Power supply On/Off switch went bad?

[Method9]

The switch is rarely used, so it is not worn out. Has anyone ever heard of this kind of problem with PCs before?

The power supply is a cheap Chinese eBay special that is maybe 1-2 years old. I think it is an alleged 450W model, but it isn't particularly taxed--AMD Regor CPU w/8600 GT GPU. My significant other described symptoms of the PC turning off randomly 2 or 3 times during the week.

Went I went to look at it, I noticed a slight acrid odor from the exhaust fan of the PS. As for the on/off switch--it works perfectly in the on direction, but in the off direction I have to strike it with the back of a screwdriver to switch it over.

I'm assuming that at the least the switch is bad. I'll probably just get a new PS, a decent one this time, but I'll probably pop open the PS to see if a simple switch replacement will solve the problem.

Is this something common or a freak thing?

 

[johnb35]

The power supply is a cheap Chinese eBay special that is maybe 1-2 years old.

There is your problem. Replace the unit with a more reliable one from corsair, antec, xclio, thermaltake. You don't want to run your system on a cheap psu as its the backbone of your system.

 

[Method9]

Yeah I ended just taking the switch out and soldering straight while I made a fresh backup of the stuff on the HD. Burning problem completely gone. The switch itself is not serviceable it looks like and I can't see what is wrong internally to it. I won't need to use this PC again until March and it will get a decent, $50+ PS then.

 

[Okedokey]

Take it easy inside a PSU mate, those capacitors store some serious kick for days. If you don't know what you are doing, probably best to just replace it.