HELP!c PSU Broken?

[nytrackstar]

About an hour ago i unitentionally knocked over my PSU off my desk and it landed on a hard concrete garage floor. I heard a small piece rattling around and so it was a peice if glue that was hardened, no idea where it came from. When i connect the PSU to a PSU tester, all the lights turn on except the -5v line. My PSU broken? theres also a high pitched whine coming from it.

Thanks for all the help

 

[Ice Czar]

power supplies will give off a high pitched squeal, with some louder than others.

They dunk the transformers/inductors used in power supplies into varnish during manufacture, to hold the windings in place. Every once in a while a part won't go the full way into the potitng tank or sometimes a manufacturer will forget entirely... the loose windings and loose transformer core will "dance around" a bit and cause noise.

This doesn't cause any reliability problems, but it can be annoying as fuck.

&

its very likely you have no need of the -5V rail
there are a few modern exceptions but for the most part its a dinosaur dating back to the ISA bus


the long and short of it being its possibly OK to use
but to actually test it youd want to place it a load on it
(like an older computer) and measure the voltage fluctuation

 

[larrymoencurly]

If a PSU of mine took a hit like that, I'd want it opened up and inspected because I've seen some with cracked solder joints around the transformer or big heatsinks. The transformer is heavy enough to even crack the circuit board and cause soldered leads to short against the bottom of the case.