dell dimension 4600 won't power up
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Thread: dell dimension 4600 won't power up

  1. #1
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    dell dimension 4600 won't power up

    We've got a dell dimension 4600 that won't power up. It was doing ok and then was left for a few days and wouldn't turn on. The green light on the mb is on but no lights on the back and nothing at the power button.

    I tried putting in a good power supply from an identical machine and it still did the same thing.

    I tried removing all cards and cables and memory and still nothing.

    Help appreciated.

  2. #2
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    Inspect the capacitors on the motherboard to see if any of them are bulging or leaking.

    Pictures at:
    http://www.badcaps.net

  3. #3
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    I tried removing all cards and cables and memory and still nothing.
    You need to have memory in it.

    Definitely check the caps.

  4. #4
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    Symptoms described, typically attributed to defective mobo and/or power supply.
    As already mentioned twice,
    Inspect for defective capacitors.
    Cheers.

  5. #5
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    Sep 2013
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    The capacitors look ok. I'm wondering about the power switch. I read that you can disconnect the cable to the switch and short out the leads to check it. The cable seems to go to a plug that has 4 terminals. Not sure how to do it.

  6. #6
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    On the back of the switch inside the case, follow the center two-wire lead down to the two pins on the motherboard. Disconnect those two leads from the motherboard and carefully short across those two now bare pins with the tip of a small screwdriver.

  7. #7
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    I followed the 2 leads but they go into a plug that has 8 terminals. I would have to pull the wires out of the plug to disconnect just those 2 wires. I tried shorting out the pins that the wires go to (with the whole plug unplugged) but it didn't do anything.

    I also took out the cpu and reseated it -- nothing.

    We're wondering if there was a lightning strike and a power surge. The computer was plugged into a power strip and a cable modem.

    I was thinking of putting in the cpu from our other 4600 computer and see if that's the problem.

  8. #8
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    CPUs rarely go bad. It's more likely a bad motherboard. Switches don't go bad that often either.

  9. #9
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    I see some inexpensive mainboards on ebay. I'm wondering if it's possible to put in a better one than the 4600?

  10. #10
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    I would suspect a failing power supply before I would a bad mobo.
    If you're happy and you know it......it's your meds.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by cisz View Post
    I see some inexpensive mainboards on ebay. I'm wondering if it's possible to put in a better one than the 4600?
    Dells usually use proprietary motherboards, so it would be difficult to find a replacement. You'd probably need to switch cases.

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve R Jones View Post
    I would suspect a failing power supply before I would a bad mobo.
    Ya, but he said he swapped PSUs already.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
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    I read that the 1st version of the 4600 had a 550mhz bus and that it could damage an 800 mhz cpu if you upgraded on the old board. This board is a 2y832. Would this be the newer version?

  13. #13
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    A follow-up:

    I tested the cpu in an identical mainboard and the cpu is bad. I then tried testing the cpu from the good board on the problem board and the computer still wouldn't power up. (The good cpu was the same ghz as the bad one although the good one had 1mb cache while the bad one had 500kb).

    So, whatever blew the cpu also blew the board --- but not the power supply.

    Would it seem advisable to just throw out the board? I assume there's probably more things blown than just capacitors?

    Also wondering if other dell boards would work (like optiplex, or other dimension models)?

    Thanks to everyone for your help.
    Last edited by cisz; September 15th, 2013 at 01:47 PM.

  14. #14
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    It would cost far more to get someone with the equipment and expertise to diagnose exactly which components are damaged, order replacements and then have then replaced them then it would to purchase another motherboard.

  15. #15
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    Sep 2013
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    I installed a new dell dimension 4600 mainboard. ($30 from ebay). This one has a 3.0ghz cpu, (the old one was 2.8ghz). Took a little while to get the new drivers straightened out. The new board has on-board audio and video and the old one didn't. That meant that the back panel didn't fit the new board and I had to remove the old back panel.

    I'm wondering if there could be a problem to use it without the back panel?

    Thanks.

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