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Computer Woes

O

osrk

[H]ard|Gawd
2FA
Joined
Jan 10, 2003
Messages
2,039
So I rebuilt two computers today but I seemed to have done a shitty job. After rebuilding one it would power up. I disconnected/reconnected some stuff and it turned on but started to smoke. I quickly turned it off, it seems I had one of the fan connectors plugged in wrong. I fixed it and everything seems well enough. Currently i'm typing on the computer and no more smoke. It's also 100% stable at full load.

Computer number 2 sometimes when powering it on it trips the circuit breaker. It doesn't happen all of the time when I turn it on. No smoke. I tried it on a different power outlet but same circuit, the circuit tripped. I tried it on a different circuit, no trip ever. I think it's a bad breaker?

What do you guys think of all this nonsense?
 
#2 sounds dangerous. I had the same thing happen right before sparks shot out of my PSU. Double-check that everything is hooked up correctly, and maybe try stripping it down to a minimum configuration (mobo, RAM, CPU, PSU, video) just to see if it boots to BIOS. My PSU woes happened at the same time, right after rebuilding a box that had been working fine.
 
the second computer is shorted out. either the motherboard or the PSU are shorted out. so check and make sure the boards mounted correctly. check the cables and make sure there arent any bare wires touching metal in the case.
 
#2 could be that the circuit is overloaded. I am sure none of us have ever overloaded a circuit!

Check what all goes off when that circuit trips and if required tell us what all it is and what size breaker it is. Computers do use a bunch of power when you first apply power possibly enough to put that specific breaker over the edge.



#1Sounds like you tried to let out the magical smoke that makes the computer run!
 
Yah #2 is just on a circuit that is on the edge of being too much for it.

By the way breakers do go bad after a time. Have had new ones that tripped a little too easily too.
 
Think what happens when you rebuild a box that has been running 24/7 for weeks or months when you go to rebuild. The components have been heated up and ran at temp for a long period and a lot are being overclocked and ran even harder than normal. Then it's shut down for several hours or days to rebuild and those same components are allowed to get cold. When they get initially hit with energy again it takes some life from them, sometimes all of it.
 
the second computer sounds like you have it on an already loaded circuit.

Better option is put it in a different room that needs its own heater
 
Nope the circuit wasn't under a substantial load. Upon closer inspection the circuit that is tripping has a AFCI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc-fault_circuit_interrupter) breaker while the circuit that didn't trip when I tested it has a regular 20 amp circuit breaker. I have no clue what that computer is doing, the only time the circuit breaker will trip is only on startup, and only sometimes. I think I'm going to tear the computer down again and rebuild it. It means another hex core down for the week because i'm traveling again :(

I think i'm also going to buy a new motherboard for the one that produced the burning smell. What a shitty day.
 
In a AFCI circuit, all it take is a arc coming from a short to shut it down. I guess something shortened out in your computer.
 
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