Wii Family Edition - No Power, Squealing

I've been asked to have a look at someone's last-gen Wii console (looks exactly like the original launch version, but doesn't have the backwards capability of the earlier revisions, so it lacks the Gamecube ports). When plugged into the AC, the console doesn't power on or show the red power light, however a feint electronic squealing sound is audible from the console itself. The issue persists among several different power cords, and while I don't know what led to the problem coming up, I do know that the owner was using a third party AC cord prior to the problem occurring.

My apologies if the terminology for the noise isn't correct, as I don't have much of a engineering background (I'm a hobbyist at most). The majority of everything power related seems to come from the brick of the power cord itself, so all I have to go on is to look around the port on the logic board.

 

Have you taken it apart and looked for any busted caps on the power board? They make squealing noises when venting, but if its continuous and long, then it might be something else.

 

I'm part ways through disassembling now. The sound is continuous, as the moment its plugged in it begins to make the noise (without even touching the power button on the front), and doesn't stop until it's unplugged. I believe there's a row of caps by the plug, but I'm uncertain of how to actually 'test' them. I assume I need to check something like voltage with my multimeter when it's plugged in?

 

No need to test at all. Just look for physical venting. Real capacitor testing requires desoldering and at that point, its worth it just to replace them.

 

I disassembled it down to the logic board, but I don't really see anything wrong with the caps. No leakage or anything. Also tested the F2 fuse that's down by where the AC plugs in, but it seems to be working fine.
[GALLERY=media, 1863]Wii by redterror117 posted Dec 18, 2016 at 11:06 PM[/GALLERY]

 

Hm. Does the heatsink house the CPU and such? Sorry for the dumb questions, I haven't taken one of these apart before. With the top off, can you figure out where the sound is coming from?

 

I believe so. I don't want to have to remove it unless absolutely necessary though, since I'm pretty low on thermal pads to replace it if I have to. I have a product image from the original Wii, which should be pretty much similar (if not the same)

 

Alright, gotcha now. Thanks for that pic. Have you tried powering it on just to hear where its coming from? That'll give you the best idea of what needs to be done.

 

Yup, but unfortunately I can't really pinpoint a source for the noise. It just sounds like the entire board is emitting the sound :/
I'm not sure if it helps, but I've noticed the same sound from a TV in the hospital I work at. I don't know if it works or not, but any time I get close enough I can hear the sound coming from it as well.

 

Hm... I think it might be one of the inductors on the board? Those are coils and squeal if they go bad. You can test them however by putting the leads on Ohms (1 to 10) and if it is more then that, the inductor is bad.

 

BTW, the inductors are the little gray boxes. Lol

 

Probably a silly question to ask, but will I need it plugged in while testing the inductors to get the correct results?

 

Nope.

 

Gotcha, similar to testing fuses then. Wanted to be sure, as on my multimeter they all just drop down to 0, so I wanted to be sure I was doing it correctly (and I double checked I was testing the right things lol: 4R7s, the 5R6, and the 100)