After several frustrating days waiting for UPS to deliver my replacement power supply, it finally arrived yesterday (Monday, 19 November 2007). Son Jim had come up to visit so the installation was postponed while the Grand Mother and Grumpy enjoyed his visit. We continue to pray for his health to improve (although Grumpy is envious of his trim, athletic 170 pound frame!).
The power supply "slipped in" just as easily as the burned-out one had slipped out -- Difficultly!! But the mounting screws all fit and within 10 or 15 minutes Grumpy had connected all of the items to their respective connector (there are about 8 or 10 empty connectors available for more peripherals!)
So, here is a picture of the "Big Daddy" with it's cover off. (I couldn't resist!!) The power supply is at the upper left corner of this photo; the mother board is in the dark, central part of the photo. (Grumpy was relieved when the computer "booted up" as soon as the new power supply was hooked up, proving that nothing serious had damaged any other components in this powerful machine.) Excess power cabling is coiled up and "stashed" between the power supply and the CD-ROM drive which is at the upper right.Harry, the computer hardware guru of the Z-clan, opined that the power supply failure was due to a capacitor rupture; Grumpy thought more likely it was the high-voltage windings on the transformer. He tested the 120 volt input pins and found them open. However, he was not able to establish that the high-voltage section of the transformer was open. Observation of the dissected power supply revealed a "sooty" deposit on a couple small, wafer capacitors mounted between the transformer and one of the high-power rectifiers. It seems that some kind of powerful electrical phenomenon occurred in this area. Until proven otherwise, Grumpy will accept Harry's diagnosis of what went wrong.
Grumpy is NOT planning further investigation to ascertain a repair strategy for this power supply! Its destiny is a recycling bin.
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