Power supply diagnosis

[Mucro]

Recently, over the past week or two, my computer has made an electrical crackling noise from the power supply whenever I flick the switch on. If this crackling is excessive, my computer tends not to turn on.

Now at first I put it down to the cord not being in properly, as it tended to stop with a bit of adjusting, but now that is far from the case. It makes the crackling noise no matter what the position of the cable, and it took 5 attempts for me to turn it on this morning.

Can anyone give me a diagnosis of what this may be? I am no tech expert. But do I need a new power supply? And if so, how hard will it be to change it over from the old one, and are there any specific models I would need to look for based on my PC?

EDIT: I have about 6 plugs shared between two extension cables, perhaps there's too much being plugged in?

[Xarnac the Conqueror]

Sounds like a bad fan.

[Dark Spark]

...EDIT: I have about 6 plugs shared between two extension cables, perhaps there's too much being plugged in?

A surge protector somewhere in this mix?

[Archea47]

Power supplies are relatively cheap and if it's failing it could lead other components to fail. When in doubt, I replace em

Take the cover off your case, take a few photos and post them here and one of us can tell you what ya need to replace it

[Xarnac the Conqueror]

It's the fan.

[Dark Spark]

It's the magic smoke. All computer power supplys have a little sealed tank of smoke that allows it to work. When you see the smoke leaking out of it, the power supply won't be able to run anymore until you get more smoke.

[Archea47]

And don't cheap out - get the good stuff



Seriously though, electrical crackling?? Along with the computer intermittently not turning on? I think you should use a different computer until you can replace the power supply. It's not rare for failing power supplys to blow motherboards and I imagine other components like your video card could go too. The first sign IME of this happening is the capacitors on your mobo start bulging and leaking brown stuff out the top

[Xarnac the Conqueror]

Really, it's the fan. This happens to many people and from what you described, your fan is going out (which can cause random shutdowns or your PC to not start up in the first place).

[Archea47]

Really, it's the fan. This happens to many people and from what you described, your fan is going out (which can cause random shutdowns or your PC to not start up in the first place).

Which fan - on the CPU or the power supply?

[Xarnac the Conqueror]

Really, it's the fan. This happens to many people and from what you described, your fan is going out (which can cause random shutdowns or your PC to not start up in the first place).

Which fan - on the CPU or the power supply?

Power Supply. If it's coming from the PS like TC says. A lot of times it's the first thing to go on the PSU.

[Andere]

The first thing is of course to open the case and check where the noise comes from. If it is the PSU, which seems obvious, buy yourself a proper one, and be sure to get at least as many connections you have presently.

Changing the Power Supply is one of the easiest procedures in a computer: you unplug all cords, unscrew the unit, attach the new unit and plug the cords. Only problem may be with plugging the cords, depending on various voltages and SATA-connections. You need to be a bit careful there. But no true hazard is to be expected.

[Mucro]

Thanks for the help and advice everyone, it is appreciated. I am starting to strongly suspect however that it may be due to the power cable, so I will work finding out if it is or isn't that firstly.

I just want to ask quickly, could any real problem be caused by leaving the PSU switch on?

[Moeboid]

I just want to ask quickly, could any real problem be caused by leaving the PSU switch on?

No.

Yeah, definitely take the case apart and see if you can hear exactly where the noise is coming from. Since it's an electrical crackling, you might even be able to SEE where it's coming from if you turn off the light. Of course, if you see anything at all, that's pretty bad. If you do need to replace the power supply, I'd recommend getting a good brand name one. Power supplies are often the first component to die in a PC, so it's worth it. My Corsair power supply has a 7 year warranty, which I thought was quite impressive since lots of cheaper ones come with a one year warranty.