Stumbling Blocks 2: PC Problem

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

PC "died" a few weeks ago. Just to clarify I mean the PC was not powering up at all. After the usual basic tests, different power lead, plug socket etc I reasoned that it must have been the PSU. Bought a replacement but I think I f***ed up due to my hardware inexperience. There was a voltage switch on the back which I mistakenly took to be a power switch (the typeface was very small) so after I flicked it there was a pop and a flash and my confidence to fix PC vanished! I also tried popping out the BIOS battery and replacing but no success. I am thinking another component has blown! Any help or advice very gratefully received.

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Um - fiddling with the voltage switch in the UK will nearly always destroy the PSU.

You *may* be lucky and that replacing the PSU will be all that is required.

Harry.

 

So I might need to buy another PSU? Is it likely that other components could have blown too? I am strating to worry that this could get expensive if I end up buying more parts and still end up with a duff PC!

 

Definately sounds to me like you have blown the PSU. In the UK they should always be set to 240v.

There is the possibility that by changing the voltage setting you may have caused damage to other components when you turned it on, but for now by the way that you have descirbed the 'popping' sound it it definately the PSU that has gone.

What Power (Watts) PSU did you use? Are you sure that it is capable of powering your PC? Were any external items connected to the PC, Printer, scanner, etc? You should always start with the PC only and then add additional components.

You could 'try' sending the PSU back to your supplier saying that it didnot work when you unboxed it. Its worth a try.

 

Hey dude, don't mean to sound bad but looks and sounds like your motherboard has been fried.

 

Can you expand on that Onoski?

 

Does sound like the board wil be fried aswell as the PSU did once before on a machine forgot to check just assumed it would be on 240v but no and pop it went and so did the board

 

That's exactly what happened to me! It was set to the wrong voltage setting and I flicked it while it was plugged in without realising what I was doing. Sending it back is worth a try so I'm going to try that. In the meantime if anyone can provide guidance on picking up a cheap, basic PC for now this will allow me to trundle into certification until I can afford a new PC.

 

Depending on your needs Ebay is always worth a try.

 

Or look in the local newspaper - often lots of older but quite serviceable PCs being sold.

Or you could try the computer section of Exchange & Mart. Some computer fairs have second-hand vendors. Or try freecycle.

Harry.

 

You won't really know the extent of the damage until you have another PSU with which to test the remainder of the hardware. Best case scenario, only your PSU was damaged. Worst case scenario, you've damaged all the components and you've bought yourself a spare PSU (which you may need someday).

 

Good call. I'd forgotten about the advantages of local press classifieds. Thanks!

 

I did the same a few months back (only my psu powers me water cooling too :S). It shouldn't fry your board because thats what the flash was (the fuse blowing). Try www.microdirect.co.uk for a new powersupply. There only about £20 and if there more it might be worth getting a cheap case and stealing it for you current case.

If you stuck, PM me

 

Thank you for that. I am going to try to get a refund or return on the PSU I blew as I think they were naughty setting it to the wrong voltage. I have nothing to lose after all. If they don't resolve it within a week I'll bite the bullet and buy a new one. Thanks again.

 

Feelix,

looking at your original post, the voltage to the PSU was set correctly, if it were set to 110v it would have powered up and gone pop straight away. It only happened after you flicked the switch so it looks like you set it to the wrong voltage. They should take it back as you are within your consumer rights, but I bet thats the thinking they'll use.

 

Keep in mind that if this is a test or lab box, a cheapie power supply is fine. But if this is your home/office/gaming PC that you expect to be running all the time, don't skimp on the PSU. A cheapie PSU of poor quality can cause all manner of strange symptoms (including corrupted data and memory errors that will cause you to think other components are failing) and, thus, can be quite difficult to diagnose.

 

Sure, a cheapie one would be able to let you know if the main elements of the board are functioning... if the cheapie PSU isn't failing and causing further symptoms to appear. Plus, you have to be sure that the cheapie PSU is of sufficient power to power all the devices in your computer. Not enough power means things will look like they're failing.

Also, keep in mind that some power supplies do not work on certain motherboards - some have different connectors, so PSUs are not all interchangeable. It's not as simple as taking a power supply from just any old computer and putting it in any other computer.

 

PC is working again now. Just got another PSU and it's fine. Thank you for all your help. Much appreciated.

 

There is a site called www.yoyotech.co.uk which is really good for PC parts. THey have a shop on Tottenham Court Road, and were selling a basic PSU for about a fiver! Think they were pulled from old office systems though.

When I was having problems (turned out to be my mobo) i changed the PSU as I think the fans were failing on it, and it didn't solve the problem