First thing I'd consider would be to trade in the DEER for BEER. 😊. Barring that, a few items bear mentioning. Regarding your misgivings about the switch - ATX PSU don't actually need a "hard" switch in the AC line input. A great many ATX PSU have no hard switch. I did not see any AC line switch at all in your photograph, let alone the SPST you mentioned.
In ATX PSU, the +5VSB is always ON and the main regulator for the other voltages is switched on-off by grounding the green lead. If having some part of your PSU always ON bothers you, yes, you can install a DPST-connected...
DrewPhillips
Member
Last Activity: 03-04-2025, 03:24 PM
Joined: 10-11-2023
Location: Hartford, CT
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Capacitor Diarrhea - Nichicon PL Series
Hello All, I have on the bench a couple of PSU's which have some failed Nichicon PL series caps. They didn't "puke" their guts through the top, but instead "diarrhea'ed" corrosive brown electrolyte through the bottom, down the legs and onto the board. On one cap, the electrolyte rotted the cap right off the board leaving 2 little stubs, and also corroded a trace on the foil side.
The PSU's are Power-One MAP series and are ringing-choke topology. The semiconductors have date codes in 1993. The PSU's were used in a commercial application, fan-cooled. They had failed... -
Dmill89, The visibly "outstanding" feature of the "Safe Power" PSU is that the fan partially protrudes from the cover, enclosed in a "doghouse". I saw another Ebay listing for an "Enlight Corporation" 150W (not that I'd go that low) supply which looks the same: [URL]https://www.ebay.com/itm/364833577299[/URL] Could it be that the "Safe Power" is really an "Enlight" in Sheep's Clothing? Battle of the no-names.https://Dmill89, The visibly "outsta...protrudes fromLeave a comment:
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Dmill89, Thank you for the E-Bay links. I had actually searched on E-Bay and landed on the listing for the "Power Man" PSU whose link you posted, before you had posted it. Both supplies have high current ratings on the +5V and +12V rails. As I had stated before, these current ratings don't seem to be available in new power supplies. "Old" (perhaps with a recap) seems to be the way to go, assuming that the high current is really needed.Leave a comment:
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I opened up the old "Safe Power" PE-300 PSU but couldn't get a good look at the rectifiers - would need to desolder multiple power devices and remove one of the 2 heatsinks. Strangely, the "Safe Power" unit worked once I had it apart then back together. Should I decide to put it back in service, I'll first freshen it up with new caps and a startup resistor for the +5VSB. Note that the "Safe Power" unit worked with no problems (other than the cooling fan wearing out) for about 8 or 10 years.
The motherboard is a Biostar MCP6PB M2. I did not note which...Leave a comment:
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SFX PSU - Need High Current on 3.3V & 5V Rails?
I have an older system which was built in the Windows 7 era and which has developed, I suspect, a power supply problem. The system had the same problem, random crashes, a couple of years ago, which I subsequently remedied with a new power supply.
The power supply which came with the machine is a no-name "Safe Power PE-300". It is SFX form factor and claims a high current capacity: +3.3V @ 22A and 5V @30A (the +12V rail claims a meager 16A). Problem is that SFX supplies (or even ATX supplies for that matter) having high current ratings on the 3.3V and 5V rails seem to be... -
I have/care for a variety of machines. These have MS-DOS 3.3, Windows 95 OSR2, Windows XP SP2, Windows 7. My web-enabled machine has Windows 8.1 and I will need to "upgrade" to Windows 10 shortly to be able to run a current browser.Leave a comment:
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Thank you to all for the informative answers. Looking at some information I've seen on various websites, my Prescott-based system "can" be upgraded to Windows 10, and my question more concerned the "should". That which is practicable is not necessarily practical - you've answered that question. I've another machine, now running Windows 7, that I would like to upgrade to Windows 10 - I'll start a new thread for that.
Dmill89 remarked about Vista being "a flop" and running XP instead. Under my care is yet another machine, which also came with Windows 7...Leave a comment:
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Upgrading XP to Windows 10 in 2025 - HP Pavilion HP-A550Y
I am contemplating upgrading an old HP Pavilion HP-A550Y from Windows XP to WIndows 10. This machine has a 3 GHz Pentium 4 "Prescott" processor. I have some additional RAM to add. Have plenty of HDD space. I have several questions on how to best proceed at this late (for Windows 10, anyway) date.
Where is a good place to get a copy of Windows 10 and the activation key? Would I use 32 bit or would I use 64 bit version? Is it possible to do a fresh installation of Windows 10 these days and not an upgrade? If upgrading, is it possible to go from XP to 10 directly and without... -
Re: Wither OST?
dmill89 - My naming OST as a "BadCaps Icon" was intended to be facetious, but perhaps was a bit too deadpan. OST would be an icon alright, as in the icon we love to hate. It appears as though OST is no more, and we all are shedding crocodile tears. Bring on the leaking Teapos and the Rulycons! Soldering irons at the ready!
stj - I have used polyesters to replace very low value electrolytics such as .22 uF (that's POINT two-two) in equipment of 20-25 years ago. I haven't seen any of those very low values in newer equipment. Haven't tried the...Leave a comment:
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Re: Ceiling Fan Capacitor
Sometimes the motor will spin freely by hand, but the bearing is stuck due to dried-out grease and the shaft is just slipping in the bearing's inner race. Disassemble, clean out the old grease (lacquer thinner works well), re-grease (synthetic is best) and reassemble.
If you are lazy like me, skip the cleaning and just oil the bearing well with synthetic (such as Mobil 1 or equivalent) which will solubilize the hardened grease. You may need to first pry out the seal(s) if any. Rotate the shaft a few turns and visually verify no relative motion...Leave a comment:
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Wither OST?
I was looking for specs on some OST electrolytics and tried the link to OST's capacitor page available on Badcaps, and widely available elsewhere but it came back dead. Shortening the URL a bit, I landed on OST's main site. No headings for electronic components manufacturing were displayed but I finally found this:
"Taiwan Ostor Corp. was established in December 1993, and listed on the Taipei Exchange (TPEx) in May 2004.(Stock code 8080) Since inception, We've been committed to acting sales of electronic products and parts, and aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Changed the... -
Re: Old Weller 100/140 Watt Soldering Gun
Definitely worth a place on your bench. I have one of these and it has worked well for many heavy soldering jobs. Perhaps one of the more unusual uses was for a repair job I did on a guitar amp long ago. Chassis was low and long, and the PCB took up most of the room inside. Soldered external leads came in to the board from all 4 sides, which would have necessitated disconnecting at least half of them to gain access to the solder side.
I made up a long tip for my Weller gun using 12 gauge copper wire, hammering...Leave a comment:
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Re: Honda XL 600 LM 1985-1989 PD04,Resistor blown up and losted
Note also, that the tachometer circuit integrates primary circuit pulses from the magneto ignition system. These systems will have high voltage spikes, up to several hundred volts. There will be a diode, zener usually, on the tach board which limits voltage after the signal has passed through an input current limiting resistor. Verify that the diode is good - I've seen a few that failed shorted.Leave a comment:
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