Servicing a Power Supply?

B: replace the entire power supply unit. The reason is that the power supply is malfunctioning. The odor is a short in the power supply and is melting the parts in the power supply. Also you do not want to open up the power supply housing anyway as a power supply will still have enough electricity to kill a person even when unpluged.

So since the power supply unit is a field replaceable unit. You would just need to replace the power supply unit.

As the owner of a computer company, I would remove the power supply from the system and retest the unit. If you use a tester to check the output and there is none, compiled with the fact that there is an odor emitting from the unit (odor is generally caused by some form of short circuit that has caused the wires or components to overheat and either the wire or the component is burning the coating off of the wire or component, which would, could and more than likely will eventually present a fire hazard) the best bet is th first attempt answer D, followed by answer B if answer D fails again.

Power supplies have capacitors that, though the unit is disconnected from a power source (ie wall jack), there is still built up energy that can be dispersed if the unit is opened and the capacitor is touched, causing harm to the technician. Though the technician may feel as though repairing the unit by opening it and seeing what part(s) are faulty, it is never wise to open the power supply because of the capacitor reason as well as there being no serviceable parts within a power supply that would make repair a cost effective solution.

So my answer would be first D followed by B if D failed. Regarding presenting a fire hazard, due to the nature of a computer system, including the power supply and other components within the case itself, there is generally a wealth of dust that collects and this can add fuel, literally, to the fire and present a very dangerous situation if not properly handled.

It depends on how old the PSU is, a brand new unit can have a slight smell as lubricants burn off. If its heavy then there is an issue.

However if I was troubleshooting the system I would absolutely retest the PSU out of the system and I would also test it connected to a known good setup.

I would not contact the maker, if there is an issue its going to do some damage and I would not want to be responsible for replacing additional parts at my cost and with free labor.

Also opening the unit is NOT a good idea. you may 'fix' the problem but are you really going to be responsible for a refurbished unit going into a clients computer? besides opening the unit voids the warranty, if it need work you send it back to the manufacturer and let them do it.

so the answer here is B...

My answer is B. You do not service a power supply on failure, you replace it.

1. Not cost effective to repair. Skills, tools, parts, and time cost more than savings.

2. You may void any replacement warranties by tampering with the component.

3. May be a shock hazard, capacitors hold a charge and may discharge into you.

Note you did not mention one should think about why the Power supply failed. One must be at least aware there may be other damage caused by its failure as well. Did the Mainboard or other component take out the power supply, or did the power supply damage other components when it failed. Will there be more to replace?

most service tech charge a 2 hr min. at $100 plus an hour. if your power supply is even remotely borked..

rip it out. buy a new one.

even on your own... a half hour of your time? vs a trip to a components store...to oogle new stuff, games etc. buy a new psu on a credit card. if the swap doesn't fix it return it.

unless someone has training in servicing electrical equipment i see no reason to open anything power, or battery related.

why waste the time... to track down the manufacture contact info, sit in que on their support... only to ask them about a smell. ( i personally have no sense of smell... your question assumes someone can both detect the smell and articulate it in a helpful manner) ...i'd see 30 min to an hour doing this method.

if you have a voltage tester... i dunno. have fun testing it. although again... i wouldn't recomend people messing with live power supply. unless they're trained to.

in summary. it's a psu. they crap out all the time. RMA if you've got the spare time. but just replace it and move on.

You can't buy new power supplies for older pc models but you could acquire one from a PC recycle depot for about $15. In some states and countries, ther are "computer swap meets" where people will either swap something or sell you something computer related. Do an internet search for "PC Recycle Depots" and you will get good results.

B. Power supply is shot, replace with new one, consider upgrading to high wattage. Not worth the effort nor the time to try and repair.

judging by the smell something overheated which leads me to believe it hasnt just blown a fuse. i would test the power supply again after removing it.

B

Power supplies are dangerous to self-service.

From an electricians point of view i'd say D and then open it.

Due to the fact that it went once, personally i'd say B