Wisconson U. CSAR Mirac & Triac

[boots]

Mirac u00067 Sept. 2000
DOS v 1.47 O/S Windows 98? Elect. #oc00253447
We recently changed locations & after the move the mill worked. Soon after the software wouldn't boot up, so we changed the small battery in the control panel. After doing that, the machine won't boot-up at all. Nothing shows up on the screen & won't do anything.

Triac VMC u00067 Sept. 2000
DOS 2.102 O/S windows 98? Elect. #oc00253438
After the move the keypad quit working, so we replaced the small battery in the control panel & now the machine won't boot-up at all & shows nothing on the screen.

Any ideas on what to look at?

[Mr Magoo]

Do you mean the small battery on the PC Computer main board?

If so then the computer whould boot up with this battery removed. It will report bad battery but should still boot up OK and will prove that the replacement batteries are bad / wrong type / inserted incorrectly

[Denford Admin]

I would suspect that both problems are to do with the actual moving of the machine - wires and terminals may have come loose ?

Like Magoo is saying, you should see something on the screen regardless of whether the battery is ok, dead or not fitted.

Check the fuses as well - they may have not enjoyed the journey on the back of a truck

[boots]

* Nothing appears on the monitor when the machine is powered up
* The light does not come on the floppy drive when the machine is powered up

I discovered the following about the CPU's power supply, using a voltmeter
(the power supply is a Chieftec ATX-1123B, part no. E000 035359):

* The DC outputs of the power supply are at zero volts
* The fan inside of the power supply doesn't turn
* By pulling the AC cord from the power supply and probing the cord with a
voltmeter, I measure 260 VAC, RMS.

Also, the green light on the 24-volt power supply is on, which tells you quite
a bit about which fuses are good.

From these findings, do you concur with me that the Chieftec power supply for
the CPU has gone bad? If so,

How can I order a new one? (I'll do the replacement myself)

[Mr Magoo]

Hi Boots...

An ATX powersupply will not usually work unless it is connected to the motherboard - so make sure the PSU is connected when measuring voltages.

Also (and I think this might be the problem) a 'normal' ATX computer has a push button to turn the computer on. The computer inside the machine may have had this removed, and instead the BIOS settings may have been set to "auto-power up after loss of power". But becuase the battery has been changed then this setting has been lost.

Try and find the spec of the motherboard on the web and see if there are two pins where the power on push button should be connected. If it has these then short these two together and the PC should come on - and then you can set the BIOS to auto-powerup after loss of power.

(it's also possible that the power-on push button is still present and mounted on the case of the computer inside the machine cabinet - I can't rememeber if we used to leave it in there or not. If so then it just needs pressing !)

[boots]

I couldn't find a data sheet for our motherboard, not even at the manufacturer's web site, but I found
two pins on the motherboard labeled "PWA Sw." I briefly shorted them together with a screwdriver
and both the motherboard and power supply immediately powered up. The mill is working again.

Thanks for your help and thanks to the person who identified the problem and solution.

- Matt

[Denford Admin]

Magoo gets the award for Top Answer this month

[Mr Magoo]

And the prize is ??? - second thoughts don't answer that!