[rescue] Dead octane?

[Ian Finder]

My SGI Crimson recently had a dead PSU after a few mos. of inactivity--
 PSUs often die between being disconnected for an extended period of time
and being reconnected again.

Anyway to the point-- Black handle is Lucent-- More failure prone,
lower-spec, older PSU. I have one in my octane. The pop is the cord arcing.
With most lucents I've seen, upon cycling the input power off 30 seconds, on
30 seconds or so, you'll hear a soft relay click. This is generally a sign
of good standby DC output, but is by no means a definite sign of a fully
operational PSU. You will only hear this click when connecting and
disconnecting the mains-- it doesn't happen any other times, if my
recollection is correct.
The crackle you hear is most definitely normal arcing of the connection to
live power, nothing more.

If I were a doctor, the original symptoms, plus the lack of a click and the
black handle-- when referenced with the experiences I've had with these
beasts-- would make me write a prescription for a new PSU with almost
complete confidence. As a last ditch, if you aren't ready to look for a
replacement, pull the PSU out, smack it around a bit, and look inside
(carefully-- high voltage inside) for anything obvious like a blown fuse or
charring, and maybe reseat it and try it again.

But if I were you I'd already be checking Nekochan and GreedBay for
replacements.

Good luck!

-- I

On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 8:33 PM, Scott Newell <newell at cei.net> wrote:

> At 08:23 PM 12/30/2008, Ian Finder wrote:
>
>> It's likely the psu.
>>
>
> Hmm.
>
>
>  The symptoms you describe are not those of a defective connection to
>> the HEART ASIC. The system should power on and redlight or throw
>>
>
> Good.
>
>
>  something to video or serial if that were the problem. Do you hear a
>> relay click when plugging the psu in? And is the psu Lucent (silver
>> handle) or Cherokee (black)? You can check the frontplane(look at the
>> diag LEDs behind the front panel) and compression connectors but my
>> money is on the psu.
>>
>
> Black handle, no click when AC applied, but I do hear a slight pop--I
> assume it's the arcing as the cord makes contact with the jack.  Actually, I
> don't ever remember hearing a relay click.
>
> thanks! _______________________________________________
>
> rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue