PSU Swap out
 

Hi everyone.

I have a Novatech barebones box that I use as a work pc. Lately the fan on the psu has got very noisy, suggesting I think that the bearing is carked & on the way out.

As it's a sealed unit, I guess the easiest thing to do woyuld be just to swap the psu unit. Having never done one of these before, any particular pratfalls I should look out for beyond matching the unit in terms of connections etc?

Thanks.

As long as you get the correct replacement (physical size, connectors etc) it's an easy swap.

Once you get it out, you may discover it's not a sealed unit, in which case replacing the fan may be anywhere from trivial to impossible.

Thank you.

It's one of those psu's thrown in to sell a case, so I'm inclined to chuck it out & put a decent one in rather than repair it.

A good PSU is never wasted money. But if you think the fan bearing is going, it may be worth checking if the fan blades are simply covered in grot.

Well they definitely are that. I'm typing from the machine in question, so when work finishes, I'll be removing the thing & out of interest, I'll report back whether a dismantle & clean does any good. After all, a penny earned is a penny saved and all that.

Sprogget,

Replacing a PSU is infact quite easy especially if you spend a little more and get a PSU with a modular cable system. You wont need all the cables probably and as you take one off the motherboard/device you place one of the cables from the modular system in its place. Once all are disconnected from the original PSU you can then just remove the PSU by undoing the retaining screws, attach the new one, plug the modular cables in and the job is complete.


One word of warning I have not seen mentioned is to make sure that your replacement PSU is at least as capable as the previous. i.e. dont replace a 500w PSU with a 450w PSU as it may not be able to cope with your system.

Cheers

Jof

Just on that, may I replace a 400W with say a 450 without endangering it? One assumes the better part of a psu is a transformer & so it's fine, but a question never hurts.

Yes no problems.

Ok, had it out (in anticipation of picking up a cheapy from PC world - bad idea) and it's not accessible, so a new one on order from Ebuyer. Here's hoping this one holds on for a couploe of days. I'm stuffed if it doesn't.

Contradiction in terms, surely? :}

SD

Well yes of course! PC world for when you need something in minutes, everywhere else for when you need something decent.:)

I bought quite a nice Modular PSU from PC World - definately payed over the odds for it (About £90) but as you say - if you need it now sometimes the premium is worth paying.

I had a bit of a sarky conversation with the manager at the time (this was the pc-world in moorgate), I asked why for a shop called PC World there were only 12 different PC's (only one isle) on Display and only a handful of components - the rest were Plasma tv's DVD's, cameras, ipods and Consoles etc.

Replacing a PSU is easy. The key bit is above: make sure it's rated high enough. I keep a spare in the cupboard - a 500 watt.

From experience, repairing PSU fans is a loser. The bearings usually go before the blades do If you can get the right fan, replacing may work, but on the whole a new PSU is a lot easier.

Ebay seems to offer a good selection. I fixed one with a PC World £50 jobbie for a friend who was in a hurry, and the new one lasted only about 15 months. We weren't impressed.

Yup. This one is about 18 months old & is a replacement for the last one...which took out the mobo & everything else when it went bang! As I say, had the old one out last night & short of getting out a can opener, it wasn't going to give up the fan.:bored:

Peace descends on Sprogget's office. Psu turned up today, took five minutes to lose the old one, five minutes to put the new one in, all done. Thanks, guys.