[GLLUG] Holy Crap, My power-supply broke.

[Michael Watters]

Michael Rudas wrote:
> Steven Sayers wrote:
>
>   
>> It was an $80 case and imo until now a really nice one. Could be a defect
>> with the power supply.
>>     
>
> There has been a problem with a certain style of electrolytic
> capacitors (low-ESR-- where ESR = equivalent series resistance) in
> electronics made between about 2000 and 2005-- which mostly affected
> motherboards and, yes, power supplies.  Personally, I've seen about a
> dozen motherboards and four or five PSs go south this way, including
> two of each of my own.
>
> Another common problem is a dead fan.  With no airflow, power supplies
> quickly bake to death.  Yours did a power-on twitch, so it's probably
> OK-- in fact, I would salvage the fan when I trash the supply, since
> they're always useful.
>
> Being an experienced repair technician, it was practical for me to fix
> a few of these-- for end users, not so much...
>
> -- Mikey
>   
Yeah, if you're handy with a soldering iron you can fix a lot of stuff.  
Cheap power supplies never last long, you should be fine by replacing it.