Fried Power Supply - Replacement Ideas?

[stupergenius]

Hello,

My Sheeva plug just powered down yesterday and I haven't been able to get it to power back up. When everything is assembled, the green power led, and the ethernet leds, just blink in about 1 second intervals. So I opened the case. Everything on the Sheeva side of the plug looks in good working order. But then I pried open the power supply case and boy is that a mess. Seems one of the caps busted and the fluid is spread over several components.

So I looked up the warranty (1 month) and I am way past that. Are there any replacement power supplies I can stick in this thing? I would be ok with breaking it out of the original case and using something external, or wiring in an external power supply and splicing the cables on the inside. Or even, if possible, replacing the components of the supply I have with non cap goo covered replacements (I have no tools but I have been meaning to get some and this is a good reason).

I looked around the forums and seems the specs of the power supply are 5V 3A so with a little googling I came up with the below supplies:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=271-2609-ND
http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-NEW-5V-3A-AC-DC-Power-adapter-Power-supply-Well_W0QQitemZ280325831479QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCOMP_EN_Networking_Components?hash=item4144b8bb37

If this is a terrible idea let me know. If it's dead for good I think this is a good excuse to buy a new HTPC.

Thanks.

[knireis]

1 month??

Is there not something like a legal minimum?

[westyd1982]

I added an external power jack to my plug.  I can power it from a 5v supply from my solar system or just use a regulated 5v power pack that provides at least 1A.  I use a power pack from a Linksys NSLU2 that provides 5v at 2A.  It works great.  If you are powering equipment off the USB bus, you need more amperage than 1A, but 2A should work well.

See the posts at: http://plugcomputer.org/plugforum/index.php?topic=260.15

[stupergenius]

Hi, thanks for the reply. That hole you cut out looks nice. I reckon that would not be too bad of a project for myself.

[da1l6]

Hi

Welcome the the Club of Plugs with fried power supply.

I found USB Hubs to be a cheap source for 5V power supplies. Got a 13Port USB hub with a 4A/5V Power supply (4A is propably overkill, but better save than sorry). It now powers the Plug, the Hub and the devices connected to it (including a 2.5" Hard disk).
Previously i used an 1A power supply for the Plug alone, but it overheated after a day of use and shut itself down together with the plug.
Also tried a power supply from an unused harddisk case, which has a 2A/5V rail, but the plug refused to power up with it. Not sure why this did not work.

da1l6

[jabjoe]

Did you not have a card in the box that stated a one year warranty?

http://www.newit.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=page_3

[restamp]

A couple thoughts:

+ Since it appears that our Sheeva Plugs are losing their power supplies at a prodigious rate, I wonder if there is something that can be done to resurrect them?  Has anyone had any success with replacing the caps and other components in order to bring the PS back to life after they have died?

+ For those of us who still have working supplies, is there something we can do to head off the problem?  I've been thinking of opening mine up to see if any of the caps are bulged, and replacing them if they indeed are.  Has anyone else done this?

+ Given that the PS at least seems to fail safe, such that the processor board is not zapped, I'd think it would be in GlobalScale's interest to sell replacement PS boards.  This would especially be desirable if they were to fix the underlying problem with the PS so that the replacement was solid.  (Or, an alternative:  Does anyone know of a PS board that could be substituted for what's in the Plug?)

+ Just curious:  of those who have had their Plug's PS go up in smoke, when did you acquire your Plug?  Is the phenomenon something that is occurring only with recently bought Plugs, Plugs that were part of the initial backorder, or is it endemic, across the board?

Let's try to quantize what is going on.

[ON1DQD]

Hi,

I also like to now if the PS is repairable???

My sheevaplug was online for 7 months, it seems to me it has a non reliable Power Supply.

Are there PS being selling as replcement part?

All information is welcome!!!

Regards,
Geert - ON1DQD