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PSU after a short

S

shadowbreaker513

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
1,410
I had a spark fly between my radiator and my case the other day and kill my computer. When I boot up, all the lights and things come on for a second but then shut off. I'm having my new parts come in tomorrow, but I just starting wondering if I should be concerned that mabye the power supply blew, and it may take my new parts with it when I first boot up? Or should I be fine, and if the PSU did blow, it'll just flick on and the only thing that will happen is I have to run up to compusa (underrated imo, stuff is cheap as hell there) and snag a new one?
 
I personally wouldn't even attempt to try powering up a new system with that PSU after what you described.
 
I just did some digging, and I found an cheap 430w aspire that came with a case I had bought a few years ago, obviously not a psu capable of powering a system, but usable for the test. in order ot eliminate as many variables as possible, I only plugged in the 2 motherboard connectors. Exact same result as with the other PSU, flipped on for a second, and then off. Could this mean that the PSU is fine and the problem lies with the cpu/mobo (what I thought originally) and I'll be safe to use it?

In case it helps, some info on the short. Thunderstorm outside, so the air was a bit staticy. Since I've bought it, my radiator has been sitting on my case with the side open, as it doesn't fit in the fan slot in the back. I moved the radiator a bit to take a picture, a HUGE spark flew from the radiator to the case (I was properly grounded) and the computer shut itself off. After that, the result I described above. My first guess is that the spark went directly into the radiator coils, charged the water, and that just took a straight line down and killed the cpu. If this is the case, I'm guessing that the Aquagate wouldn't be safe to use in the new computer? Or will there be no lasting danger from using it?
 
Like I said, I wouldn't even attempt it. "could" the PSU be fine? Sure, it "could" be. But it also "could" have been the cause of the system blowing up in the first place. The only way you're going to know if so try it, if you feel like "living one edge" go for it.
 
I don't mean it to seem like I'm arguing or being overly stubborn, I'm just trying to explore it to the end before I give in and drop another $100-some on a new PSU. I plugged the psu straight into the wall and used a piece of metal to connect the black and green wires on the 20 pin connector, and the PSU turned on fine, stayed on, and didn't show any signs of anything being wrong with it. While I don't disagree that there is a chance that the PSU could have caused some of the problems, I also have a harder time seeing it as the only contact it would have had with the short is either the charge travelling ~8 inches along the case to the screws, jumping to the screws, going from the screws to the casing of the PSU, and then from the casing inside with still enough oomph to kill it, or going from the radiator, down the water pipes, into the water block, into the cpu, into the motherboard circuits, from the circuits to the plug, and then back up one of the power cables.

Again, I don't mean it to seem like I am just dismissing your input without a second though, I just like to get complete confirmation from tests before I get rid of something.
 
I understand what you're trying to do... If you have a DMM, you can measure each of the rails. Black wires are ground obviously, then you'd need to tap the yellow (12) red (5) and orange (3.3) to see if they are all functioning and giving proper voltage.
 
I think I have one of those laying around actually. I'll look for it once I start getting out all my building materials tomorrow, if not, I saw one for like $12 at CompUSA that I could run out and get.
 
Good thing to have around anyway, a multimeter.

Test the rails before connecting it to anything, yes, but I'm of the same opinion as the OP -- if the POS "test" supply did the same thing as the original, chances are your motherboard is gone, not the PSU. Processor might even still be good. Or might not. I've had 3 motherboards die, and only once did the CPU go with it. YMMV.
 
I hate my life. Everything checked out with the PSU Got my parts in today, I went to plug the ps into the mobo, found out the 4 pin atx connector wasn't long enough, cut it, soldered an extension line in, made sure that the lines didn't get crossed, and each one was wrapped individually to make sure that nothing touched. Tested out the PSU one last time, everthing was fine, and let it run for about 10 minutes one last time to make sure that there wasn't anything big like smoke coming out of the PSU. Hooked everything up, went to turn it on, EXACT same problem I had with the last computer, and with the test psu. There were no shocks building it, I had a grounding braclet on the entire time, and I find it a bit too coincidental that both psus would blow at the exact same time in the exact same way. Think there is an chance the power cable, power strip, or wall outlet itself suffered damage and is conking out when a strain is put on the line?

(New things - motherboard, cpu, memory, case)

Sigh, turns out the spark burned the connections for the pci-express slot off the video card so it was shorting out the motherboard every time I went to boot up. Took the video card out on a hunch, and the computer seemed to boot up fine. Whoop de fuckin do, brand new (less than 2 month old) video card completely fried.

Good
Fucking
Game
 
Aha, finally some luck for once. I called evga's tech support. They confirmed that it was indeed a card issue. Also, since this was my second RMA within a short period of time, they would pay shipping, possibly cross-ship it in order to cut down on the period of time my computer is down, and possibly even upgrade it a notch. And yes, I did seem to conclusively determine that it was the video card. 2 processors, 2 motherboards, 2 power supplies, 5 sticks of ram. The exact thing would happen every single time as long as the video card was plugged into the mobo. I take it out, it works fine. I <3 evga's tech support. While BFG's techs seemed to be just as knowledgable and helpful, evga seems willing to go out of their way to get shit working.
 
...which is why I'm willing to trade my OCZ 8800GTX for someone's EVGA 8800GTX and like... $30 or something.
 
Yeah, EVGA rocks... I had to RMA a couple 7600GT's a while back and it was a very painless process.
 
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