Computer died

okrobie said:

Well, my new PSU arrived today. It was DOA. It only had one output voltage the+5VSB. Very disappointing.

They're going to ship one right out, but they want me to pay the return postage on the bad unit. I should have returned it to NewEgg. They probably would ave paid the freight. Corsair also had me put up a credit card number to insure that I would send it back. Very poor customer service from Corsair.

I don't know if you tested the PSU in isolation or connected to your motherboard. If the former, then the PSU may not be dead. It's normal to see only the +5V standby output if you test the PSU with nothing else connected. The PSU is turned on by the motherboard or power switch issuing the Power On signal to the PSU. Your PSU won't turn on and output all voltages unless it sees the Power On signal. You can simulate this by the paper clip test - see http://support.antec.com/support/sol...paperclip-test

Once those connections are shorted with the paper clip then the PSU should power up and you will be able to measure the voltages as shown in the link. Note some PSUs need a load to power on but I've tried this test with XFX, EVGA & Corsair PSUs and it works.

Well folks, my computer is running, but am I ever embarrassed. After all I went through, buying a new power supply, buying a used power supply locally, buying a POST analyzer etc. It was something simple and stupid. Well here goes I'll confess.. It was a loose connector on the motherboard. It was the interface to the front panel. I should have guessed something was wrong when I wasn't getting any beep codes.

I didn't know about the paper clip test when I had the first replacement, but it probably would have shown the PSU good.

I'm going to keep my new 1kw power supply. I really like the modular concept and I wound up getting a free upgrade to an RM1000i because they were out of stock of the RM1000. I like the USB interface for the PSU. With their app Link 4, it really works great.

The really bad thing is that I have been into electronics since 1956 and I was 14 when I got my first Ham Radio license. I have been into electronics and computer trouble shooting ever since and I'm now 74 and still haven't learned to look for the basics first. sheesh...

Thanks for all your help and patience.

Regards, Jim

Thanks for the update. We can all learn from your experience and I will add it to my list of things to check when troubleshooting.

Your PC wouldn't turn on since the ON/OFF switch wasn't connected! I feel sorry for your extra expense. Note some motherboards have a power on switch on the motherboard. If not, you can always short the power on pins on the motherboard header. In your case, this would probably have started the PC and indicated a faulty On switch. The paper clip test is also very simple PSU test to power on the PSU and check the correct voltages are output.