• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Power Supply Failure?

W

wraith

n00b
Joined
Jul 18, 2006
Messages
7
Hey group,

This is my first post on this forum. By joing hardforum, I hope to learn much about building and troubleshooting computers.

First, I built my very first pc this January. I used the following components:

Sonata 2 case with Antec SP-450 power supply
MCI NEO 4 Platinum MoBo
AMD 3700+ San Diego Processor
ATI GEForce 6800GT Video Card

Now, here's the kicker. The other day, I went to boot up my pc and nothing happened! The damn thing will not power up! If I hit the switch on the back of the power supply, I can here a high-pitched "whirring" sound, but the PS main fan does not kick on. I opened up the box and could not find anything that came unconnected from the MoBo. I pulled out the HD and the SATA connectot and the power are still connected to it.

Does this sound like a PS failure?

Please help :confused:
 
Give the PSU the sniff test, does it smell like the "smoke is coming out"... If it's under RMA send the PSU back to Antec, if not under warranty, open up the power supply after it's been discharged for a while and see if the smaller capacitors near the power leads are bloated, this happens sometimes.

Use caution at all times when playing with a PSU's guts...
 
ok. unhook the psu from everything, put a paperclip-ghetto-jumper between green and black wire (there's one green, and a bazillion black. one to green, one to black). plug it in, switch on the powersupply in the back. See if that works first.
 
I sniff-tested and nothing seems burnt.

So, when I ghetto-jumper and power up, should the main PSU fan kick on?

If it isn't the PSU, what else could it be?

Thanks so far
 
Yea, when you paperclip it, the power supply should turn on.
 
Ok,

I tried the "ghetto jumper" and themain PSU fan did not kick on when I plugged it in and hit the power switch. I did feel a slight breeze coming from the back of the unit though. When I took the jumper out, the slight breeze went away with the power on. One thing I notice is that there is a hig-pitched squeal (quiet, but very noticeable) when the power supply is turned on, whether the jumper is installed or not. Also, a "very slight" electrical smell is evident now that the "slight breeze" blew through the PS.

Is there a way that I can apply a load to the circuit as Spectre mentioned? Isn't a 110-volt AC load from my outlet the only load needed?

Thanks a million folks. If I find that my PS is blown out, I can send it back to Antec since it is only 5-months old...
 
ok this is interesting! I hooked up my two dvd writer drives and the main fan on the back of the case. Then I installed the ghetto jumper. this time, when I powered on the PCU, the main fan kicked on and the dvd rooms started to make noise too! Does this mean that my PSU is ok? What should I turn to next?

Thanks! :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
Yeah if with the load it turns on it at least means the PSU is not dead.

The mobo sends the signal to the PSU to turn on.....so that might be your next thing to check.
 
You said you heard a high pitched whine, which means something might be shorted out.

Strip the motherboard down to just the essentials: CPU, RAM... Hook up the PSU. If the PSU doesn't power up through the front power switch, try disconnecting the front power switch from the motherboard and just touch the two pins wih the tip of your screwdriver.

If it still doesn't power up, but the PSU is powering up outside of being hooked up to the motherboard, it might be a dead board.
 
My Sonata 2 PSU just crapped out the other week as well.

It keep getting shut down via power outtages and after the last one..it never came back to life.
 
Strange noises
MICROPHONICS

Semiconductors are not prone to microphonics themselves, but some other circuit elements can cause them. One case is the inductor used in some LC oscillators, particularly in the radio-frequency range. This effect can sometimes be minimized by firmly anchoring each turn of the coil with special adhesives such as RTV. Phase-locked loop circuits can be sensitive to microphonics generated by the physical movement of the inductor used in the oscillator.

Capacitor Failure Patterns in DC Circuits
The majority of capacitor failures, perhaps 90%, involve the internal shorting of the capacitor. Once shorted, the capacitor frequently causes power-supply overload, often causing the power supply to blow a fuse or other wise fail. In less drastic failures, the capacitor no longer functions to isolate DC voltages from one circuit to another. If power is still applied, this failure is easilly determined with a DC voltmeter since there is a zero voltage drop across a shorted coupling capacitor.

...If the electrolytics are bad, the oscillation can be a squeal...


James Perozzo: Practical Electronics - Troubleshooting
Click to expand...
 
Hi, I'm currenly having the same problems as you (Wraith): no powering up, high-pitch noise coming from the PSU. I also have the same PSU/Mobo. Have you solved your problem yet? if so, what was it?

thanks in advance.
 
Look above your post...

Fuhjyyu caps die in these things, I have a TP-430 in my cuve that is DEAD because of this...
 
The reason you werent seeing the fan move is because the rear fan on the SP's is thermally controlled, it only kicks on when the internals get hot, you felt a breeze from the inner fan which is on all the time. It sounds like the psu is ok.
 
Solved... the PSU was indeed dead.. I tried my roommate's PSU on my machine and it booted. I find it strange that it (the dead psu) still does the high-pitched noise.
 
Please open it up and post pictures of the internals.... everyone needs to see this kind of thing...
 
luke51087 said:
Wont opening it void the warrenty?
Click to expand...
IIRC in the thread with the "official antec rep" you can open it up, but don't screw around with the insides...and still retain the warranty...
 
MD_Willington said:
IIRC in the thread with the "official antec rep" you can open it up, but don't screw around with the insides...and still retain the warranty...
Click to expand...

That would be incorrect. Opening it does void the warranty.

Broken stickers on NeoHE's we'll overlook and if you don't mess with the insides we'll still honor the warranty (for Pre A3 versions). Since Pre A3 had bad sticker/poor placements.

Sonata 2 does not ship with a NeoHE though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top