Power surges and a PSU

[OSUguy98]

Monday morning I got a call from a friend of mine who had a power surge or 3 in the middle of the night the night before. She called to tell me that her Dell PC wouldn't turn on anymore (it was on during the surges, and tried to come back on every time)...

So I gave her the standard "might be the power supply, might have killed more..... could just be the power strip... could just be the outlet or the breaker" and I told her I'd pick it up that night on the way home from work and pop in an extra PSU I had laying around to see if I could narrow down the problems...

I tried her PC, no go... I pulled her PSU out, and put my extra one in, and everything fired up... I checked everything I could about the PC and it all seemed fine... I decided that the PSU was probably toast anyhow (and her warranty with Dell has long since ran out), so I opened up the power supply. I expected to see a blown capacitor or a burnt place on the board,etc... I didn't see anything... So I set it aside, called her up and informed her of the good news that it was just the PSU...

And then it struck me that there was probably a fuse or something that would/could blow to protect the PSU... (I'm not all that familiar with the inside of a PSU, BTW).... so I looked around a saw a small ceramic fuse... and off to Radio Shack I went... I showed them the fuse and told them the story and he said "I doubt it's the fuse, but I check it".... so he pulls out a volt/amp/etc meter and tests it..... no go... then came the "I guess I was wrong... I'll be back in a sec".... so he goes back to a drawer somewhere and looks around for a few minutes and comes out saying that he doesn't have one like it.... So this is where you guys come in (assuming you've read this far).... where can I pick up a ceramic fuse like that? the only thing I can tell from it is that it says "T5H250V" which to me means it's 250V... It's about 0.80 inches long... and about 0.2 inches in diameter.... (sorry, only have an engineer's scale here at work).... So where would I go about finding one of these? Thanks for the info/help/etc


Keep on Folding!!

 

[Ice Czar]

yup one of likely a few fuses in the PSU
I dont know where to send you for a replacement
we can give this a bit of time here, and if we dont get an answer I can transfer it to the electronics forum

 

[BillR]

Actually try a place that services HI FI Stereo gear. That’s a high temp slow blow fuse and it’s used in many different products. Some are ceramic; some are glass filled with glass beads. Either way they really are not that hard to find.

First, all Radio Shack stores don’t stock the same things, it’s inventory movement dependent, so call a few other stores in your area. They should be able to locate a stocking store on their computer.

Alternatives, if you have room drill a hole for a standard fuse holder, mount it and solder the wires to the original fuse clips. Second choice, there are mini circuit breakers you could solder in the same way.

Just some ideas

Luck

 

[Ice Czar]

not to rain on your parade BillR
but considering its an OEM supply
isnt that like a $20 saddle on a $5 horse?

then again she might be cute

 

[OSUguy98]

She's not lol... good friend, yes... potential mate, hell no... but anyhow... I'll call the radio shack here at the mall and check to see if they'd have one... Thanks for the info


Keep on Folding!!

 

[BillR]

not to rain on your parade BillR
but considering its an OEM supply
isnt that like a $20 saddle on a $5 horse?

then again she might be cute

Hey, what can I say, one guy’s $5 horse might be someone elses………well, you get the idea