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| Thread ID: 111326 | 2010-07-22 10:30:00 | Computer fried by electricity lines fault. Is this salvageable? | stevie_boy (478) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1121374 | 2010-07-22 10:30:00 | Well it's been a long time since I've needed PressF1's help but this problem is outside my knowledge. Today our neighbours had the electricity linesman out to fix a fault. Their power comes off the same box as ours. In the linesman's infinite wisdom, he ended up destroying the power box at the end of our driveway and had to replace it (according to the linesman that came tonight when I found that our power hadn't been turned back on). Anyway, when I came home tonight and tried starting the desktop PC it started its usual boot up process but turned off after 5 seconds. When I tried to start it again it was dead. The PC is connected through a surge protector and the monitor, speakers and multi-function (that are all connected to the same surge protector) all still power on and work. I tried plugging the desktop PC in to a different power point and it started up.....for 5 seconds then shut down immediately. Now it won't start at all in any power point in the house and the linesman that came tonight confirmed that all power points in the house are fine. Therefore, my question is, is this likely to be a problem with the PSU or something more major like the motherboard, CPU and/or RAM? I originally built the desktop PC myself and would like to resolve the issue myself with the help of my fellow PressF1ers as I don't trust the local PC repair shop to not rip me off and replace any parts with those of equal or better quality. For your info, the specs of the desktop PC are: Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI, Socket 939 CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+, Socket 939 PSU: Enermax EG565P-VE24P Whisper II, 535W ATX PSU, SLI Ready Memory: GeIL Ultra-X Dual Channel Memory Kit, 2x512MB, DDR-SDRAM, DIMM, DDR400 and Kingston ValueRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit, 2x1GB, DDR-SDRAM, DIMM, DDR-SDRAM400 HDDs: Seagate Barracuda ST3250823AS 250GB and Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1000GB Hopefully you ladies and gents will concur that I just need to replace the PSU, because otherwise this could become significantly more expensive if its the motherboard or CPU since the computer is 4.5 years old and uses Socket 939 which has been superseded several times over. The lines company said that they will pay for the repairs to the desktop PC but even they will have a limit where they will probably say no way. I would prefer to be able to save the PC as it has served me well and does everything I need it to. Please note that while I can build a desktop PC from scratch, I am a complete idiot when it comes to electricity so I would have no idea how to test things like voltage, etc. |
stevie_boy (478) | ||
| 1121375 | 2010-07-22 10:45:00 | Could be a PSU, or even a Board gone AWOL. First thing, attach a known good power Supply, see what happens. Depending on what occurs, it will either boot up, OR a little more in depth looking may be required. keep in mind, if you only have a basic Surge protector, then they are crap - Since the Power to the house has obviously been worked on, then a surge is highly possible. A basic Surge protector wont stop a good surge, it will go right through them to the object its connected to. And GOOD surge protector will have a trip switch, which will blow/trip and stop the power. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 1121376 | 2010-07-22 10:48:00 | If its got a speaker in it, does it beep more than once? Where in Auckland are you Stevie? | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 1121377 | 2010-07-22 20:57:00 | Anyway, when I came home tonight and tried starting the desktop PC it started its usual boot up process but turned off after 5 seconds. When I tried to start it again it was dead. Therefore, my question is, is this likely to be a problem with the PSU or something more major like the motherboard, CPU and/or RAM? . Most of the time, especially with decent hardware, it's just the PSU. The first thing is to swap it out and see if all is well. If not, what I do is then test each bit - RAM, HDD, etc. May not be practical for you to test CPU and MB. If several things are dead, it's an insurance claim. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 1121378 | 2010-07-23 00:45:00 | keep in mind, if you only have a basic Surge protector, then they are crap - Even good surge protectors are good for just one hit, then will need a repair, even though they will still pass power though them. The basic ones do nothing that a PSU's built in surge protection will do anyway |
1101 (13337) | ||
| 1121379 | 2010-07-23 00:53:00 | I'm tempted to agree and say try just replacing the PSU. It *ought* to have born the brunt of the surge, so it's worth a shot, for the $60-odd it'll cost for a cheapo PSU. | Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 1121380 | 2010-07-24 07:42:00 | Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I tried starting the PC again last night and it miraculously came back to life. I'm not trying to tempt fate here but it has been going well since :) I've replaced the surge protector just to be safe. |
stevie_boy (478) | ||
| 1121381 | 2010-07-24 10:39:00 | The fact its going suggests 2 things to me. 1. if you've moved it around a bit maybe ram or something had come loose and caused the failed startups 2. something more serious like capacitors or other components of the mobo/psu workin under certain temps. I've seen and heard of this sorta thing If it's all going fine I wouldn't worry too much but there's usually a reason |
hueybot3000 (3646) | ||
| 1121382 | 2010-07-24 11:51:00 | Anyway, when I came home tonight and tried starting the desktop PC it started its usual boot up process but turned off after 5 seconds . When I tried to start it again it was dead . Just a thought, but if the mains switch was off during the electrical work, then it is quite possible that this work had nothing to do with the failure to to boot . However, if it was in a standby state, where turning off and on the power switch at the wall would fire it up, then it is possible that cycling the power supply during the service work may have started it up and even shut it down again part-way through booting, causing some scrambling of the bits and bytes . Local line repairs do not usually cause "power surges" any more than turning on any other power switch does . Surges tend to originate a little deeper in the network than the local distribution connections, and send a higher than normal voltage down the line . If it continues to work properly for the next few days it is probably OK . Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 1121383 | 2010-07-24 22:53:00 | Local line repairs do not usually cause "power surges" any more than turning on any other power switch does. I think it also depends what was done -- yesterday, I think some clown took out a power pole down the road, heard a screech, few seconds later power started cutting, then back on, fire, police and Ambulance all screaming past -- all the time, the UPS's were going nuts, on/off/on/off -- one in the workshop has a display, the voltage was up and down like a yoyo. I have seen the same effect before, not going one moment,then going again. Can be caused by an over load, the built in protection stops the PSU/PC from turning on, once the current all drains out it goes again. What you dont want happening is the PSU failing, ( which is also a warning sign of sometimes not working, then does) and instead of simply dieing, allowing for a second 230 + Volts into the PC -- Kind of fries things real fast. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
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