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| Thread ID: 106609 | 2010-01-15 09:27:00 | Faulty power supply? | Timbo (11006) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 849021 | 2010-01-15 09:27:00 | Hello all, I have this computer that shuts off randomly without warning. This computer actually belongs to my cousin; he says this has been going on for about a year now. Early when this problem first started, the computer would shut off by itself in about an hour. As the year went by; the time the computer would stay on before shutting down decreased gradually, now the pc justs turns off once Windows start up. When I turn the computer on again, its shows no errors on the bios. I tried reinstalling Windows, but it just powers off somewhere in the process. It also happens when I run ubuntu live off the CD. Could this be anything else? I will buy a replacement power supply if its the culprit. |
Timbo (11006) | ||
| 849022 | 2010-01-15 09:29:00 | Its probably overheating. If it turns off as soon as you turn it on.To protect the CPU. Is it full of dust? | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 849023 | 2010-01-15 09:40:00 | Which PSU has it got and how old is it? If you suspect the PSU, have you tried the obvious, eg: swapping for a known good one? Speedy has a good point about overheating too. Make sure all fans are working and free of dust, including the PSU fan. If All fans are OK, and you don't have a different PSU to try, check the motherboard and PSU itself for bulging capacitors (refer to www.badcaps.net for more information) If the PSU has got bad capacitors in it, it's more than likely the cause of your problems |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 849024 | 2010-01-15 09:47:00 | If the PSU (power supply unit) is faulty, you will know! If it works, well, yeah, but if the PSU isn't, then the computer will not start at all. It's like unplugging the computer from the wall, and trying to start it. From your symptoms, I think Speedy Gonzales is right. As your computer overheats over and over, the electronics become less and less potent, and weaken. As a computer operates over its limit, it triggers automatic shut down, and from experience, takes about an hour to cool down. To fix this would simply require more case fans, cheap, and depending on the sizes, quiet. For more extreme temperatures, water cooling is a possibility, but from an old computer with inadequate cooling, this won't be necessary. A couple of fans will work nicely, and maybe a better CPU cooler. CPU coolers are a bit more expensive, but definitely worth the money. CPUs are incredibly expensive. |
raydan42 (13837) | ||
| 849025 | 2010-01-15 09:48:00 | If the PSU (power supply unit) is faulty, you will know! If it works, well, yeah, but if the PSU isn't, then the computer will not start at all . It's like unplugging the computer from the wall, and trying to start it . From your symptoms, I think Speedy Gonzales is right . As your computer overheats over and over, the electronics become less and less potent, and weaken . As a computer operates over its limit, it triggers automatic shut down, and from experience, takes about an hour to cool down . To fix this would simply require more case fans, cheap, and depending on the sizes, quiet . For more extreme temperatures, water cooling is a possibility, but from an old computer with inadequate cooling, this won't be necessary . A couple of fans will work nicely, and maybe a better CPU cooler . CPU coolers are a bit more expensive, but definitely worth the money . CPUs are incredibly expensive . |
raydan42 (13837) | ||
| 849026 | 2010-01-15 10:20:00 | If the PSU (power supply unit) is faulty, you will know! If it works, well, yeah, but if the PSU isn't, then the computer will not start at all. It's like unplugging the computer from the wall, and trying to start it. There are many failure modes and "on the way out" problems in PSUs that cause all sorts of issues. Just because the PC starts at all does not mean the PSU is working OK A friend of mine bought a Raidmax 500 watt PSU a few years ago, had it about a week and one day smoke started pouring out of it. At that point the computer was still running OK although he shut it down straight away. I could see by looking through the fan grille that one of the primary filter capacitors had vented. When we took the PSU back to the shop, the guy hooked it up to his PSU tester (one of those cheap $10 ones) and when all the LEDs lit up green he said "Oh it's fine", which was obviously not true. |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 849027 | 2010-01-15 19:27:00 | . As your computer overheats over and over, the electronics become less and less potent, and weaken . What? It just detects overtemp and shuts off, its built into the Motherboard . Clean it out, it's probably so clogged up with filth and fluff . |
pctek (84) | ||
| 849028 | 2010-01-22 01:01:00 | I swaped out the PSU for a known good one, but that made no difference. :S There are no bulging or leaking capacitors on the motherboard and the CPU heat sink is relatively dust free. Could any other component failure cause this problem? |
Timbo (11006) | ||
| 849029 | 2010-01-22 01:23:00 | There are a number of possibilities. Every component could be doing anything to it. Never underestimate the power of random parts. :P If you can, try doing a memory test on the RAM as well. http://www.memtest.org/ ^ Memtest works well. It can also be found in Hiren's BootCD. Check USB ports, if they are shorting it can do some strange things. Really strange.. |
Cellux (15145) | ||
| 849030 | 2010-01-22 01:30:00 | Do you know the actual CPU temperature? The thermal interface material between the CPU and heatsink may have degraded, causing overheating, even if the fan is OK. There should be a temperature monitor menu in the BIOS setup somewhere... Capacitors can fail without visible signs |
Agent_24 (57) | ||
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