DOA Pc

[Matt]

Hello everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve last posted, and now I’ve got what will probably be a straightforward problem… I hope.

Here is what happened:

I have been asked to inspect a PC that has been showing the following symptoms:

*It had “whirling like” noise coming from the case when it was run, no mention as to the source, nor any speculation. I’m thinking that it could be a CPU, case or PSU fan.

*The computer has recently been having speed issues. It has supposedly been slowing down, as to when and what was being run; no mention.

Also:

*The computer is one of those bundled PCs, not a custom built one, so it’s one of those basic “everything embedded on the mobo” and probably weak PSU setups.

*He wanted to know if I could upgrade the PC so that it would run games a little faster; my experience with DELL, HP, eMachine computers make me think that this would result in power issues if a mid to high-end video card were installed (this is a PowerSpec PC). I tried to check the PSU label, but it is blocked by the case frame, so I can't tell what the max output is, nor the model/make/mnfgr.

I received the PC, set it up on a table, plug in the basics (monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power cord). I press the power switch and nothing. Fans don’t spin, no lights, no movement or sounds whatsoever. I check switch on the back of the PSU; it’s on.

Well, I unplug everything, open the side panel (mid-tower ATX) and visually check everything, RAM, power supply, aux power supply, 1 PCI card (modem), and CPU (zif socket), all where they should be. So, I plug everything back in and see if anything will power up, nothing, CPU fan doesn’t even jitter.

At this point, I’m stumped; I turn to my computer and look up the site for this DOA computer. As I’m searching for anything in the support section that might shed some light on this sparks fly out of the case from the general vicinity of the PSU followed by the smell of burnt electrical components (same smell I got when an old PC of mine got struck by lighting… you never forget it…). I immediately unplug everything; wait for the smell to dissipate and to make sure that nothing caught fire. I again, visually inspect the motherboard and components, but can’t find any scorch marks, bulging capacitors, or anything that looks out of the ordinary. I wait for around 30 mins and inspect it again (to see what smells burnt). Inside the case is generally fine, but the PSU reeks of that burnt electrical smell.

Currently, it’s my assumption that the PSU has died, and could have been the source of the “whirling” noise that has been emitting from the case. It would explain why the computer failed to show any signs of life when I tried to boot it up, though, I wanted to get a second opinion first.

That, and I’m wondering if it’s going to be worth this person’s money to have it repaired, either by me or someone with more expertise or to just buy/build a new computer. Even it was simply the PSU, isn’t there a good chance that other components were affected either over time (if this is a PSU malfunction) or by this latest incident?

Any thoughts?

[saphalline]

You won't know until you try it. Do you have a spare PSU sitting around for testing purposes? Is this even a standard ATX PSU? The situation sounds grim, and there could very well be damage to the other parts. The fact that it wasn't on when the PSU died dramatically is a plus, but it's no guarantee against anything.

At this point, I'd ask the customer. Is it worth it for them? Find out how much they're willing to sink into the project, or if they would like to just chuck it and start over. Be up front with them. Tell them there's no way to be positive of anything until you "run some diagnostics tests". I love that phrase! :D But the tests do cost money, and time. Charge around $15 for "PSU insurance" (on top of labor unless this is a friend sort of arrangement) to check their system with another known-working PSU. That way you can run some basic tests, like beep codes, booting, POST test, no-RAM beeps... that sort of thing. More often than not, I find people want to just give up and start over (but they want all their data of course! :rolleyes: ) since that's how they were conditioned to think. But some of them do see the value in at least trying a couple simple tests, just in case. Leave it up to them. That way, you probably won't get in trouble later. ;)

[Matt]

Yeah, I’ve halted all work on the PC. I hadn’t been working on it for even maybe 15 - 20 mins before the fireworks show. It was plugged in for less than 3 mins before sparks flew.

I’ve been doing a little more digging now that I have some extra free time, and this would be one heck of a job just to check the PSU, much less replace it. If the motherboard is fried, I might have to find a suitable micro-ATX as well to get everything back up (I hope it doesn't come to that). I still can’t make out what type the PSU is exactly, since I would need to remove it from the case to find out. Since the drives and the motherboard are in the way, this isn’t an option until I get the go-ahead from the owner. Checking the power connectors on the motherboard isn’t even possible without removing the external drives. Installing a new PSU would require disassembling nearly the entire computer.

This is why I never buy pre-built PCs… and always buy the parts and assemble/configure my computers myself. I’m always weary of these pre-assembled compact PCs (store-bought and online), now more than ever.

I do have a spare PSU sitting around, but I’ll need to make sure that it has both the main and auxiliary power connectors. That, and I am going to find out if this PC is still under warranty (though, I doubt it since it was sent to me and there aren’t any anti-tampering strips on it, but it can’t hurt to check).


Recovering the data shouldn’t be much of an issue if he wants to scrap the PC. Even if everything is stored on an NTFS partition, I’ve been able to recover files from my old computer HDs in the past (which were NTFS), including the one with the previous OS installed on it (as long as everything in the BIOS and on the HD jumper pins are set correctly and the proper OS is used).

Thanks for the advice, it’s probably going to come in handy.

[Matt]

Just a small addition:

I talked to my father this morning, who was basically the middleman in all this by relaying information, and from what I know now I think that it is a PSU failure now more than ever.

· After the PC started making “whirling” noises, it stopped working for the owner altogether. It wouldn’t boot up at all; so the condition that it was in for them and the condition it came to me in were in fact the same.

I guess this could be caused by a PSU fan failing; the PSU itself overheating over time until the computer won’t power up at all, and the subsequent fireworks display that I got while seeing otherwise no life from the PC at all.

[Sylvander]

Sounds like the PSU fan was getting old [wear & tear] and noisy [the whirring] and began to short the PSU.
I read one of "those who know" saying that PSU's have an internal fuse, so perhaps that has finally blown and protected the rest of the system [and perhaps even the PSU] from damage.
mayhap all you need to do is replace the fuse and the fan.

[Matt]

Possibly, I’ll check the PSU and see if there’s any way of gaining access to the fuse. I’ll probably still have to pull all the drives, cabling and possibly RAM modules just to yank the PSU out.

However, the owner also wanted to have the PC upgraded so that it would play games a little faster. Odds are, the PSU rating isn’t even 300 watts, and since I’d basically be installing an AGP 8X card (current gaming bottleneck on the PC is most likely the integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2 chip, but the board has an open AGP 8X slot) I may have been looking at a PSU replacement already.

It does have an Intel P4 2.8 GHz CPU, but there’s still no way I’d install say… a GeForce 6800 or ATI equivalent without knowing the power rating of the PSU.

Still waiting on a decision from the owner though before I perform any more work on the computer.

[saphalline]

Pre-built machines tend to have inadequate and crappy PSU's anyway. And good quality PSU's are cheap enough. I'd say skip any more work on that PSU and just buy a new one. If it were already a decent PSU, checking the fuse would be worth it, but not on a bundled piece of junk.

Cooling in the current case might be a serious problem for gaming. You're already looking at a new PSU just to handle a vid card, so I'd check and see if the owner is also willing to pony-up for a better case with more cooling options. Gaming means heat, pure and simple. I wouldn't trust a pre-built to handle any sort of serious gaming hardware...