Dell Dimension 4500 - dead, no beeps, no nothing

[dlivezey]

Dell 4500 was working fine up until yesterday but today, cannot power on.

Tried:
- Removed front cover - switch seems okay mechanically
- Removed RAM, all drive connectors, and all cards except graphics adapter. Still nothing - no beeps, no signal to monitor

Other observations:
- No fans running now
- Small green light on mobo is on
- No other lights or activity
- Was pretty dusty, some paths pretty clogged
- Main CPU cooling fan turns easily by finger, not jammed

From reading other posts, it sounds like the most likely culprits are:
- Motherboard / CPU
- PSU

I lack knowledge, tools, and replacement parts/machines to troubleshoot any further. Any best guesses as to the probable cause? If it seems 70-80% likely to be the PSU, I may just roll the dice and buy another.

Thanks for your help!

[eliolum]

hi,
think the best way is to start by blasting the whole machine and use a blower to clean the machine then put back the peripherals back i.e drives and other cards one by one as you are trying to power on......if that fails as u are saying there is a green light yuo are seeing that gives the psu the benefit of doubt in that the power actually gets into the pc.........have had the same problem with my dell and solved it by the above method..........
best regards

[christian24]

hi i have the same problem but i blow out the whole motherboard and put back all the peripherals one by on and still nothing what should i do?