were a bad CPU or RAM.

I'd grab another (higher wattage) power-supply.. and swap it out. It never hurts to have a spare power-supply hanging around, anyway..

Good luck.

[caveman16]

     Thanks Brett,   That's what I'm doing in the morning.  I had a 550 watt power supply and am getting a 650 watt.   I'm hoping that's the problem,   just wouldn't know where to start if not.   I wonder how the "repair" man checks out the PCs ?

     Sure appreciate the the input,   have a good one,  caveman

[Brett_Henderson]

I wonder how the "repair" man checks out the PCs ?

I wonder about that too.. I suppose in a "shop", there are spare PSUs, RAM, CPUs laying around.. but the BIG question is... what's his time worth. Even at a meager $30/hour.. when you start throwing in part prices, most computers over a year old aren't worth repairing.

If you're sitting on a two year old computer and a repair bill gets over $200.. that $200 is better spent toward a new computer..

[caveman16]

     Hey Brett,  Nice of you to stay on top of this,   Perhaps I'm in the same thoughts as you are on this.   What I've done the other day was place an ad in my local paper asking for "FREE" old working computers for a backup for when mine is being "often" repaired.    Today will be the first day our local paper will run that ad.   It will be interesting to see if anyone is willing to get rid of their  old PCs.   These will be the parts that I'll use to swap-out just to find out which part failed.   Then I will know which part to buy.    Oh, - - - The cost of the ad was $8.00 and I placed it for two weeks.   A cheap way to obtain parts for a swap-out.  

     Sure Appreciate your input,  Have a good one,   caveman

     

[JBaymore]

caveman,

Smart move.

[NickN]

There is a way to test a power supply without a volt meter to see if it will fire up but I hesitate to post the process.

It requires the main 20-24pin connector be unplugged from the motherboard and a jumper wire (paper clip works) placed between 2 pins on the main plug.

The PSU must have at leas one output plugged into a device so it senses a load is present. Leaving it plugged into the hard drives and other devices accomplishes that. The next step is to short the green wire (typically pin 14 but may be different depending on the supply) to any ground (black)


http://www.duxcw.com/faq/ps/ps4.htm


If the PSU fires up the problem is the motherboard (or the tower switch) is not allowing the signal for PSU activation. If the PSU does not fire up the problem is the PSU.

If it does fire up, the next test is to plug the PSU back into the motherboard and manually jump the SWITCH pins (see the motherboard manual for those pin locations). If it fires up the problem is the tower switch. If not, its the motherboard.




Please do not attempt this unless you feel comfortable about working with the devices. All it will do is fire up the PSU.

When testing with the main 20-24 pin plug off the motherboard I would disconnect any 4-8 pin power plug from the motherboard too and leave the drives connected to the PSU so the unit has a load to sense to perform this test. Plug everything back in to perform the tower switch pin test.

[caveman16]

     Hey Guys, Here's what's happened so far on this PC of mine.   I live 18 miles from town out it the middle of no-where.   We pay via taxes for a "dumpster pickup of all small items.   So they don't get thrown all over our roads by those that live "THAT WAY".    I did ask for computers that can be used as a backup but I will ask if they work before picking them up - - -that is if anyone calls with one to give away.   Thanks for the advice John, sorta a wake up call to me as there are some that would use this to rid themselves of junk.   [ I've lived in these mountains long enough to start getting naive ]  

     I did get my PC back from the repairman.   He said it was the Power supply and when I asked what could have caused it to fail,  He said that he has about ten a week and he feels it's due to "brown-outs".   We do have many of them in this area due to tree limbs down over the wires.   I bought a battery power back-up to cure THAT problem.   I think that is a good investment to stop THAT problem.    

   

     Hey Nick , your words are for the wise about not getting into something over their heads.   However - -  this caveman will take your advice anyway and admit it's over my head and will stick with a swap out.  

     All you Guys are just great taking your time in helping me    Thanks very much.

     Have a good one,   caveman