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Fuses On Motherboards. Failing PSU Overvolting

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vgta88

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
I think, know, a dying psu of mines overvolted my motherboard via 5vsb. There was no post so the rest of the circuitry can't be broken. I heard some faint poping noises (like static) and upon closer look I think there are fuses all over the motherboard. I don't have a multi meter or know all the values of fuses but I never thought of replacing fuses on computers because I didn't know there were any(they are smd (surface mount devices, the small stuff), i thought they were caps). I just heard of capacitors and mosfets and rectifiers, inductor coils and resistors (all of which look easier to replace).

My question is has anyone ever had to replace fuses? know of a service? I think it's a common problem on laptops where an unmarked fuse value would blow or even on a ps2. I've seen fuse location diagrams for a ps2 and I think it's nice that they can be revived. So now I have a board with maybe blown fuses and no replacements, documentation or the solder iron that can handle smd devices, might be an easy fix if I did have.

check out the 3rd picture. http://www.insidemylaptop.com/laptop-does-not-start-bad-power-jack-motherboard/ I never knew that was a fuse.

I am a firm believer that if something just needs a few parts to be fixed again then it's a terrible waste to see it go. It doesn't really stop technological progress since old things get slower or don't have features but there is such nostalgia in having old tech run again or forever. (some people have gotten atari systems working again by just cleaning the bios chip sockets) I would rebuild an snes (destroying the proprietary screws nintendo use, or ebay the tools) if it wasn't so easily replaced by an emulator.

probably gonna sell my board for repair purposes. for cheap just so it may have the best chance to find a home again.
 
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The problem you are describing is not uncommon. To test them is very simple. Use a multimeter to check resistance/continuity. If you have the power supply for the laptop, an easy way to guesstimate the current draw for the fuse would be to look at the current rating the psu provides. For a laptop, I don't see it being more than a few amps.
 
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