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Not Your Raven
01-27-2007, 02:24 PM
I have a 520 watt Master Power ATX power supply, purchased 6 months ago, and has worked fine. I opened up my computer a few days ago, and managed to remove an external hard drive slot, a modem, and TV tuner (to free up some space for air.) The computer worked fine for those few days. Then, earlier today I opened it up again to clean some dust. All I did was move some of the power cables (just move, not unplug) and wipe some dust off my cpu fan, video card, chassis, etc. I only touched my power supply on the outside.

When I plugged it in, it began making a noise like a vacuum cleaner. I opened up Everest and saw that my cpu was running at 170 degrees fahrenheit. It usually runs at about 100. I looked behind the computer to see that only one of two of my power supply fans was working. I think my cpu and chassis fan were working double-time to cool my computer, causing the noise.
I unplugged the cord immediatley and opened up the computer again. I plugged in a slightly loose cord, thinking it would fix the problem. Instead, only the other fan ran. When I powered up one more time, neither would run. I opened up the supply, but there was no major dust or objects inside.

I cannot find any support whatsoever on the internet for this and I am afraid to turn on my computer (don't want to fry anything). Does anyone know what this problem is or how I can fix it?

Help is greatly appreciated.

SPECS:
Hp media Center m1170n
Intel P4 3.00ghz
1.5GB DDR
ATI Radion X1600 512mb
200 GB SATA hard drive

mjc
01-27-2007, 04:00 PM
You shouldn't go poking around inside of a power supply, unless you know how to deal with the residual charge of large capacitors...otherwise, it can be a hair-raising experience.

That said, you could possibly replace the fans, but it may not be the fans themselves that have gone bad, but, their control circuitry...in other words, replace the power supply with a 'good' one.