Activating Dell Desktop Power Supply w/o MB

Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Greetings All,

Quick question -
I have a dell dimension 8300 desktop computer that may have "bit the dust".....
I have a light on at/on the motherboard as I look with the case open.....
I want to eliminate the switch as a cause......

HOW can I activate the power supply (dell ps-6311-1D) itself and bypass the switch as a cause?.....

I have seen some info about shorting pins but, nothng specific on my power supply (stock).....

I assume that the internal fuse of the power suppy is good since I have the aforementioned light on the board.

ANY ASSISTAANCE WOULD BE APPRECIATED...Thanks!
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
If you have access to the switch, then just cut the wires but give you some room to splice them back together. Then take the wires and touch them together and that would act as a switch. Or find the 2 pins on the motherboard that those wires are attached to and touch them together with a piece of metal.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
If you have access to the switch, then just cut the wires but give you some room to splice them back together.
Thanks for the reply....That is what I am trying to avoid - dismantling this thing.....

Then take the wires and touch them together and that would act as a switch.
I am aware that could be done (see above).

Or find the 2 pins on the motherboard that those wires are attached to and touch them together with a piece of metal.
There are 3 plugs that are connected to the mb...One plug has two "heavy" wires that plug in, one plug is for the fan, and the other
is a large plug containing many wires...All others are unpluged from everything, including the HD.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Darren said:
Don't screw around with power supplies. Buy a new one, that computer is old enough to vote.
Click to expand...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thanks for te reply
It may be old but I stil want to fix it...I hesitate taking it apart to momentarilly short the start button as it would be a PITA to do so.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Before messing around with your clear electronics expertise, check this document and see if the LED or beep codes help troubleshoot in any way. https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/...ktops/dimension-8300_service manual_en-us.pdf
Thanks for the reply...There is no sound or anything except a single light on the MB....Has to start or close to it to display any lights/sound except as mentioned.


Otherwise, as above, PSU voltages can be lethal especially with unknown faults.
I am strongly aware of that - I wanted to know as to how to start the power supply without it either being in the computer case or outside of it.

The large capacitors can be very dangerous. Bin it.
Electrician by trade - I know about this.

There is a voltage switch in the rear of PS that may be "worn" so-to-speak...I also need to know which position is 110v or 220 as viewed from the back panel...The lettering/numbers are worn.
 
A

aldan

Active Member
as an electrician you should know how to bypass the switch.you dont have to cut any wires to short the switch.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Yeah, I KNOW ABOUT THIS and how to do it......If you took the time to read the entire thread, you would have seen that I am resisting tearing the computer down to access the switch!
 
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porterjw

porterjw

Spaminator
Staff member
You're not tearing down the computer, you're literally bridging (not shorting...) two pins that are immediately accessible. And you already have the case open so...

Bridging the pins will tell you immediately if it's a switch problem or if the issue is deeper.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Probably a bad choice of words on my part....I resist removing, dismantling, altering the front panel of the computer....I do not know what wires come from the switch or, if it is a single 2-wire plug that affixes to the mb ...If it is as above, I would remove the plug from mb and do the "short" there.....,.If the wires from the front panel switch go to a multi-wire plug, that would be the end of that.
 
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porterjw

porterjw

Spaminator
Staff member
Ahhh - got it. Still super simple, in fact all you need is a paper clip.

With the side panel off, follow the wires (they may be loomed together or they may be two separate ones depending on manufacturer) from the power switch to the MoBo and pull them off the pins on the board. If you're uncertain what wires/pins are what, take them off one at a time and look at the end of the wire for it's identification.

All the rectangle plastic headers on the wires will tell you what it is (HDD LED+, HDD LED-, RESET+, RESET-, etc.). Look for the two that are PWR+ & PWR-. These will determine the pins you want to bridge.

Take your paper clip and touch it to both those newly-exposed pins on the board at the same time. If it turns on, it's a switch issue. If it doesn't, it's something else.
 
Okedokey

Okedokey

Well-Known Member
Bro, you're on here asking how to by pass a SPST switch, claiming to be an electrician.

1661807057669.png
1661807189208.png1661808309296.png

Join the wire attached to the switch, insulate well and cable tie somewhere safe to the internals.
 
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johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Are you talking about the case switch or the power supply switch? Your motherboard is getting power because the light on the motherboard. If you are talking about the switch on the case, then short the 2 pins on the fpanel of the motherboard that runs the power switch as I stated back in my other post. If you think you have a bad power supply, change it out for a known good unit. But I have a feeling its the either the switch, bad psu or dead motherboard. If you have a power supply tester, you could easily test it.
 
A

aldan

Active Member
porterjw said:
You're not tearing down the computer, you're literally bridging (not shorting...) two pins that are immediately accessible. And you already have the case open so...

Bridging the pins will tell you immediately if it's a switch problem or if the issue is deeper.
Click to expand...
yep,they call them test leads.op should have one i would think.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
Just now getting back to this...
I have no direct concerns about tjhe actual power supply and yes, I can short the power switch in back to send power into the power supply to allow power to the board....HOWEVER, my issue is to jump-out the front panel on-off switch.......I believe the switch may be bad.....I tried to remove the FRONT panel (side is already off) to view the connection of the front on-off switch but, I couldn't get the darned front panel to release from the steel framework.......I have located connectors to the board but, it is NOT clear enough for me to begin shorting wires there and I don't wanrt to short the power supply or MB.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
????????????????????????????....

That is your answer to troubleshooting what may be a bad front panel switch????....I am trying NOT to crack the computer face....Power supply appears fine and if I "jump" the front panel switch momentarily, that'll tell me if MB or switch is defective.
 
Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
porterjw said:
Ahhh - got it. Still super simple, in fact all you need is a paper clip.

With the side panel off, follow the wires (they may be loomed together or they may be two separate ones depending on manufacturer) from the power switch to the MoBo and pull them off the pins on the board. If you're uncertain what wires/pins are what, take them off one at a time and look at the end of the wire for it's identification.

All the rectangle plastic headers on the wires will tell you what it is (HDD LED+, HDD LED-, RESET+, RESET-, etc.). Look for the two that are PWR+ & PWR-. These will determine the pins you want to bridge.

Take your paper clip and touch it to both those newly-exposed pins on the board at the same time. If it turns on, it's a switch issue. If it doesn't, it's something else.
Click to expand...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

All the rectangle plastic headers on the wires will tell you what it is (HDD LED+, HDD LED-, RESET+, RESET-, etc.). Look for the two that are PWR+ & PWR-. These will determine the pins you want to bridge.

**DON'T KNOW HOW I MISSED THIS...WILL LOOK IN A FEW DAYS..THANK YOU.

Take your paper clip and touch it to both those newly-exposed pins on the board at the same time. If it turns on, it's a switch issue. If it doesn't, it's something else.
 
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