David Holland 2 Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Morning all, this is slightly R/C related, honest. I mainly use an iMac but have a Windows pc for the stuff for which software is not available for Apple. I was about to download the FrSky Ethos simulator before deciding to replace FrOs on my Horus but it is only available for Windows. The pc would not fire up and the psu has failed. It is an HP machine, probably 8 or 9 years old and while I am quite capable of fitting a new one, I am not at all sure what to buy. Anyone know if they have a standardised wiring protocol. The original is 300 watts. Any advice would be appreciated. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 I replaced the PSU in my PC a couple of years ago because I thought some other issues I had could have been power related. It's a pretty straight forward job and the various connectors to the motherboard, hard-drives etc are standard. As my old PSU was still working I bought a more powerful one- incidentally my PC is also an ageing HP. I'm about to upgrade mine with a new motherboard/cpu/RAM so my more powerful PSU may have been worth the extra. Best thing to do is have a look at (say) Ebuyer and see which power supplies they stock and buy accordingly (not necessarily from them) Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Lewis 3 Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Al the peripherals like hard drives and disk drives always used and still do the standard molex socket, the only connection to check therefore is that the PSU has the right socket to connect to the motherboard, pull the current one out and check the number of pins. More modern PSU's will have dedicated graphics card power supply sockets which you almost certainly don't need so don't waste money on a newer powerful PSU. Sockets have ben standardised for years so more than likely anything will fit just don't waste money on what you don't need and won't use. E bay and Amazon are likely to help here or if you want to physically get it then try Curry's PC world but if it were me then an eight year old PC would be getting a 2nd hand PSU preferably for free. If it's a standard size tower unit then the form factor yo need is called ATX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 HP dont always use ATX standard power supplies. Can you whip the door open and get a photo of the innards? Or a shot of the connectors on the old PSU. Also, what makes you think its dead and not another issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Or just get VMware for your Mac so that you can have dreaded Windoze on it as well. I use Parallels on both my Mac and MacBook to run non Mac supported software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 Thanks for the replies, chaps. The problem occurred quite late last night but I did have time to whip the side off the case and look inside. The PSU does not have a power switch but does have an LED to indicate a mains connection. When plugging in the mains lead the led does illuminate but when switching on the tower the fans rotate briefly and the led extinguishes so I’m guessing something fail as the current draw rises. I plan to nip the psu out of the case and have a look inside though I’m not sure the fault will be obvious. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 Annoyingly, the flippin thing has started working again!! I hate intermittent fault cos you never know if you have fixed them. I did manage to download the Ethos simulator so I can have a little play with it. Thanks for your help, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Sounds like something was tripping over current protection or some other safeguard. This can be cause by something as simple as a connector that needs to be reseated. My gaming pc gave up the ghost some time ago and all i needed was the power supply to the board unplugging and plugging back in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 My thoughts too, Jon. It is an ATX psu and as the bally thing has failed again I have ordered one, a whole 23squid including delivery. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 18 minutes ago, David Holland 2 said: My thoughts too, Jon. It is an ATX psu and as the bally thing has failed again I have ordered one, a whole 23squid including delivery. David for a basic system it should be fine. i am always wary of cheap psu's in my gaming systems but they draw much more power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 The original was 300W and the new is 500W so I'm hoping for the best, Jon. Reputable company (CPC) and low spec PC so fingers crossed. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ferguson 2 Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Have you looked inside the power supply? A common fault is capacitors losing capacity. If any capacitor has a slightly bulged top then it is on the way out or dead. Admittedly I have had recently a perfect looking capacitor that had lost all capacity. Also if looking at capacitors, is there a small one hiding behind a bit of wiring? Had that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 Alex, I’m sure you’re right, some tuppenny little component failure but the problem is that I have a very limited understanding of electronics. If I can see the problem, I can fix it....... If the psu was more expensive I would probably try harder! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinFlynn Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 The problem with replacing old psu's is that although many have said the connectors are 'standardised' there are, in fact, quite a few variations. As technology moves on the interfaces have changed which has meant the connectors have changed with them. The first psu mainboard connector had 20 pins, then 4 more were added, then there was the change from IDE to SATA for the drives, then there were additional connectors for graphics cards, first 4 pin, then 6 then 8. The danger now is a new PSU may not have the 4 pin molex connectors for IDE drives, or (really showing my age) the 4 pin floppy connectors... I hope yours fit ok and if not then adapters are still available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 Thanks, FF, I may be back to pick your brains if it’s not a straight swop. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted May 13, 2021 Author Share Posted May 13, 2021 Quick update, chaps. PSU arrived this morning from CPC (seem like good people to deal with) and a dead easy, straight swop. Fired up first time and working a treat, in fact I swear it booted up faster but that could well be wishful thinking. Thanks again for all the advice, must be something about aeroplanes that brings the best out in people, full size aviation is just the same. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ferguson 2 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 A great pity you can't send hardware down the internet otherwise I could probably have fixed it. I'm quite sure it wouldn't fit down fibre..... get jammed in one of those little plug-in connectors probably.....? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holland 2 Posted May 13, 2021 Author Share Posted May 13, 2021 Cor, wouldn’t it be great if you could do that? Then only one step away from having sheet balsa coming out of your printer..........? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ferguson 2 Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Sheet balsa, well it is wood and paper is wood so we are only haggling over how much processing has been done to the "wood". But Yes, agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 You could send some hardware over the internet. It would be like using a network printer only this time, its 3d ? Not sure about the wiring on a power supply though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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