Do those things ever explode, she said

[Murphie]

Hello! I got a call on the intercom last evening. The computer in question (Celeron 1G, 512 RAM, 60 G space on 2 hard drives, Dell Trinitron CRT monitor) was making "loud popping noises".

Here is the conversation that ensued:
Me: "what kind of popping was it?"
Her: "Really loud, I thought the computer was going to explode in my face. All I did was move the mouse to get the screen back."
Me: "But what kind of noise was it?"
Her: "Like an electrical shock noise"
Me: "where was it coming from/"
Her: "the computer" (points to the monitor)
Me: "You mean the monitor? or the computer?" (I try to explain the difference)
Her: "I can't tell, it just sounded like it was going to explode"
Me: "How long did it last?"
Her: "Just 2 or 3 pops like that."

After that, apparently everything was working OK, there were no other evident problems. The computer drives a laser engraver, which she turned off when the noise started. When she started the job again everything was OK (including the half-done job that had gotten stopped)

For a while I've been concerned because the computer--I mean the computer itself, the CPU-- has been humming way louder than usual, but I thought it must be the hard drives.

I'm sorry there is so little real information here. Can monitors explode? Or computers? Is there anything I can check here?

Thank you!
Murphie

[PrntRhd]

Loud pops are more likely from the CRT monitor in my experience. High voltage discharges cause loud "SNAP" noises if that was the event that occurred.
You/ you should get someone to clean the PC itself to clean out dust buildup, the dust can accumulate on fans and cause noise and other undesirable symptoms. You have to determine if you are capable of doing this or if you need to have someone else do it.

[Sylvander]

ErnieK gave me an old monitor that I used for a time on my 2nd PC until it began to give pop's and snap's during startup, that then led to either a bad or no image on screen [if I was lucky it didn't do this and all was well, but it began to do this more and more so I got rid of it].

[Murphie]

Loud pops are more likely from the CRT monitor in my experience. High voltage discharges cause loud "SNAP" noises if that was the event that occurred
OK, but is it dangerous, or is it just that it's getting old/fixing to croak?

the dust can accumulate on fans and cause noise and other undesirable symptoms. You have to determine if you are capable of doing this or if you need to have someone else do it.
Yes, I can do it. (That probably means it's my fault. :) ) I had it open a few weeks ago and switched hard drives, and cleaned it up as well as I could. The humming--which has a metallic quality to it--actually started then. I had to put cardboard over the fronts of 2 bays because I didn't have enough plastic covers for them--would that make any difference?

Thank you very much!
Murphie

[saphalline]

CRT's have been known to explode, but it's extremely rare. Most likely the monitor is just dying. The pops could be static-related if the humidity in the room is below 5-10% (dry workroom?). My advice would be to start shopping for a new monitor! I'm just cautious this way, but failing hardware should be replaced before it fails.

Cardboard bay covers wouldn't cause this, but it is funny! :D

[rond36]

I had a 17" OptiQuest monitor that did the same thing.
It would make loud pops and cracks than it would turn itself off than back on and when it came back on it looked like you had hit the degauss button after that it would be alright for a while than one day it did it and stayed off and never would come back on again.

[Murphie]

Many thanks to everybody! Guess we'll be looking around for a new one pretty soon....
Murphie