Damaged power supply?

[BarryD]

I think i've badly damaged the PSU in my pentium 2 machine. I was attatching a fan for the TNT video card to a molex connector with two small wires. Well, they accidentally touched at the molex connector. I saw a blue spark and the pc died. It turned on again fine but now i'm getting system lockups.

According to Sandra, my voltages are as follows:

Aux 0.02v
+3.3v 2.05v
+5v 0.86v
+12v 0.43v
-12v -8.96v
-5v -2.31v


So are these bad? :\

[Mr. C]

Ouch, that doesn't look good there at all.
I'd say you are way out of tolerance there for sure.
Seems that would be a problem and could definitely be causing your problem.
Fortunately your power needs aren't too much with your system. You should be able to pick up a 250W PSU for not much money. I'd definitely reccomend getting a replacement.

And in future, turn off & unplug your system before wiring.
but i guess you have learned that

Afterthought;
Is the fan connected, if so is it running. Slim chance there is a short in the fan causing some problem - but not likely with all your voltages out of whack.

[Wiggo]

Damn that stinks. :(

Something's definately fried but whether it's the PSU or the voltage regulation on the motherboard is the question. Go out and pick up a cheap tested 2nd hand PSU and try that first and see if it's fixed. If the board is done in and damages the PSU then it won't be so expensive experiment (cheaper than tryin' another mobo anyway). ;)
<center>:cheers:</center>

[BarryD]

Yeah, the fan is connected and working. I'll try get another PSU.

Yep, in future i'll turn the pc off when messing with fan wires :)

Thanks for the help.

[BarryD]

Ok I tried out another 200watt PSU from another pc I had.

Sandra is now only showing three voltages,

+12v 0.18v
-12v -8.90v
-5v -0.77v


Motherboard voltage regulation is the problem?

[bigjackusa]

There's something strange here. I doubt that your hard drive could even spin up with only .18v applied. The readings have to be wrong. I'm not sure of the source of the error but these can't be right if you can boot.

[ReSpAwN DeMoN]

maybe its giving out spikes of voltages. And those readings was when the voltages were at the all time low. And that could explain the lock ups.

[BarryD]

The PSU from the pentium 2 has been working fine in my other machine. no lockups at all.

What exactly should the voltages be at for a normal reading??

[Mr. C]

Typically the voltage ratings are + or - 3 % to 5%.
So a 12V would be 11.4 to 12.6
A 5V will be aound 4.75 to 5.25
This of course does fluctuate as the voltage requirements of your PC change as you access drives, etc. during normal everyday use.

I agree, you might want to get a second opinion on your exact figures.

May well be that the motherboard has suffered damage during the wiring incident.

[Wiggo]

Yes by all that you have shown us give me the feelin' that the voltage regulation has been shorted/burnt out on the board. PSU's are for the most part pretty hardy components and something else will usually give out before them when shorting has occured. In most cases the voltage control on the mobo is the first to go due to the more delicate construction but not always. Your system now is probably only running on unfiltered power directly from the PSU but shorting still occuring in damaged parts is what your readings and problems are telling me though it could still cause further damage to other parts if you don't fix it soon. : peace2:
<center>:cheers:</center>

[BarryD]

Guess i'll start looking on ebay for a new motherboard. lol

Thanks for the help guys.

[Maxpowers]

are u sure that program works correctly... unless u are getting this in the bios then something is definitly wrong since i dont think the PC would work at all with thouse values

[BarryD]

Nah, I can't get at them in the bios.

Do you think something else could be causing the problem?

[BarryD]

LOL! the pc is working okish now. The voltage are all reading at their normal levels.

Only thing is I think there isn't enough voltage for all the parts in the pc. Touching the back of the case seems to freeze the pc. I had this problem before, and I read that it was static electricity freezing it..something to do with lack of wattage for the pc.

Lol got to get a bigger PSU I guess. It's only freezed once in the last 6-7 hours, just when I touched the case.

[Wiggo]

If it's doin' that while ya touching the back then I'd be lookin' at the IO panel in case that is causing a short with the motherboard (this can happen). If you can remove the IO panel from the case then do so and see if that cures your problem. ;)
<center>:cheers:</center>