Motherboard causeing PSU to fail or something else?

[angrypug]

Hey guys, I did a search on this but couldn't find anything so thought I would ask.

I had a pc a few weeks ago brought in that would not turn on, tested power supply, reset itself and begain working. Tried it for a couple days and could not get it to mess up again and everything tested ok. Customer took it home and couple days later did same thing. Went ahead and swapped power supplies and everything was good.

Thats been about a month agi and they just brought it back in and this time the power supply is dead. Won't do anything. They said the plug came out and they reached back to plug it back in and when they did the power supply went out.

Could the motherboard be causing this? Something in their home? Any suggestions? I'm scared to hook another power supply to it cause I'm afraid it will blow it.

Thanks as always.....

[NYJimbo]

They said the plug came out and they reached back to plug it back in and when they did the power supply went out.


Sounds a little suspicious to me. I cannot imagine the plug coming out on its own and then just plugging it back in kills it ?. If you get the unit check the PSU for anything weird like water stains or scratch. See if the 115/220 switch was flipped, especially if it has a tamper proof label on it as some do.

[MrUnknown]

they may also have some power issues in their home. I am also with NYJimbo on the power cord, they don't just fall out, you need some force to do that unless they never plugged it in properly.

[angrypug]

I have gone ahead and swapped out the power supply and its up and working. They have been a good customer. If it goes out again though then somethings up.

[jimllfixit]

Wouldn't of thought that the mofo could do that. Generally the other way around.

Might be worth asking if they power surge protect at all. If not then that could be a cause. Its possibly that the 1st developed a fault then the 2nd one got bolwn up as such.

[NYJimbo]

I have gone ahead and swapped out the power supply and its up and working. They have been a good customer. If it goes out again though then somethings up.

Well they killed two power supplies so far, keep your fingers crossed.

[angrypug]

Yea i know.... i let them know this would be the last one to be replaced.

[iptech]

Check the motherboard screws are all tight. I had something similar a couple of months back. Dead PC, but PSU tests OK, try substitute PSU and it all boots fine. Must be problem with old PSU not picked-up by tester I thought. Didn't have a new PSU with me at the time so I leave them working with a second-hand unit. Call back two days later to fit brand new PSU and guess what the PC fails to boot and now won't even boot with second-hand PSU they'd been using without incident for the past two days. Both PSUs test fine.

Check all connectors, look for blown caps, reseat all cards, CPU and RAM... still nothing. Finally tighten-down motherboard retaining screws and hey presto - she lives again! The computer has worked fine ever since.

[bagellad]

Yeah this seems weird to me, I wouldn't be surprised if the plug got pulled out or something and short circuited it. If they had pets or children... well the evidence would suggest.. sorry ive been watching a lot of CSI today.

[hondablaster]

Could very well be a hot case in a hot house. What are the temps like? Using some of the later P4s they generated alot of heat and consumed a great deal of power. If your PSU wattage is at or near max, the heat generated along with an allready high power consumption can be a PSU killer.

This can the case when there are no case fans and the PSU is using REALLY HOT air to cool itself. The high stress environment eats them slowly 1 at a time.

[NYJimbo]

Could very well be a hot case in a hot house. What are the temps like? Using some of the later P4s they generated alot of heat and consumed a great deal of power. If your PSU wattage is at or near max, the heat generated along with an allready high power consumption can be a PSU killer.

This can the case when there are no case fans and the PSU is using REALLY HOT air to cool itself. The high stress environment eats them slowly 1 at a time.

I love it when they jam their towers under a desk and against a wall. Damn things are rebreathing 150 degree air until they cook everything inside the chassis.

[hondablaster]

I love it when they jam their towers under a desk and against a wall. Damn things are rebreathing 150 degree air until they cook everything inside the chassis.

You know what be would be cool if they made these desks with a computer type exhaust fan themselves that ran off the power of the USB. Now thats a good idea!