Delta DPS-360FB A from Dell Studio XPS 435MT

[jimmigee]

My Dell won't power up.
Green LED on rear of power supply is on.
Amber LED on mother board is on.
Checked continuity of the tiny power switch on front of chassis-works perfectly. Oh CRAP!
Pulled the power supply and it won't power up connected to the tester gizmo. Cracked it open for a visual. Found 2 caps with swollen tops but no venting and 2 caps with swollen tops and venting.
Removed the rest of the sheet metal from the power supply PCB (only way to get my get my big fat hands in there) and pulled all electrolytic capacitors. The four with swelling all test bad.
Placed an order for the caps.
I'm replacing them all.
Now I wait for FedEx.
To be continued...

[dmill89]

Re: Delta DPS-360FB A from Dell Studio XPS 435MT

Placed an order for the caps.
I'm replacing them all.
Now I wait for FedEx.

I guess it "won't hurt" to replace them all, but you probably could have left the Chemi-cons (these rarely fail) and the big 680uf 200V Samaxons (looks like this is a PPFC unit so the primaries shouldn't be heavily stressed), the Taicons are probably ok too. I'd definitely replace all the Ltecs though.

[jimmigee]

Re: Delta DPS-360FB A from Dell Studio XPS 435MT

dmill89,
Thanks for the input. I'm kinda new to this recapping game although I have done some Sega Game Gear devices with amazing results. I just figured, I really don't want to be back in here again so I pulled out the double barrel. Caps are so cheap, even at DigiKey's prices.
To your point, the four that test bad are all Ltechs.

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Delta DPS-360FB A from Dell Studio XPS 435MT

Looks like that PSU is about 10 1/2 years old. Very decent life, though it'd probably still be OK had Nichicon PWs or HEs (or UCC LXZ or KYs) used instead of the Ltecs.

Companies like Dell and HP nickel-and-dime power supply vendors mercilessly. That's why second and third tier parts like Ltec and Taicon get used. I think Delta does a bit better about getting decent life out of such parts. I'm guessing Lite On would have lasted just 3-5 years.

BTW, Delta has a sales and tech support office a bit south of you at Fremont Blvd and Cushing Pkwy. Looks like it's a new facility, a block or two from their facility on Cushing (where I worked for them 20 years ago).

[momaka]

Re: Delta DPS-360FB A from Dell Studio XPS 435MT

I guess it "won't hurt" to replace them all, but you probably could have left the Chemi-cons (these rarely fail)...

Agreed.

That said, if you already replaced the Chemicon caps, you can still keep them as a spare in case you need to fix/recap something else (some 12V 1-3 Amp power adapters often use caps of that size). Most Chemicon capacitors (except for KZG and KZJ on motherboards) are very reliable.