View Venu Anuganti's profileBroken Dell Optiplex SX280
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Finally after couple of years, my good old Dell Optiplex SX280 life came to an end. It does not start anymore, can’t even power on. I can see that it gives kind of twinkling noise when I press power button but nothing happens.
Luckily I had a open support still with Dell on this and opened a support session with them (online chat from dell support). My initial plan was to give away the system to them to see if they can diagnose the problem so that it helps others..but after walking through few steps, they decided that motherboard is dead and they will come and replace the motherboard. Good that I had a backup of the whole system. But this is a decent system and never had any issues so far and performs quite well. Thanks to Dell support, its painless job without any questions on “How it went down”, instead their goal is always “How we can fix it, and make you happy”….good! |
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26 Comments
Hi:
Just a quick note to let you know that almost all Optiplex SX280’s motherboards die. It seems to be a widespread capacitor failure. I have much experience repairing/ refurbishing them (repaired over 30 of them so far for a large company in my area)- so if you ever hear of anyone who has the same problem refer them to me. I have also sold them through EBay as well. I guarantee/ warranty all my work and only charge exact shipping.
Thanks
Tia
Comment :: January 2, 2008 @ 10:39 am
Hi,
I am having the same problem with OptiPlex SX280 as you. Do you know anyone who can fix it for less? My support contract has expired so I can’t contact Dell because it probably would be cheaper to buy new than get it fixed by Dell. Let me know if there is any way I can get this fixed for cheap.
Thanks!
Chandra
Comment :: March 7, 2008 @ 5:28 pm
Would like to hear from Tia about fixing the motherboard on the optiplex. It doesn’t power up any more and I replaced the power supply thinking that would solve the problem…no deal.
Let me know what is involved and the cost. Sid
Comment :: March 26, 2008 @ 8:36 am
We have some Optiplex SX280 here. One of them had a problem in the adapter (external). Nothing wrong with HD. I took an adapater from other computer and still working ok.
The problem is – where can I find this specific adapter? I would be grateful if someone could help me about that. Eduardo
Comment :: April 8, 2008 @ 3:39 am
I would like to contact Tia about a bad SX280 MB. Need e-mail address.
Bill
Comment :: April 15, 2008 @ 7:28 am
need 280 motherboard either fi or swapped out
can be reached anytime at 201-741-3625 NJ
Comment :: May 5, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
I have a bulging capacitor SX280 MOBO. Would like to find out from Tia about cost to fix.
Comment :: June 2, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
If you buy a new board, how do you know if didn’t come from the same batch of boards that had the bad capacitor?
How do you know if the new board won’t exhibit the same issue in a year or two? Thanks.
Comment :: June 9, 2008 @ 11:28 am
Yip, replace that bulging capacitor and it will solve the problem. We have about 150 of these units on our campus and have had about 15 fail so far, 10 were still in the 3 year period that Dell were covering them for, the rest we have had to repair ourselves. The capacitor is 6.3volt 2200microfarad 105degree electrolytic. If you do it yourself it will cost you all of about $5 for the cap (NZ$). Otherwise you will be paying a 30min minimum charge no doubt for an electronics shop to do it for you. These caps are polarised, so be sure to put the new one in around the right way else it WILL go bang! Check these shots for more detail -
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/kalel_kara/DodgyCap01.jpg
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll8/kalel_kara/DodgyCap02.jpg
Comment :: June 9, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
Hi Tia
Do you have an email address I could use to contact you?. I want to get your opinion on buying a large quantities of Dell SX280 for a charity.
Alex
Comment :: July 9, 2008 @ 3:20 am
Hello All
Most of the time if you just replace the
bulging caps your board may still not work !
The other non-bulging caps can be bad also.
Go here and get the kit or have the board serviced.
http://www.badcaps.net/
Good Luck
John
Comment :: July 14, 2008 @ 4:24 am
after reading Kalel’s post I dove in and took a good look at me sx280 mobo and guess what??… yep I had the same bad cap… I’ve had this puter laying around for a year now dead, not knowing what was wrong. I went to http://thecapking.com (Troy is a great guy) and picked up a few Rubycon MBZ 2200uf 6.3v 10mm… I have only replaced the one bulging cap… the whole process took about 1/2hr… and now it’s working again like a champ, I plan on working on the sx280 cooling system, it is for sure what is killing these machines….
thanks Kalel for the info.
Brian
Comment :: August 25, 2008 @ 7:04 pm
I have a little different problem I would appreciate some input on. We have an SX280 that more and more frequently will just go ‘black’… it seems to shut off, but apparently is still getting some power, just not enough to keep it running. The two suspects are either a cap issue or the external power supply is flaky. I replaced the machine in the office with another (p/s and all) so I have this one in the shop but no extra P/S to test it with. Can anyone give me their feedback and theories??
Many thanks.
Dale
Comment :: August 29, 2008 @ 10:39 am
The Dell SX280s are almost always the caps under the hard drive and sometimes along the processor.
These small form factor PCs get very hot and will blow the best caps after a while ( 3 years on average for PCs that are on 24/7 and fill with dust). I have bought kits from http://www.thecapking.com as well and was very happy with the service and product. This has fixed every mobo I have tried it on and I haven’t had one die again yet.
You can also get a hard drive caddy with a fan built in for these PCs but they are hard to find and cost about $30. I havent got one of those yet but it should extend the life of these boards for a long time.
Comment :: September 1, 2008 @ 3:04 pm
Help, had the same prob with my SX280. At first Dell told me it was the CMOS battery, then the AC adapter, then thay finally told me that it was the MB after I replaced the first two. I need to get my SX280 fixed. Can someone help me get this done for cheap? Really appreciate it.
Comment :: September 30, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
I have a sx280. I need the part number for the side axcess panel, the one that covers the cpu and hard drive and the plastick cover that covers the cpu and fans
and Thank you very much.
Comment :: November 11, 2008 @ 1:23 pm
I have a very strange problem with my SX280. It will start and stop, start and stop with that jet like engine noise.
From last two years I considered this starting noise as normal. This noise may appear after some use (mostly in summer) but still it was working fine.
I unplugged the main power and turned on the machine after 10 minutes. I was so happy that machine started normally, and I connected to the internet and browsed for a while. Suddenly after 30-40 minute the problem reappeared i.e. the machine will start and stop, start and stop. When I say start and stop i mean the initial starting noise. The sound will be some thing like hmmmmm, hmmmmmmm, hmmmmmmmmmm.
Is it possible that motherboard is not working, because if u start the machine after 30 minute break, it will start normally and I am able to use it for 30-40 minutes and then suddenly the problem will reappear.
My guess is only for power supply.
Please advise me.
Comment :: November 30, 2008 @ 8:12 pm
does anybody have bad sx280 motherboards i will buy them off you. i do repaires on them thanks
Comment :: January 26, 2009 @ 10:04 am
Hi, We now have 3 stacked up with blown caps on board, pwr light blinks orange fans spin and nothing else on all 3.
Due to have caps replaced will let you know of the outcome…
Comment :: March 3, 2009 @ 2:20 am
Can anybody tell me the behavior of the 4 POST leds in case of bad capacitors? I have an SX180 which doesn’t boot, but no led lights up.
Fans spin at maximum and power led lights in orange.
May it be a case of bad capacitors?
Comment :: March 20, 2009 @ 1:14 am
My Optiplex SX280 exhibited all the symptoms here: amber light blinking, jet engine noise from fan(s), no POST lights illuminated. Sure enough I found a bulging capacitor under the hard drive.
I found a guy on eBay who repairs them for $49.99. I just sent it to him but he seems pretty sure that’s what’s going on. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Comment :: March 31, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
I had the same problem with 3 of the Optiplex SX280. I replaced 2 of them,but after the third one I am seriously thinking about fixing them. Nelson let me know if that guys fixed for you, also I called dell and they sell the Motherboard for $236.
Comment :: April 22, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
Hello,
I just wanted to say that I do repairs on sx280 motherboards. I sell refurbished motherboards. I test each one before I ship them out on ebay my name is gambl0re here is a link to my item. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=300315366240 I have excelelnt feedback no negative. This is better than paying double from dell or other vendors thanks.
Comment :: May 22, 2009 @ 7:20 am
Hello.
I also have a Optiplex SX280. Mtherboard has died and I replaced two faulty capacitors on it.
Now I have the following problem:
It boots up showing the Dell splash screen with Press F2 for boot sequence or F12 for setup. But it won’t take the command.
It goes to the next step showing a black screen with a blinking line and gets stuck there. The fans run faster and faster till they get to full throttle.
Has anyone else had this symptoms?
Comment :: February 5, 2010 @ 1:04 am
Hello I am looking for the mother board of an optiplex sx 280 have problem with the targeta of video
Comment :: March 1, 2010 @ 4:15 pm
I work on these systems daily as Apple Techs send them to me. Most systems have a bad capacitor or two. When I repair them I change all the capacitors on the system no matter what they look like or if you had it serviced before. The capacitors I use are tested good with 100,000 run hours against them with a 20 percent give or take on the tolerances. If you have a question you can call 706-307-9689 or visit http://www.doubleclickittofixit.com.
This is a brief list of the systems we repair on a regular basis: GX150, SX150, GX240, SX240, GX260, SX260, GX270, SX270, GX280, SX280, GX520, SX520, GX620, SX620, Dimension 2400, Dimension 8400, iMac 17 inch and 20 inch, 661-3613, 661-3611, 661-3599, 661-3596, 661-3597, 661-3612, 661-4290, 661-3599, 661-3787, 661-3595, 661-3778, 661-3597, M9248LL, M9249LL.
If you want the kits to do the repair yourself, you can buy them here at http://www.doubleclickittofixit.com/kits.html
Comment :: March 4, 2010 @ 11:26 pm