Power Supply Problems?

[zmatalucci]

Dimension 5150 xp professional service pack 3 Pentium4 3.40ghz 3.50gb ram

This has happened twice so far. I come into work in the morning, and my computer wont turn on. The power button flashes yellow, and nothing happens. The night before, when I turned it off everything was fine. I dis-connected the power and all other cords this morning after it wouldn't start- and still nothing. It finally turned on after a half hour of messing with it, and I cant recall what it was that made it work.

Anybody else have a problem like this, and how should I fix it?

 

[SignsOfMaine]

The first suspect is power supply (which I guess you already have figured out).

If you aren't scared of a screwdriver, and you're in an office setting with a bunch of similar computers, and can afford the downtime... you can unscrew one of the power supplies from them and replace the one in the faulty machine... if it works fine then you'll know it was the power supply. In that case, you definitely don't want to fool around with trying to repair it. You don't fix 'em, just replace 'em. Will be around $40-70 bucks.

If it's not the power supply, check to ensure a clean connection in the little set of wires that runs from the power button to the motherboard. Just unplug them and plug 'em back in.

 

[49hd]

It could possibly be dirty contacts in the switch. Spray wd40 or another penetrating lube into the opening around the switch and operate it a dozen or so times to wash away any contaminants.

 

[Techman]

Spray wd40 or another penetrating lube

WHY? Why use lube on an electrical switch?

Contact cleaner is made for cleaning switches.

 

[49hd]

WHY? Why use lube on an electrical switch?

Contact cleaner is made for cleaning switches.

Contact cleaner is good but it dries out too fast unless you can spray it directly onto the conacts. We've been using this method in electrical substations for 20+ years.