Did my PSU just die?

Sasquach

Sasquach

Hidden in plain sight
So it has come to my attention awhile ago that my PSU being as old as it is was probably gonna crap out at some point. Perhaps its day has finally come.

So i was using my PC earlier today, and then i left it at around 3PM (sleep mode and all). When i returned to use it just a few minutes ago nothing was happening. tapping a keyboard key usually wakes it up. Nothing. Power button would wake it up if keyboard didnt do anything....but also nothing. Very wierd. My motherboard is still being lit up with its pulsating "heartbeat" yellow lights so it is getting some power. Tried just unplugging and replugging the PSU cable and even flicking the on/off psu power switch and the only thing that would happen is either nothing or things would START to spin up (my case fans spins and the fan lights blue) but almost immediately shut down again.

So im gonna leave everything switched off overnight and see what happens when i turn things on again tomorrow. If the same nothing happens is it a dead PSU? There wasnt really any signs or symptoms that would indicate something was up. And i guess i should be happy that it decided to crap out when i was doing nothing of importance, as opposed to being in the middle of something.

(Im currently using my slowass laptop for my internets right now)
 
A momentary power and shutdown indicates a PSU protecting itself, either from a short in the system or overheating. Could be the power supply, could be elsewhere.

If you're technically competent, here's one way to test if you have a voltmeter, or you can plug a fan into the PS directly, not via motherboard.

1) Disconnect the PS from the motherboard and everything else.
2) Attach fan or insert voltmeter leads into a molex connector... black in black socket, red in either red or yellow socket.
3) Get a wire jumper and insert it into the motherboard power connector. This should go from the GREEN line to an adjacent BLACK line. This will turn on the power supply (the motherboard does this via "software")

If the fan spins constantly, or voltmeter reads 5v or 12v, then the power supply is fine and you have a problem somewhere else. Can attach peripherals to the supply in this state to verify that it's not one of them causing the issue.

Reattach to the motherboard and try again. If no, remove all PCIe cards and try it. If no, you're left with just the motherboard/CPU/Memory, then that sucks.


If you determined that it's the power supply that's the problem, you may want to get a vaccum cleaner and try to suck out dust and try again. It's possible that it's causing fans not to spin, or built up a nice insulating blanket, etc. Sucking it out might help.

Other than that, yes, replace the power supply.
 
OK i just tried the computer and it booted right up without issue......

Might be an anomaly, but I suspect it might go bad someday sooner than later. I have been using it for a good 13 years now.

I did buy a new PSU so it might be in my best interest to just switch it out and just keep the old one as a short-term backup.
 
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