Flashing amber Power light

robertminchjin.        

 The blinking amber LED of the power switch, would indicate the MoBo is not receiving all the 
 correct voltages from the PSU. If the system is under warranty, contact Dell Tech, Support.

Bev.

i have a dimension 8200 and for the past few months i have had a 10, then 20, now 30 minute delay in power up. (i turn off the computer at night and turn it on in the morning). i mean, when the computer power button is pressed there is no sign of life from the computer, no fans, no lights, no leds. then suddenly, after the 10-30 minutes, it just comes to life, and works fine. i have noticed recently a blinking amber power light about 20-30 minutes into my wait, and if i turn off the computer and switch it back on when the light starts to blink it tends to power up fine at that point. it is also only recently that the computer is not coming to life so easily and i'm not sure if it would turn on spontaneously if i just waited and waited. and during the day, after the computer is on, if i power down and then power up, or just restart, it works perfectly well, no delay in power up. i have tried unplugging all usb peripherals, unseating and reseating everything in the tower, making sure the power is plugged in well. i have tried setting up the bios to turn on the computer as soon as the power is turned on; it does turn on, but i still have to wait the 10-30 minutes (for the morning power up - it will restart fine during the day as long as it has not been turned off for a few hours), so i have determined it is not the power button itself.

any ideas?

I was suffering from the dreaded spontaneous shutdown and subsequent amber flashing light problem recently on my 10 month old 4700.  During my first phone call to Dell tech support I was guided through some changes on my computer to stop the power saving features etc and was asked to see if that would help.  A couple of days later the shutdowns reappeared.

I was patient for the next two weeks and the shutdowns became for frequent.  It was frustrating, but, I simply wanted to wait until it was frequent enough that it would occur while I was on the phone with tech support the next time I called.

So, I called.  After two hours of patiently performing all of the things the tech support person asked me to do (like disconnecting the power supply cable from devices inside the box and restarting the computer each time to narrow the issue down), she ultimately got to the end of her troubleshooting guide and told me that Dell would send a new power supply unit, heat sink and motherboard.

She asked if I could swap these things myself.  Initially I thought yes, but, then I thought better .... I am still under parts and labour warranty, so I asked Dell to please send someone to do it.

The next day the shutdowns continued until the computer would simply not restart. Period.  Dead.  Flashing amber became permanent.

Dell sent a tech with the power supply unit and the heat sink two days later.  Voila, problem is gone.  Motherboard was not swapped.

All is still well.  I was very happy with the service I received, unlike some of others I have read about in the various forums.

If you are still under warranty I would advise: Call tech support, patiently listen and do what they say.  Firmly and politely (of course) insist that you want the problem fixed.

If you are not under warranty ... my bet is that you will need to purchase a new power supply unit.

Just an update to my previous post ... my computer is still running fine after 5 days since the psu and heat sink were swapped.

One thing I have noticed .... when I had the spontaneous shutdown problem, whenever my son played graphics intensive games the computer made an awful loud fan noise and the heat pushed out of the rear of the box by the psu fan was hot (and I mean hot!).  When he plays the same games now, the fan noise is quite quiet as compared to before and the temperature of the air pushed out the back of the computer is much less than when I was having the shutdown problem.

I've been dealing with a similar problem with a 4700 and was going to try to get another power supply but decided

instead to try the power supply from my E510. I purchased a power supply tester and when I checked the 4700 PSU,

only one led lit up. When I tested the E510 PSU, all LEDS lit up ( except the -5V which is probably not provided) as

they were supposed to. I tried the PSU from the E510 on the 4700 but the exact same thing happened, the computer

does not turn on and the power led remains flashing amber. Of course the PSUs are different so I could not physically

the E510 PSU, and only hooked up the 20/24 pin connector. Any ideas on whether I should just give up on this computer

or is it possible that the PSUs are not compatible? About the only thing I haven't tried yet is to check the power monitor

switch but I wouln't know how to test it except for perhaps continuity. If anyone has any suggestions I would gratefully

apprecite them, thanks, Don.

Just to update my post, I have removed and retested the 4700's PSU again and it checked out fine this time. I also tried jumping the green wire to a

black wire on the 20 pin connector. I put everything back together and powered it up. I can see the power supply fan and the cpu fan running and

can fell and hear the hard drive running. However I still get a flashing amber light. If I disconnect the processor power connector I get a solid amber light.

Again, any suggestions? And could someone please reply to my posts just so that I will know if I'm using this forum correctly? It doesn't even have

to be a reply to my questions. I have never used this type of resource before so I don't know if anyone is seeing my posts. Thanks, Don. 

Hi Bev, thanks for your reply. In regards to the diagnostic lights, none are lit. I'm surprised I forgot to mention that before. As far as the caps go, I've looked pretty thoroughly and can't seem to find any obvious bulging ones. There is only one that might be just a little bit questionable. But then I am not an expert so it might be quite alright. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks, Don

maynardccr20

Don.

If you are comfortable working around computers, you could try the following:

Note: The only 100% method of testing a PSU, is to install a know working power supply.

Unplug the cord from the power supply, hold the power button in for about 15/20 seconds, open the case, unplug the 24-pin power connector from the motherboard and jump the Green wire to one of the Black wires, reconnect the power cord and power the system, if power supply's fan and the hard drive run, then the PSU should be good.

Note: Do not remove any wires from the plug, use a small piece of wire or a paper clip as a jumper.

Power supply checks out and the system still does not work, again remove the power cord, hold the power button in for several seconds to discharge the residue power, reconnect the 24-pin connector to the motherboard.

Remove all the PCI cards, the video card [if applicable], memory, all peripherals, disconnect the data and power cables to all the drives, check that the front panel cable is connected to motherboard, with nothing else connected to the system, reconnect the power cable and power the system on.

If you do not get any beep codes and/or there is no change in the diagnostic lights, then it would appear that the motherboard has died.

THIS may help you to identify any bad caps, on the motherboard.

Bev.

Ps: Edited to add content.