Power Pooped Out

[yajaboat]

A non-techie here http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif needing some advice on HOW TO GET POWER BACK ON.
Details leading to its demise = working fine one day, and the next, nothing ... pushed the power button and zilch, nada, nunca.
1. Checked all connections.
2. Switched outlets.
3. Unplugged the bugger, took off the cover and noticed that there are two sets of wires (brown/black and blue/white) that lead from the power button. The only thing is, only the brown/black set of wires is connected to the motherboard. Could the blue/white set of wires accidentally come loose from the mboard? and if so, where do I reconnect them ... there's two possible options (based on where the brown/black ones are also connected).
I could REALLY, REALLY use someone's help on this ...
Thank you.

[Reid]

The wires you describe sound like the power input and the switched circuit that returns to the power supply. None of those should be connected to the motherboard. Maybe you are just seeing the cable disappear behind the board. Do the two wires that you say are connected to the motherboard have female spade connectors and are there two male spade lugs on the power switch with nothing connected to them? If so, that is where they should connect.

Here is more info (see source at the end):
Power Switch Connectors.

The AT/Tower and Slimline power supplies use a remote power switch. This switch is mounted in the front of the system case and is connected to the power supply through a standard type of 4-wire cable. The ends of the cable are fitted with spade connector lugs, which plug into the spade connectors on the power switch itself. The switch is usually a part of the case, so the power supply comes with the cable and no switch. The cable from the power supply to the switch in the case contains four color-coded wires. There may also be a fifth wire supplying a ground connection to the case as well.
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CAUTION: The remote power switch leads carry 110v AC current at all times. You could be electrocuted if you touch the ends of these wires with the power supply plugged in! Always make sure the power supply is unplugged before connecting or disconnecting the remote power switch.
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The four or five wires are color-coded as follows:

The brown and blue wires are the live and neutral feed wires from the 110v power cord to the power supply itself. These wires are always hot when the power supply is plugged in.


The black and white wires carry the AC feed from the switch back to the power supply itself. These leads should only be hot when the power supply is plugged in and the switch is turned on.


A green wire or a green wire with a yellow stripe is the ground lead. It should be connected somewhere to the PC case, and helps to ground the power supply to the case.
On the switch itself, the tabs for the leads are usually color-coded; if not, they can still be easily connected. If there is no color coding on the switch, then plug the blue and brown wires onto the tabs that are parallel to each other, and the black and white wires to the tabs that are angled away from each other. See Figure 8.7 for a guide.

ZDNet (http://cma.zdnet.com/book/upgraderepair/ch08/ch08.htm#Heading5)

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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends load Windows ME

[smyers]

Reid's reply is correct if you are working with an AT power supply.

If you have an ATX power supply the connectors DO go to the motherboard. (ATX - power turns off when you shut down windows, AT - have to press power button to turn off power, usually).

The connectors are usually labelled on the mobo (at least on all of the mobos I've worked on).

Since case vendors no longer seem to use any type of consistent color coding for the connector wires (I have 3 cases using 3 different color coding schemes), it's very difficult to give a complete answer.

Also, If it is an ATX power supply there should also be a switch to turn on the power supply right next to the power cord. If that switch is off the power button on the front of the case won't work.

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spm

[yajaboat]

The information you both have provided is the most I've found (that this non-techie) can understand - THANK YOU so much for taking the time to respond!
And yes, the system shuts down (powers off) automatically when you choose the "shut down" option in Windows - we only use the power button on the front of the case to power it up.
Now I can't wait to get home to check on the power switch thingy.
Thanx again!
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[yajaboat]

Well, what I thought was the problem, wasn't.
We had it looked at by a Bell & Howell tech and after checking the power supply, found that the mboard was fried ... said it was most likely from a power surge.
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif Bummed to say the least.