N66U Power Supply issues.

[srinivasvaradaraj]

For a few weeks now I have started to turn off all my electronic appliances when I am out to work (automated this part). I hadn't noticed this before but the N66U seems to be the only thing that doesn't come back up automatically when powered on. The blue light on the power supply seems to flash continuously and the router does not boot. I have to manually depress the switch on the back of the router and re-press it to start up. I read a few other forums where people have had similar issues. I was wondering if anyone else has been though this. The router seems to work correctly once it powers up.
I did contact ASUS support and after exchanging a couple of emails, the tech wanted me to RMA. IDK if I should try anything else before I ship the unit out. Any thoughts by anyone would be appreciated.

PS: The router has performed flawlessly since Feb of this year with minimum reboots.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Power switch can be one which stays on( contact closed) when you push and off(open) when pushed again. another one can be just sending on/off signal to the psu logic. This is momentary contact switch like a door bell. Then it'll behave like that. Can't tell without looking at actual schematics or open the router and check the switch itself..

 

[srinivasvaradaraj]

Hi,
Power switch can be one which stays on( contact closed) when you push and off(open) when pushed again. another one can be just sending on/off signal to the psu logic. This is momentary contact switch like a door bell. Then it'll behave like that. Can't tell without looking at actual schematics or open the router and check the switch itself..

Thanks for your reply, this switch that is built into the router is a contact closed type. However, in my case the power supply would flash under noload ie router not being plugged in. All I would have to do is plug the supply to the wall and it would start flashing. After talking to tech support, I had to RMA the supply. Hopefully they will send me another one. This is the first time I have lost a power supply adaptor for any of my little appliances.

 

[srinivasvaradaraj]

Alternative power supply adapter

All, I realize I am replying to my own thread but I figured I would document this so it can be useful for someone else. Recently, the power supply adapter that comes bundled with the N66U died and replacement adapter is prob 2-4 weeks away. I didn't not want to wait for a month to get wireless operation and wanted a suitable replacement so, the replacement asus adapter can be plugged in when it arrives.

So, as an alternative, I went down to my local radio shack and bought a enercell AC-to-DC power adapter for notebook computers. This is the 80W version which is a bit of an overkill but this one has interchange able tips and adjustable voltage.
With this I did the following.
1) ** MOST IMPORTANT ** , set the output voltage to 19V , a little rotary switch on the top of the power brick.
2) Use the "Adapter tip type A" with tip set to '+'. Reversing this can damage your router.

With this or an equivalent configuration, the router powers up and operates as normal. Not mention that the router seems to run cooler. IDK why. The power consumption doesn't seem to be any different from the OEM adapter (I have it plugged to kill-a-watt).

I realize that ASUS has to do better to improve the reliability of the power adapter considering people have paid upto $200 for this router. This includes a faster service for RMA. But I document this so it can help others as well if your power adapter has died naturally or due to power surge.

Thanks.