Did my power supply die?

[Kind9]

So yesterday my PC powered itself off several times. No errors or blue screen. I checked eventvwr and it showed the "kernel power" critical error with 0 as the bug check code, which I gather often means hardware failure.

 

Well today my PC won't turn on at all. If I switch the voltage(or whatever the red switch on the back of the power supply does) the lights and fans come on but of course it won't boot on that setting. I also noticed the light in my mouse is off; usually it stays on even if the PC is off.

 

Can I be certain that the power supply died and something else isn't wrong? Is there anything I can try to fix it before buying a new one?

[b3lisario]

I had a similar issue some weeks ago. In my case it was the power supply and I needed to replace it.

 

My computer died while I was at work. It didn't turn on: no beeps, no display, just the "on/off light" and fans (don't remember which, CPU I think). Not sure if I had light in mouse or keyboard, I'd say no.

[prideslayer]

So yesterday my PC powered itself off several times. No errors or blue screen. I checked eventvwr and it showed the "kernel power" critical error with 0 as the bug check code, which I gather often means hardware failure.

That error is basically an unhelpful catch all, it doesn't necessarily mean the powersupply is bad -- usually alone it doesn't mean that. There are many other causes.

 

Well today my PC won't turn on at all. If I switch the voltage(or whatever the red switch on the back of the power supply does) the lights and fans come on but of course it won't boot on that setting. I also noticed the light in my mouse is off; usually it stays on even if the PC is off.

Flipping that switch is a bad idea. It's changing the tap on the powersupply transformer. The PC needs several DC voltages from the AC supply. Setting it to a position that doesn't match your household supply voltage can damage the PSU or other components.

 

house = 110, switch = 110 : ok

 

house = 220, switch = 220 : ok

 

house = 110, switch = 220 : All solidstate stuff undervoltage and will not work. Possible overheat damage (including fire) to fans and other DC motors.

 

house = 220, switch = 110 : Everything gets double voltage. PSU will almost certainly pop and die. Might damage other components as well before the PSU catches it.

 

 

Can I be certain that the power supply died and something else isn't wrong? Is there anything I can try to fix it before buying a new one?

Remove all your cards, disconnect all harddrives. Try to power on. If it works, start adding components one at a time. If you find one that starts causing problems again, try it by itself. If the device works fine by itself, it's your power supply (or maybe motherboard if it's a card), if it doesn't, it could be the device, the psu, or the motherboard. Try the device in another computer.

[Rayblue]

 

 

Can I be certain that the power supply died and something else isn't wrong? Is there anything I can try to fix it before buying a new one? 

 

Also make sure the inside of the PC is clean, and even the keyboard. Sometimes it takes just one hair strand or a furball to cause huge problems.

[TonyB]

I had a power unit overheat and go out on me once.  It scared the poop out of me.  The overheating I mean.  There was smoke coming off it and the smell like electrical fire, but then it burned it self out and when it cooled I took it out and went to Radio Shack and got a newer one with more power. 

 

In this case, there was no doubt that it was the power supply.

 

TonyB

[Kind9]

Thanks guys, I took all your advice and no go.

 

Turns out it was the power switch on the thing that I was fiddling with, not the voltage, so that explains that. Also turns out all fans come on and some lights on the motherboard come on, but the fan on the power supply doesn't come on unless coaxed. One thing I neglected to mention is that power supply felt uncomfortably hot when I finally powered it down yesterday. Could be I just avoided what happened to you, TonyB.

 

So anyway I just ordered a new one.

[Shadowhawk827]

If I'd seen this sooner, I'd have given the same advice but had bet on the power supply to have been the issue.  Process of elimination swapping out parts is the only way short of measuring the PSU output with a voltmeter.  Still, all the symptoms pointed that way.  The only time  I've seen those exact symptoms be something else was when the power switch on my $400 POS Thermaltake Level 10 case went out (after the fan controller switch and the USB ports).

 

ANYWAY, most other causes would have allowed at least a brief or partial power up and some sort of POST beep code.