Dead PSU paper clip test

RobK

RobK

RobK

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Joined
13 Apr 2006
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574
My PC died a couple of days ago and I suspect the PSU is the cause as we had some mains power dips that day. I did the paper clip test as per the instructions here: http://www.corsair.com/helpdesk/psu_support_tips.aspx

What happens is the PSU fan spins for a second then stops, then after a few seconds does it again. It never spins up fully, just keeps starting and stopping. Does this mean it is broken or is it just because there's nothing attached to it?
 
could be both, try attaching a fan or two to it for some load

edit, i don't know if a fan would draw enough to establish a faulty psu as i done the same test once, fan was spinning fine for hours but system would not boot, new psu solved that
 
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did you have a fan connect to the molex plug when you tested it? if so and it is not working i would say it has kicked the bucket!
 
I had the same problem as you mate, fan span for a few seconds making a horrible noise (bearings probably gone) then stopped.

Unfortunatly the header the fan was connected to inside the psu was a 4 pin and i couldnt find any 4 pin fans :(


You could try cutting off the 4 pin header and splice a 3 pin one in but i'd be very careful. PSUs can KILL!!
 
Well I finally got around to trying this with a hard disk attached and it started up fine and stayed on. Then I thought it must be the motherboard that died so I stuck the PSU back in the PC and tried the power switch - it all powered up like normal! So I have no idea why it wouldn't turn on the other week but I'm not complaining!

Thanks for the help everyone :)
 
just be weary. PSU's dont play up like that. Normally means something is wrong somewhere.

What does a monitoring program suggest your rails are running at?
 
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