Strange Power Supply Problem

scitexnzscitexnz
edited December 2010 in Hardware
Hi

This is my first post here. I hope someone can help me.

I have an Acer Aspire desktop PC here which has a power supply problem.
If I try to start the pc the CPU fan just twitches for a second and nothing else happens. I found out that if I disconnect the ATX12V connector then the power supply will start and the cpu fan will spin as normal.

If I plug another power supply into the motherboard and turn it on then everything boots up fine. But here is the strange thing. After I plug another power supply in and leave it running for a few seconds and then turn it off and plug the old power supply back in it will boot up into Windows perfectly. It will run fine all day. I can restart it, turn it off and on and it will run fine.

But, if I leave it off overnight it wont start up again.

I can't replace the power supply as it is a small form factor acer with a specifially shaped power supply. I haven't been able to find a 2nd hand one and a new one will to too expensive, if I could actually find one.

Any ideas?

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2010
    There is a specific section of a power supply that deals with delivering the power that is necessary to boot the computer. This part is broken.

    The reason why the PC boots with this defect after you have removed another PSU is because the capacitors of the motherboard have retained enough power to make up for what is lost in the broken unit.
  • scitexnzscitexnz
    edited December 2010
    Thrax wrote:
    There is a specific section of a power supply that deals with delivering the power that is necessary to boot the computer. This part is broken.

    The reason why the PC boots with this defect after you have removed another PSU is because the capacitors of the motherboard have retained enough power to make up for what is lost in the broken unit.

    Thanks for the quick reply! I thought something like that may have been the problem. I will keep looking for a replacement Power Supply.
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited December 2010
    scitexnz wrote:
    Hi

    This is my first post here. I hope someone can help me.

    I have an Acer Aspire desktop PC here which has a power supply problem.
    If I try to start the pc the CPU fan just twitches for a second and nothing else happens. I found out that if I disconnect the ATX12V connector then the power supply will start and the cpu fan will spin as normal.

    If I plug another power supply into the motherboard and turn it on then everything boots up fine. But here is the strange thing. After I plug another power supply in and leave it running for a few seconds and then turn it off and plug the old power supply back in it will boot up into Windows perfectly. It will run fine all day. I can restart it, turn it off and on and it will run fine.

    But, if I leave it off overnight it wont start up again.

    I can't replace the power supply as it is a small form factor acer with a specifially shaped power supply. I haven't been able to find a 2nd hand one and a new one will to too expensive, if I could actually find one.

    Any ideas?

    A few Options...

    - Contact Acer or one of the million web sites who do sell replacements PSU's

    - Port your PC into a new case and get a new standard PSU

    - Buy a new PC and be happy with something that is better than what you have :)
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