Stuck...power issues...bad board?..thoughts?

[ectta]

Originally Posted by Martyn

If I'm reading it right the power supply is clamping down in a fault condition under load. When you pulled the power jack it looks like you were testing with no load is that correct? I would pull out everything you can and see if the power supply lamp will stay on.

use a regulated power supply about 30v 5A one , plug in , see any reading first!
check the "common point" voltage with the power supply on. if voltage not found, it's should be related to the pre-"common point" ckt(isolation ckt). the dc jack ckt , eye on those pmos of nmos to see whether "half" working or not?
that's chip-level repairing basic!

[Trusted IT Solutions]

Well I figured I'd give an update on this machine...turns out that the AC adapter AND the mobo were both bad (I am guessing power surge?). Make a long story short I ordered a replacement mobo off of ebay (used). I swap mobos (reapplied arctic silver thermal paste on the new one) and I am using my sparkle universal AC adapter to power the machine. All goes incredibly well for a short time. I installed SP1 (Win 7) on the machine along with a few other updates and the machine was running great. I had plans this evening so I figured "what better time than now to do a burn in test?". I started the burn in test (passmark) and babysat it for a few moments and all seemed to be going just fine. I left the house for about 4 1/2 hours and came back and the machine was off completely. I hit the power button and the lights came on as if it was going to power on but no video...no HDD activity light blinking...just solid lights (I could hear the fan spinning). I then held the power button down to shut the machine off. After that I tried powering the machine back on but I get absolutely nothing. I not going to mess with it any further tonight and start with a (hopefully) new perspective tomorrow. I am thinking that the burn in test may be what caused the board to fail. Any thoughts? I am very discouraged at the moment and I am considering not doing any type of computer repair anymore as this is just a side gig for me and I don't do much business. Seems that headaches like these aren't worth the money at all. Not to mention that I get to look like a dumb ass giving my customer back the money that they have given me. Again, I am frustrated at the moment but who knows what tomorrow will bring. Thanks.

[PCX]

Originally Posted by Trusted IT Solutions

Well I figured I'd give an update on this machine...turns out that the AC adapter AND the mobo were both bad (I am guessing power surge?). Make a long story short I ordered a replacement mobo off of ebay (used). I swap mobos (reapplied arctic silver thermal paste on the new one) and I am using my sparkle universal AC adapter to power the machine. All goes incredibly well for a short time. I installed SP1 (Win 7) on the machine along with a few other updates and the machine was running great. I had plans this evening so I figured "what better time than now to do a burn in test?". I started the burn in test (passmark) and babysat it for a few moments and all seemed to be going just fine. I left the house for about 4 1/2 hours and came back and the machine was off completely. I hit the power button and the lights came on as if it was going to power on but no video...no HDD activity light blinking...just solid lights (I could hear the fan spinning). I then held the power button down to shut the machine off. After that I tried powering the machine back on but I get absolutely nothing. I not going to mess with it any further tonight and start with a (hopefully) new perspective tomorrow. I am thinking that the burn in test may be what caused the board to fail. Any thoughts? I am very discouraged at the moment and I am considering not doing any type of computer repair anymore as this is just a side gig for me and I don't do much business. Seems that headaches like these aren't worth the money at all. Not to mention that I get to look like a dumb ass giving my customer back the money that they have given me. Again, I am frustrated at the moment but who knows what tomorrow will bring. Thanks.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but your not really supposed to run load / stress tests for that long. You can kill a new board that way if It is not properly cooled. Anyways, the rule of thumb that I went by (from researching this matter in the past) was 45 - 90 minutes and that is while keeping an eye on the temperature. I have heard other doing it for a few hours, but you are really taking a chance then. You got to remember, the chances of your customer stressing out that computer in the same manner for that long period of a time if extremely unlikely. Finally, I suggest never using used boards for repairs.

[red12049]

Originally Posted by PCX

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but your not really supposed to run load / stress tests for that long. You can kill a new board that way if It is not properly cooled. Anyways, the rule of thumb that I went by (from researching this matter in the past) was 45 - 90 minutes and that is while keeping an eye on the temperature. I have heard other doing it for a few hours, but you are really taking a chance then. You got to remember, the chances of your customer stressing out that computer in the same manner for that long period of a time if extremely unlikely. Finally, I suggest never using used boards for repairs.

Back in the old days, the "gold standard" for burn in testing on a completed system was twenty four hours. Most all system makers advertised that.

No idea what the standard is now, but I doubt that forty five to ninety minutes will accomplish much, although you probably should stay around and monitor temps at least that long.

Agree on the used boards, except in unusual circumstances.

Rick

[PCX]

Originally Posted by red12049

Back in the old days, the "gold standard" for burn in testing on a completed system was twenty four hours. Most all system makers advertised that.

No idea what the standard is now, but I doubt that forty five to ninety minutes will accomplish much, although you probably should stay around and monitor temps at least that long.

Agree on the used boards, except in unusual circumstances.

Rick

I guess it depends on the purpose for running the test? When I do load / stress tests, I usually do it for the purpose of checking for overheating and stability. 45 - 90 min is usually long enough to tell you if there are overheating issues. You can then fix the problem and then run the test again. Other than running these tests for over heating issues, what else would you really run them for other then to check for long term stability?

[Trusted IT Solutions]

Originally Posted by PCX

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but your not really supposed to run load / stress tests for that long. You can kill a new board that way if It is not properly cooled. Anyways, the rule of thumb that I went by (from researching this matter in the past) was 45 - 90 minutes and that is while keeping an eye on the temperature. I have heard other doing it for a few hours, but you are really taking a chance then. You got to remember, the chances of your customer stressing out that computer in the same manner for that long period of a time if extremely unlikely. Finally, I suggest never using used boards for repairs.

The test that I ran was a basic 15 min. test (I am running it on my personal laptop now).

[PCX]

Originally Posted by Trusted IT Solutions

The test that I ran was a basic 15 min. test (I am running it on my personal laptop now).

ah, got it. Well, at least now you know.

[red12049]

Originally Posted by PCX

I guess it depends on the purpose for running the test? When I do load / stress tests, I usually do it for the purpose of checking for overheating and stability. 45 - 90 min is usually long enough to tell you if there are overheating issues. You can then fix the problem and then run the test again. Other than running these tests for over heating issues, what else would you really run them for other then to check for long term stability?

On new or refurb systems, early failures, or imminent failures. On other systems, random, unrepeatable errors. I have a Toshiba laptop in now that the screen randomly goes grey, according to the customer. Running HW test on it to stress the video.

This may help a bit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burn-in

Rick

[pc142]

I know it's discouraging but don't quit now. I've replaced a number of motherboards with the "refurbished" ones off of ebay. I offer customers to replace with new or refurbished. They almost always choose the refurbs. Only had two bad ones but found the sellers were more than happy to replace the failed board. Success is sweet! If you choose to quit do it after a success not a failure. Good luck.

[Trusted IT Solutions]

Originally Posted by pc142

I know it's discouraging but don't quit now. I've replaced a number of motherboards with the "refurbished" ones off of ebay. I offer customers to replace with new or refurbished. They almost always choose the refurbs. Only had two bad ones but found the sellers were more than happy to replace the failed board. Success is sweet! If you choose to quit do it after a success not a failure. Good luck.

Thanks for the encouragement. I will contact the seller about a return/refund.