VOGONS


First post, by LuckyPiquel

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Hi everyone,

Long story short... recently I moved from US to Europe. I took with me one of my Socket 7 rigs, and while connecting it I forgot to switch PSU from 115 V to 230 V. You know the outcome... a lot of smoke. Thankfully, only the PSU is dead and the rest of the computer is working perfectly fine.

Since this PSU was new-old-stock Startech PS2POWER230, that I bought recently and run it for maybe a month, I've started thinking about repairing it. However, I know almost nothing about repairing PSUs, and little about the PSU internals. Nonetheless, I have opened the case and noticed that the damage can be seen only in terms of the bulk capacitors (they just blew up), that I have already desoldered. From what I can tell, the PSU looks as a pretty decent construction internally (at least when comparing to my other AT PSUs).

My questions to all PSU-experts on Vogons. What should I remember, and look for, before stating this repair? Is it even worth it to do so? Is it possible that only bulk caps were damaged, or other components are also likely to be destroyed but I simply cannot see this? What are your thoughts?

I am also attaching photos of the PSU internals, with already desoldered bulk caps that were destroyed.

Thank you for all the advices!

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Reply 1 of 7, by quicknick

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While it's possible that the capacitors were the only casualties, it's not recommended to just swap them and power the PSU. Use a multimeter to check all the active components on the primary side (north of the two transformers in the first photo), especially the bridge rectifier and transistors Q1 and Q2. You can also measure resistors in-circuit; it's not the "right" way to do it, but if you find one that measures higher than it should you know it is blown open.

After you are sure every part is OK, for the initial power-on you can use the lightbulb trick.

As always, you must exercise extreme caution when working inside the PSU, always disconnected from mains and after making sure the main capacitors are discharged. And don't forget to set the switch to 230V 😀

Reply 2 of 7, by Miphee

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LuckyPiquel wrote on 2020-03-23, 11:20:

What should I remember, and look for, before stating this repair?

Is it worth it? I don't think so. Simple non-proprietary PSUs are cheap and not worth repairing.
But it's not always about money, it's fun to bring things back to life.
If the fuse didn't blow that means that the big capacitors already drew too much current and likely killed Q1 and Q2, replace them.
BD1 will likely be fine.

Reply 3 of 7, by TheMobRules

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In addition to Q1, Q2 and the two bulk caps you should probably replace the two varistors, ZNR1 and ZNR2. Those are there to protect other components from voltage spikes, and in some cases they may blow up and short so that the fuse pops before more damage is done. I had the same accident as you (forgot to set the switch to 220V) with a Seasonic power supply that was saved by a varistor, I only had to replace that and the fuse, but it's not always guaranteed that the caps and switching transistors will survive.

As mentioned above, if you feel comfortable replacing PSU components and the replacement costs are not too high it's fun to attempt a revival.

Reply 6 of 7, by LuckyPiquel

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Thank you all for a really helpful opinions and advices!!! As some of you suggested I will attempt to repair this PSU at least for fun. I would be scared to plug the most expensive parts to this PSU, but hey, right now I am simply interested if it can run again! This will be also great oppprtunity to learn something new about electronics. Of course I will be extremely cautious at each step, and remember to switch it to 230V 😀

So, referring to your answers, I will solder new caps, and test all the active components on the primary side (replacing them if needed). Maybe the casualties are not that bad, the fuse looks to be ok.