Pwm Case Fan
Pwm Case Fan
ATX Power Supply - The Simplest Way To Repair It
I had stopped repairing ATX power supply many years back due to the new one cost very cheap. It’s not worth to repair it because the spare parts sometimes were much more expensive than getting a new power supply. Searching for ATX power supply spare parts was not easy as many of them you can’t even find them on the internet. Not only that, many complicated and different designed by power supply manufacturers had eaten up our precious troubleshooting time too because of we need time to understand how all these different designed power supply work.
Some of the power supply designs were using the PWM IC (UC3842) and power FET, some use the double transistors while some use only a single power IC in the primary side. Because of the manufacturers wants the design to be made into compact size, many secondary or even primary power supply circuit were build into a modular board (smaller board). This made troubleshooting even more difficult because many times the meter’s probe can’t reach to the testing point.
The real reason why I had stopped repairing ATX power supply was the profit margin. If you charge to high the customers rather buy a new unit with one year warranty given. If you charge too low, you may end up in the losing side because of the components replaced, electricity and etc. If you charge reasonable, the profit margin gained can’t even cover your time spent on troubleshooting it. I’m here not to discourage you to stop repairing ATX power supply, however if you have the time, have contacts getting cheap power supply components, easy to access many power supply schematic diagrams and etc then you may go ahead to repair it.
Okay back to the article, one of my customers had asked me to repair his ATX power supply. I told him to get a new one (since it was very cheap) but he said he couldn’t find one that suits his customer’s CPU. He wanted a power supply that is either same size or smaller then the original one with same or higher specification but all he could find was a standard size power supply!
As a favors to my customer, I would do my best to help him to repair the ATX power supply. When the power supply was switch on, measurements were taken. The results were over voltage. The 12 volts line shot up to 13 + volt and the 5 volts line became 5.6 volts. After the casing was removed, I found the inside was very dirty and I used a vacuum cleaner and a brush to clean off the dirt. Then I saw four filter electrolytic capacitors had bulged at the top casing.
As you know, we as electronic repairers can’t just see things at only one side; we have to see the other sides too. What I mean was, try to see if there are any suspicious components that contributed to the failure of the power supply such as broken components, dry joints, loose connection, decay glue and etc before start checking the suspected area.
What I saw was at the primary side there were some components covered with decayed glue as seen in the picture. I have to carefully remove it by scrapping off the layers of the decayed glue while preserving the outer layers of the components. Once it was done, I clean it with the Thinner solution. Decayed glue could cause serious or intermittent problem in electronic equipment because it can be conductive.
If you repair any ATX power supply, make sure you check the fan too because some power supply failure was due to heat caused by a faulty fan. The purpose of the fan is to suck out all the heat generated by the components inside the power supply. In order for the fan to run smooth, you can service it by using a Philips oil base spray as shown in the photo.
Once the four electrolytic capacitors were replaced and the decayed glue removed, I then have to plug it into a junk motherboard together with a Hard Disk to test the performance of the ATX power supply and measure all of its output voltages. It seems like the output voltages were back to normal. Once everything is okay I then test it in a working CPU to check for the display.
The reason I test it with a junk motherboard first as a way not to cause my good motherboard to go bad just in case if the output voltages is still very high. Better safe than regret later. By the way you can’t test a power supply without load otherwise it may turned on for a while and then shut down. If you do not have a junk motherboard you can always at least connect a Hard Drive and a wire jumper to its connector to turn on the ATX power supply.
Do you know that most ATX power supply is using dual schottky barrier rectifiers to convert the ac wave into DC voltages? Even in LCD Monitor power supply, a dual schottky were used in the rectification too. For your information, checking schottky diode is different from checking a normal diode. With analog meter set to X10 K ohms, it should show some leakage reading when doing the reverse bias test. If this component becomes faulty it is very easy to get a replacement, of course you have to get one with the right specification. That’s all for today, hope you enjoy the article and come back more often to check out for any latest repair techniques that I’m going to share to you.
About the Author
Find out more information below.
LCD and Electronic Repairs are very Easy for everyone and Highly Profitable too. You can learn all the secrets easily.
Find out How to Repair A LCD Monitor - Find out the Secrets!
Learn Electronic Component Testing.
 |
 80mm x 25mm 4 pin Pwm Fan Replacement 4 wire Case Fan $8.99 Time Remaining: 7d 4h 33m Buy It Now for only: $8.99 |
 Arctic Cooling F12 PWM 120 mm Case Fan CA F12PWM RETAIL F12 PWM Arctic Cooling $18.99 Time Remaining: 26d 1h 23m Buy It Now for only: $18.99 |
 Thermaltake Meorb Low Profile CPU Cooler for HTPC Case w 4 Pin Pwm Fan CLP0527 $51.95 Time Remaining: 25d 21h 15m Buy It Now for only: $51.95 |
 NEW Arctic Cooling F8 PWM 3 Pin PC Case Fan 80mm $7.84 Time Remaining: 29d 5h 11m Buy It Now for only: $7.84 |
 EVERFLOW 92X92X38MM DC 12V High Performance 4pin Pwm Case Fan F129238BU $19.99 Time Remaining: 16d 14h 39m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 Xigmatek 140mm XAF 140 120mm PWM White Case Fan XAF F1452 $23.75 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 26m Buy It Now for only: $23.75 |
 Top Motor DF127015BU 70mm x 15mm 4 pin PWM CPU Case Fan $9.40 Time Remaining: 16d 13h 51m Buy It Now for only: $9.40 |
 NMB 12V 4 wire 5 pin 120mmx38mm PWM Case Fan Y4574 4715KL 04W B56 for Dell $15.75 Time Remaining: 22d 5h 41m Buy It Now for only: $15.75 |
 Xigmatek 140mm XAF 140 120mm PWM Orange Led Case Fan XAF F1453 $23.75 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 26m Buy It Now for only: $23.75 |
 ARCTIC COOLING Arctic Fan F9 PWM 92x92x25mm Case Fan CA F9PWM RETAIL FAN 9 PWM $16.99 Time Remaining: 7d 14h 31m Buy It Now for only: $16.99 |
 ARCTIC COOLING F8 PWM 80x80x25mm Case Fan CA F8PWM RETAIL F8 PWM ARCTIC COOLING $15.99 Time Remaining: 7d 14h 54m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 Startechcom FAN8025PWM 80x25mm Computer Case Fan Pulse Width Retail $25.97 Time Remaining: 9d 9h 5m Buy It Now for only: $25.97 |
 Startechcom FAN8025PWM StarTech FAN8025PWM 80x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM P $31.16 Time Remaining: 6d 23h 7m Buy It Now for only: $31.16 |
| Account limit of 2039 requests per hour exceeded. |
|
|
StarTech.com 120x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM $13.49 StarTech.com 120x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM |
|
|
Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM Cooling Fan/Heatsink $45.31 Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM Cooling Fan/Heatsink |
|
|
80x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM - case fan $7.99 StarTech.com 80x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM - Case fan - 80 mm - black |
|
|
92x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM - case fan $8.99 StarTech.com 92x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM - Case fan - 92 mm - black |
|
|
120x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM - case fan $9.99 StarTech.com 120x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM - Case fan - 120 mm - black |
|
|
Arctic Cooling Arctic Fan F9 Pwm 92x92x25mm Case Fan $9.31 Arctic Cooling Arctic Fan F9 Pwm 92x92x25mm Case Fan |
|
|
Arctic Cooling Arctic F12 Pro Pwm 120mm Case Fan F12PROPWM $11.36 Arctic Cooling Arctic F12 Pro Pwm 120mm Case Fan F12PROPWM |
|
|
Arctic Cooling F8 Pwm 80x80x25mm Case Fan F8PWM $8.72 Arctic Cooling F8 Pwm 80x80x25mm Case Fan F8PWM |
|
|
ARCTIC COOLING AF12Pro PWM Case Fan $14.99 The ARCTIC AF 12Pro PWM fan outperforms other 120mm fans in the market, in regards to its performance and noise ratio. With efficient central cooling, the ARCTIC F 12Pro PWM fans offer excellent cooling and noise control performance for the system. Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic RPM: 400 - 1500 RPM (controlled by PWM) Air Flow: 57 CFM Noise Level: 0.5 Sone Power Connector: 4 Pin PWM Color: White Compatibility: Case Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 34mm |
|
|
StarTech.com 120x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM $14.49 Add a Variable Speed, PWM-controlled Cooling Fan to your Computer Case. The FAN12025PWM 120mm PWM Case Fan adds an efficient air cooling solution to computer cases or other enclosures to help ensure optimal performance from internal components. With Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technology, the fan speed can be dynamically controlled by the motherboard, so the fan runs at a speed that suits the operating conditions - lowering power consumption and fan noise when the system is idle, and delivering maximum cooling under full load conditions. Backed by a StarTech.com 2-year warranty and free lifetime technical support. Manufacturer: StarTech.com Manufacturer Part Number: FAN12025PWM Manufacturer Website Address: www.startech.com Brand Name: StarTech.com Product Name: 120x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM Product Type: Cooling Fan Fan Information: Fan Bearing Type: Lubricate Bearing Interfaces/Ports: Connectors: 4-pin PWM Application/Usage: Case Green Compliant: Yes Green Compliance Certificate/Authority: RoHS |
|
|
80x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM – Pulse Width Modulation Connector $7.99 Add a variable speed PWM-controlled cooling fan to a computer case. The FAN8025PWM 80mm PWM case fan adds an efficient air cooling solution to computer cases or other enclosu |
|
|
92x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM – Pulse Width Modulation Connector $8.99 Add a variable speed PWM-controlled cooling fan to a computer case. The FAN9225PWM 92mm PWM case fan adds an efficient air cooling solution to computer cases or other enclosu |
|
|
120x25mm Computer Case Fan with PWM – Pulse Width Modulation Connector $9.99 Add a variable speed PWM-controlled cooling fan to your computer case. The FAN12025PWM 120mm PWM case fan adds an efficient air cooling solution to computer cases or other en |
|
|
ARCTIC COOLING AF9 PWM Case Fan $12.49 Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic RPM: 600 - 1800 RPM (controlled by PWM) Air Flow: 35 CFM Noise Level: 0.4 Sone Power Connector: 4 Pin PWM Color: White Compatibility: Case Dimensions: 92 x 92 x 25mm |