Power supply problem

[ffutures]

I'm having a weird problem with this PC.

To save electricity and reduce the chance of surge damage I normally switch the electricity mains off after I've finished using it. Lately the PC won't switch on if I press the button, unless I let it sit for a while after I've switched the mains on - looking at the back of the ATX PSU, the light that indicates it's getting power flashes for several minutes before settling down to a steady glow, at which point it's possible to switch the PC on. Once it's switched on it's fine.

Any thoughts on what this might be?

If, as I suspect, it's the PSU itself that's on its way out, are the connections for ATX powers supplies completely standardised? The PC is an HP Pavilion, the existing power supply is a Bestec ATX 250 12-Z.

Comments

[mr-wombat.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of anything like that. "Something to do with capacitors" is the closest thing to a scientific explanation....

And yes, those power supplies are standardised in my experience. I can't swear that they're 100% consistent but I've seen about half a dozen different ones and never noticed a difference.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

About what I thought.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

I have a completely unused spare HP 350W PSU - when I bought this (HP) PC I had a 600W one put in to cope with the graphics card upgrade that I had specified, and they gave me the standard PSU as well even though I had no use for it. It's just sitting around taking up space - you can have it for the cost of post and packing.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Yes please! 350W should be ample, my work PC is just a bog standard pavilion so it ought to be fine.

If you can email me as marcus dot rowland at gmail dot com I'll send you my details and we can discuss payment methods.

Apologies if this shows up more than once, for some reason it doesn't seem to want to post!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Forgot to say that if you're sending this to me I'll have to give you my work address, the chances of something like that reaching me at home without problems are pretty close to zero, so please don't just send it to the address on my web site!

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Do you have a surge protector?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Naturally, it's an eight socket block and currently seven sockets are used for the PC, scanner, monitor, label printer, powered speakers and chargers for two PDAs. All are only used when the main PC is on, it seems silly to power them the rest of the time.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I had a surge protector once that seemed to have issues about taking a while to provide full power to the computer it was plugged into. Might it possibly be a fault with your protector?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Doubt it - everything else seems fine.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it does seem unlikely. It just seemed like one of the few things you could isolate and test.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's a good idea - I've got a multimeter at home, I'll give it a go.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

No, it isn't that - I ran a cable from another socket on the other side of the room and it's still flashing.