Computer voltage switch, can it damage my power supply?

Question

My brother, in an attempt to keep the family off the computer changed the voltage switch on the back but now that its back to what it should be the computer won't turn on. I'm afraid he may have damaged the power supply. When the on button is pressed nothing at all happens. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I was stationed in Germany and we had some outlets that were 110 and some that were 220 volts. If you tried to turn on a computer that was set to the wrong one it would blow our power supply and we'd have to replace it completely. It happened a couple of times and it can either just make like a popping sound then nothing or one time it actually started to smoke.

Answer 2

Power Supply Voltage Switch

Answer 3

"Flipping the AC switch on the back of a power supply can wreak all kinds of havoc on a PC. Moving the switch to ~230 in the US makes for a great practical joke (as long as the PC is off when you do it) The PC might try to boot up, but it probably won't get far. You don't risk damaging anything by running at half the AC. In countries that run ~230 standard, on the other hand, firing up the PC with the AC switch set to ~115 can cause the power supply to die a horrid, smoking death. Watch that switch!"

You'll need to power down, then switch the power button at the back to off and unplug the power cord and wait for around 1 minute. Then switch it back to ~115 and then power back on.

Answer 4

If you are real lucky maybe it just popped a circuit breaker in your house. Reset the breaker and hope for the best. Chances are you have some hardware damage though.

As the other guy said the power supply is designed to handle the voltage, unfortunately the rest of your PC probably isn't.

Answer 5

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Well im not sure about it causing damage, i dont think it would because you set it to a higher voltage then that is coming in. What is the purpose of this? for people in other countries using different voltage standards. like Europe uses 220-240V where as the US uses 120V. the 230V settings would be if you lived in or went to europe, the 115V is for if you live in the US. Im not sure about other countries standards, but im pretty sure they follow 1 or the other. If you went to EU (where the incoming voltage is 220-240V) and set it to 115V and turned it on, it would blow out the PSU. But as the incoming voltage in the US is 120V, i dont think there would be any damages caused by switching it to 230V. But i wouldnt recommend running it on different voltage standard then what it should be. IF you are having problems with your computer powering on, id suggest you get a new psu. Btw your hdd do use power all the time, just like 1-2W/ea compared to like 10W/ea while in use. If you have upgraded your graphics card w/o upgrading your psu, you really should do so. As most computers only come with the bare min wattage, and are usually extremely generic psu, which really have no amperage on the 12v rails. (most everything in your computer uses the 12v rails)

Answer 6

The power supply voltage selector switch changes the voltage from 110V AC to 220V AC.

Odds are your power supply is OK, but your motherboard / CPU is fried. Your brother needs a swift kick in the "@55". I would make him pay for the repairs.

Take it to a computer repair depot for diagnosis and an estimate.

Answer 7

Most of the time, it's ok (doesn't damage the power supply). I see it all the time when I used to work for a school district the kids would do that all the time. USUALLY, just switching it back would be ok.

Answer 8

I'm afraid you're right!
Go buy a new supply they're not very expensive 4 bolts and a few connectors.