Power supply only works outside case?

[noahmichvfs]

Hi, I'm having a bizarre problem with my corsair 400W power supply. The system has a core i3 cpu, radeon 5670 gpu, and only a couple hard drives and an optical drive, so I'm fairly sure the wattage isn't an issue. When I start the system, I get incessant short beeps that indicate a power problem according to the boards manual. I unhooked the power supply, and set it up outside of the case with everything still plugged in. Oddly enough, the PSU works perfectly with no problem, but only while it's outside of the case. As soon as it's installed in the case again, the problem persists. I checked the board placement, and there is nothing that would make the board short out, so I'm really confused. I freely admit that the case is a piece of crap, bargain basement hunk of metal, so I'm not sure if that has something to do with it.
Any help would be appreciated.

[joshhua5]

my thoughts is a positive wire or somthing is touching the case

a PSU's case is a ground so anything electrial conected to it will go to it
maybe a part of your motherboard is touching the tray then the case to your PSU
when u take it out of the case your breaking the link and the power isn't goign to the ground line

Some or all PSU's turn off or restart when the PSU is absorbing electricity
that might be your problem and most likly is

just check for loose wires unprotected touching the case
motherboard touching tray or case
try taking your Hdd's out of the case and your Optical drive
donno try every thing

[Andrew149]

sounds like a ground issue or maby its a heat issue it might be getting too hot