PC won't switch on

[tijuana taxi]

Looking for a bit of advice please

Went to switch the desktop on this morning and it won't, checked the power lead and seems ok.

I pressed the button in and nothing, held it in and then it flickered into life momentarily. Tried again, but still no go, was working fine yesterday and only shut down in the usual manner

Any ideas, power unit or switch perhaps, but how to prove

Cheers
Rich

 

[gman]

Try the monitor power lead (if it's the same type) which will rule out the cpu power cable or plug fuse. Are there any led lights showing on the motherboard/graphics card? May be even worth trying a different socket in the wall.

If you aren't even getting the BIOS then I'd suspect it's the PSU.

 

[g7swz]

Sounds very much like the power supply has failed. You could check the output with a multimeter if you have one. They are not expensive (my last one cost about £25) and you can fit a replacement yourself. Just make sure you get one with the same output and connectors. Make a note of what you disconnect from where for when you put the new one in (It is worth taking a couple of pictures with your mobile phone to show this).

 

[PsiFox]

You have to swap bits around to prove which is faulty. If you don't have a psu to switch then you could try jumping the switch pins on the mobo with a screwdriver to see if the system boots. If it does it is the case switch.

If you try this be very careful.

 

[sep9001]

If no joy with Graham's sugguestions google for paper clip test PSU to test if the PSU has died.

 

[tijuana taxi]

Thanks all, will bring a lead home from work, but thinking switch or psu and will try the ideas suggested above

Cheers
Rich

 

[tijuana taxi]

Excellent advice thanks people

Power lead ok, did the paper clip test, PSU working ok so shorted the two pins that the switch wire goes to

Hey presto PC fired up, so looks like the microswitch is kaput

Thanks very much for the help, hopefullly a nice cheap fix

Cheers
Rich