Blown power supply

[richiejodee]

Hi all, i have a dell and while the tower was running i switched the little red button on the power supply and it obviously blew up, is my whole system ruined or do i need to just replace the power supply with a new one?

 

[Spectre694]

There is no way to tell except to put a new PSU in and try to boot it. A good PSU normally won't damage anything else but there is no guarantee

 

[DukeIShere]

if any capacitors blew up it will be junk u can check by removing the chassis of the psu check the tops of the capacitors for brown material

 

[richiejodee]

There is no way to tell except to put a new PSU in and try to boot it. A good PSU normally won't damage anything else but there is no guarantee

 

[InvalidError]

I'd say there is at least a 90% probability that it is only the PSU that is blown.

 

[dudio]

You shouldn't play with little red buttons !
Hard to say without trying a working PSU and see the results.
If you are on 120 volt electricity, and switched to 220, it wouldn't be as bad as the other way around.

 

[richiejodee]

I'd say there is at least a 90% probability that it is only the PSU that is blown.

 

[richiejodee]

Ok thanks for the heads up, while im here i have another tower, could i just use that power supply if i bodge it in the case, i have room to do so, i have both towers in front of me now

 

[Steve Simons]

It depends on a lot of things. If they wattage of the power supply is the same, yes, you can just swap them out. If not, the only way you should do it is if the working power supply has more wattage than the one you just blew. Dell has a very nasty habit of putting in the minimum power supply to run the machine, so if they other power supply is less wattage, it won't work (or worse).

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Most of the time , the PSU is only taken out , Dell power supplies are decent and , usually protect the rest of the components.

 

[richiejodee]

It depends on a lot of things. If they wattage of the power supply is the same, yes, you can just swap them out. If not, the only way you should do it is if the working power supply has more wattage than the one you just blew. Dell has a very nasty habit of putting in the minimum power supply to run the machine, so if they other power supply is less wattage, it won't work (or worse).

 

[richiejodee]

Thanks i looked and both power supplys were 275w, i have had too leave my tower open because the new supply is bigger but everything is working great, i have a guestion on my pci slot, will upload pic shortly. Thanks for the advice guys much respect