Computer went phut

[Pingu]

Listening to that Pingu makes noises from the loft that sound like he's twatting the dead PC with a stick. Got home from holiday last night to find the thing (used as our Squeezebox server) was off. When he turned it back on it went 'bang'.

It went flash, bang and there was a smell of burning. On inspection the burny smell seems to be coming from the psu. I can't see anything obviously frazzled inside the PC.

Sigh 

So, do I just replace the psu and hope for the best and, if so, with what? Here's a pic of the gubbins on the side of the psu:


IMG_9505_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[Kim]

Generally worth a try (magic smoke loss is often confined to the input side of the PSU).  That doesn't look like anything particularly special, so any ATX PSU that can provide a similar amount of power (which is probably well in excess of what the computer actually needs) with the right assortment of connectors should suffice.

http://www.arrowmax.com/storefront/product_info.php?products_id=284 has some specs.

...which seems to suggest it predates SATA power cables for hard drives.  You'll probably find a modern equivalent has more SATA connectors and fewer 4-pin molexes.  You can use splitters/adaptors if necessary.

Perhaps more problematic might be the 20/24 pin motherboard connector.  In the unlikely case that your motherboard is old enough to be using the 20-pin flavour, you'll have to look quite carefully for a PSU that supports it.

[Feanor]

So, do I just replace the psu and hope for the best and, if so, with what? Here's a pic of the gubbins on the side of the psu:


IMG_9505_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Yes, just replace the PSU.

Depends on the physical dimensions of the case.
If it's a regular ATX-sized case / mobo / PSU then any 400W PSU is probably OK.
It's more problematic if it's an exotic mini-case with proprietary PSU dimensions.

But it also depends on what kind of connectors are on it for the Mobo, and disk drives.

Can you extract the PSU and get some overall photos, and photos of the connectors on the ends which are required to plug into the various gubbins?

<eta: like wot Kim said>

[Pingu]

I took some pics last night, but without unplugging any of the gubbins.

Here's the psu in my mitt:


IMG_9507_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Connectors to DVD & non-SATA HD:


IMG_9508_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

SATA connector to splitter which connects 2 HDs:


IMG_9512_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Connector motherboard 1:


IMG_9509_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Connector motherboard 2:


IMG_9511_01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[hbunnet]

That's a clean PC.

When was in this situation I bought a PSU tester first to convince myself it was the PSU.  I don't remember the price but <£20.

[Kim]

Standard ATX PSU using the 24 pin motherboard connector (and the extra 4-pin one).  Pretty much anything will work.

PATA disks date it...

[Pingu]

Ta!

[T42]

That's a clean PC.

The 6-monthly reminder to blast out my box with compressed air came up on 15th Aug. Haven't got round to it yet.

[Afasoas]

That's a clean PC.

When was in this situation I bought a PSU tester first to convince myself it was the PSU.  I don't remember the price but <£20.

Wouldn't even bother.
I bought one via work to help diagnose dodgy PSUs (we went through a spate of them). Thing is, most the dodgy PSUs test fine because their issues only crop up under load.

[Kim]

If a PSU's gone phut then it doesn't need testing.  If you really have to convince yourself open it up and look for the signs of escaping blue smoke (starter for 10: the big 400V-rated capacitor).

The question here is whether it's damaged the rest of the computer in the process.

Nonspecific flakiness that might be down to a dodgy PSU is another matter (though my preferred method is to scope the power rails or just swap for a known-good one).

[Pingu]

Gordon's alive!

New PSU installed, mains cable replaced and the computer is now working.