Help...........

[fogducker III]

We had a power outage this morning and when I went to turn my HP Pavilion (a few years old) back on I had no power to the tower..??

There is a sliding "fuse" at the back just under where the main power supply plugs in, one side is 115 and the other 230, although if I set it on either I get the green light on the back of the power supply to flash mommentarily, it does not stay on and I still have no power? Is there another reset somewhere or did something internal fry, thanks for any pointers!

[txtaz]

The switch is an input voltage switch. It should be on 115 for US power. Does your power light on the front of the case come on? If not, it could be a fuse in the power supply. Also put your hand on the case when powering on. See if you feel any vibrations as in a hard drive trying to spin up. If the fuse is good, the power supply fried. Easy fix, unplug the existing and take it to your local nerd shop and get a replacement. Make sure the plugs match as there are different type of supplies.

Da Taz

[fogducker III]

Thanks, no, the light at the front does not come on and there is no sound like anything is getting power, where would the internal fuse be? I pulled the side cover and can not see anything obvious?

If I remove the power supply, will I lose anything? Sorry, being this old I did not get a chance as a kid to learn anything about computers..

[DonziJon]

The sliding switch on the back is there to provide for using the computer with either 115 Volts OR 230 volts. If your normal house current is 115/120 you should leave the switch at that setting only.

You might try unplugging and then replugging the Power Cord into the back of the machine.....AND do the same at the wall plug...AND/OR temporarily Bypass your Surge Protector/Battery Backup, to eliminate that as the possible problem.

This problem occassionaly happens to me and I have NOT found the cause yet. Plugging/Unplugging usually does the trick until next time..which may be weeks or months. The next time it happens to me I'm going to open the box and Reseat all the Cards, Memory Modules, cables, and plugs inside.

To do this requires you to unplug EVERYTHING from the back of the computer and I'm lazy, so that's why I havn't done it yet.. John

[DonziJon]

Thanks, no, the light at the front does not come on and there is no sound like anything is getting power, where would the internal fuse be? I pulled the side cover and can not see anything obvious?

If I remove the power supply, will I lose anything? Sorry, being this old I did not get a chance as a kid to learn anything about computers..

If you remove the power supply you WON"T loose anything. Just remove the fastener screws and plugs..Remember OR TAG the cables so you will put them back where they belong later. If the Power Supply IS the problem, and you have an older DELL you will have a problem because Off The Shelf power supplys are NOT Compatable with older DELLS. There is ONE vendor that makes good quality replacement power supplys for DELL machines. Google "PC Power & Cooling". John

[Trueser]

Most likely the power supply.

[fogducker III]

Ya, this old dinosaur is an HP Pavillion, worked great up until now.

I gently compress aired out the inside of the box, can you say "dust bunnies"

I unhooked all the plugs except the main one to the circuit board and with the switch at the back on the 115 setting and plugged it back into the wall after unplugging and re-plugging everything, nothing....

Power supply it is as you all pointed out, thanks, now where do I get a power supply unit on Xmas eve??? Oh Santa............

[DonziJon]

Ya, this old dinosaur is an HP Pavillion, worked great up until now.

I gently compress aired out the inside of the box, can you say "dust bunnies"

I unhooked all the plugs except the main one to the circuit board and with the switch at the back on the 115 setting and plugged it back into the wall after unplugging and re-plugging everything, nothing....

Power supply it is as you all pointed out, thanks, now where do I get a power supply unit on Xmas eve??? Oh Santa............

CIRCUIT CITY sells power supplys....probably on sale these days. John

EDIT: Unplug the BIG ribbon cable from the power supply to the motherboard and reseat that as well. Gently rock it back and forth as you lift it out.

[fogducker III]

CIRCUIT CITY sells power supplys....probably on sale these days. John

I think we MIGHT have a Circuit City in town but not sure if driving in the mass of snow we have, downtown on Xmas Eve is in the cards....

Perhaps after Xmas, there will definatly be some good prices!!!

BTW. Will a unit, same make and same plug configuration but 250W max output instead of my 150W max output work?

[DonziJon]

I think we MIGHT have a Circuit City in town but not sure if driving in the mass of snow we have, downtown on Xmas Eve is in the cards....

Perhaps after Xmas, there will definatly be some good prices!!!

BTW. Will a unit, same make and same plug configuration but 250W max output instead of my 150W max output work?

YES. Maybe go even higher. I went from a 305 Watt Dell to 410 Watt "PC Power & Cooling" for my 5 year old Dell. Shop for Best Quality: NOT Price. Cheap power supplys commonly advertise say 400 Watts and may only provide half that and may fail early, or Fry your mother board down the road.

If you have only a 150 Watt P/S right now I'd guess you have a REALLY OLD computer. (Five years old is an old computer). I'd think about a NEW Box altogether. Have you been a Good Boy this year? A Good P/S will run $60. USD. John

[yeller]

Fog, look in the yellow pages under computers. Any one store shop that sells computers will have a power supply. The Circuit City's we have here are not the same as the CC's in the US. The ones here probably will not have a power supply.

[fogducker III]

Fog, look in the yellow pages under computers. Any one store shop that sells computers will have a power supply. The Circuit City's we have here are not the same as the CC's in the US. The ones here probably will not have a power supply.

Your right CC here sucks IMO, I have a line on a new/used one 350W, looking at it in a few.......

[txtaz]

Fog, Remove the PS and remove the cover. Inside you will find a fuse on the PS mainboard. Check it with a meter. Also take a good smell while in there. If it smells acrid (burnt electronics) it's toast.

Merry Christmas.

Da Taz

[dfunde01]

Fog,

The power switch is a common failure point. Check it with a VOM.

Dave

[fogducker III]

Fog,

The power switch is a common failure point. Check it with a VOM.

Dave

VOM......?

I am not electrically inclined as you can probably tell.......