InsideTech

I am hoping someone can give me some insight. My desktop PC has gone through 3 Power Suppiles in 4 months. Is there something going on in the PC that is buring them up. I pput a new one in on Monday and everything worked great until Thursday. The power supply died again. I even put a new surge protector on the PC Monday, but it still killed the power supply. I am trying to fiqure out what is going on, or if I should just trash the PC and cut my losses. Bought ready to just buy a new PC

THe original power supply lasted about 9 months. When the first one went out, I sent it to the local PC shop to be diagnosed and repaired due to my busy schedule. I have been using Sparkle 350 Watt ATX power supplies, these are usually very reliable and the PC shop has never had a bad one sent out before. After the last one went out after 3 days, I talked to the PC shop and they say there is something in the PC itself causing the issue with them. I have started to look around at buying a Dell tower and just scrap the E-Machine tower (cheap system). I just want to power up the tower long enough to transfer my files, music, and movies to the new tower, don't think that a software glitch or virus is causing issues with the power supply.

The last two times, I just removed the power supply and took it in myself. They did a test and they were both dead. They said that they have never seen a PC go thru that many power supplies. They told me that I should get long use out of them and not burn them up in a short amount of time. I'm just getting frustrated, I know that the PC was a lower end PC but you would think that the power supply should last for a real long time. I have older PC that still have the original power supplies. I just won"t buy another Emachine, you would think a PC made by Gateway would have better parts inside it.

It is rather difficult to actually burn up a power supply.  Most decent power supplies have protection.  Having said that, I must also add in that if that protection includes an internal fuse, most of your PC repair shops will NOT go that far and just replace the power supply.

Now, if it is blowing a fuse, that is due to overloading the power supply which could mean either a short somewhere or the use of an under rated power supply in the first place.  With that in mind, I'd have to agree with Steve and say that you should call Dell.  Ask for a Tech and don't just settle for the Call Center person.  Personally I don't know of a computer that requires more than the 350 W that you've been supplying.

However, let's go back a bit...  What is inside of the computer?  What processor are you using?  How many DVDs, HDDs, or peripheral devices do you have?  How much RAM (though that reallly doesn't take a LOT to power)?  What type of monitor?  and How many fans (and what sizes)?

By the way, have they told you which of the lines is going bad?  Are you losing the 5, one of the 12s or just what?  It could be as simple as just disconnecting one of your peripheral devices to keep you running long enough to retrieve your data.

Oh, and by the way, I personally have not heard of a bad Gateway computer (until now).  They wouldn't be my first choice, but I've actually heard good things regarding their longevity.

Let us know

Hey, my days as an EE gotta come in handy somewhere, right?

I can't count the frequency with which I get jolted...  :)

Jolt Cola, wasn't that one of the original energy drinks?

We'll, I ordered a new tower from Dell and I picked up another power supply from a different place ( Radio Shack). When the tower arrives in 3 days I will power up the old tower and transfer the files to the new Dell. Just got tired of the old Emachine. How difficult is it to transfer files from a Vista Home Premium machine to a Windows 7 machine? Its music, pics, and Movies plus my school files. The other stuff I have on disk to reload my drivers and other stuff.

I talked to the techs at Emachine and after I transfer files, I will send the tower off to them to get it fiqured out and fixed, still under warranty. If it can be fixed I will place it in the kids room.

Thanks all for the help and advice. I'm just not that good yet at troubleshooting internal PC problems.

You could remove the HDD and use a USB HDD enclosure instead of trying to use the tower again. Granite has that and they also have a kit that you can buy. Personally I use:

http://www.granitedigital.com/emergencycopyusbtosataidebridgeadapte...