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Flashing amber power light on Dimention 5150
My Dimention 5150 will not start...All i get is a flashing amber light. If I disconnect all things (mouse,keyboard,network,speakers and even monitor) and then unglug for a length of time...It will sometimes boot and then I plug in all things while booting. This only happens when it is a cold boot. A restart is not a problem. Any ideas???
fireberd
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February 27th, 2011 17:00
In most cases, a flashing amber power light is a power supply problem. We have seen a very high number of 5150/E510's with the flashing amber power light and almost all have been power supply problems. There have been a couple motherboards and one front panel switch assembly and one system that had shorted USB port pins, but overwhelmingly it's been the power supply.
The 5150 uses a standard ATX power supply, it's rated at 310 watts, although a 400 watt (minimum) commercial power supply is recommended. Also a good grade power supply as the inexpensive models tend to be overrated and have poor DC voltage regulation. The newer "modular" type power supplies are recommended for a non-Dell power supply replacement as they minimize having to stuff unused power cables inside the PC.
Example of modular power supply
tomwin
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March 1st, 2011 14:00
Thanks for the suggestion. I think I could do this. I have changed cd drived and hard drives...this can not be any harder. Any thing I should be aware of? Any hints?
Thanks,
tomwin
fireberd
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March 1st, 2011 16:00
Nothing other than to watch what you've disconnected and reconnect power to those items. e.g. SATA to the hard drive, PATA (IDE Molex) to the CD/DVD drives. You will have two power connections to the motherboard, a 24 pin (or 20 plus 4 pin) power connector and a 4 pin Molex power connector.
HERE is the Dell manual and how to replace the power supply. Just keep in mind you will be installing a non-Dell power supply so the exact cabling may be different. But otherwise it's the same.
tomwin
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March 5th, 2011 05:00
Dell gave me a part #uh870, the # on the ACTUAL power supply is mc406. Are all of these power supplies the same physical size (ie: will they fit?)
they all seem to have the required connectors. Original was 305W but apparently some higher W can be used as an upgrade.
thanks,
tomwin
tomwin
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March 5th, 2011 14:00
I'm all fixed. I bought a generic Antec power supply at Staples of all places! $44 and 20 minutes of labor...but alot of worry. I have hands like hamhocks, so it was a bit tricky trying to get the connectors on to the cd and dvd drives. But, it all works and I even think it runs better and faster. Thank you very much for your help and guidence. I really appreciate it.
Thanks again,
tomwin
fireberd
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March 6th, 2011 05:00
Great. The Antec should work OK, it's a "major" brand.