PC problem - PSU dies, so does next one?

ACESHIGH

ACESHIGH

ACESHIGH

Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2005
Posts
4,297
Hi all.
My brother has the following PC...

Athlon XP 2600+
2x 256MB DDR ram
Asus motherboard
Radeon 9700 128mb
80 gig HDD IDE
DVDRW
CDRW
1.44 floppy
56k internal modem
Generic 400W PSU was powering this for some good 3 years.

He has had it for about 3 + years & a recently the PSU died.
He was playing a game on it & then he heard a noise & the PC stopped.
The PSU fan wasnt spinning & we assumed PSU died & needed to be replaced.

So he purchased a ThermalTake TR2 430W PSU.

Put that in & the pc started fine: used internet that day & all was ok.
Next day he says he was on the net for 2 hours without a problem, then was playing Shadowgrounds game for another 3 hours & then (whilst playing) he heard a bang & saw a flash (case is on desk) & the pc stopped.

The PSU was replaced under warranty, & the new TR2 430W PSU was installed. This was tested (this time the CDRW & floppy were left disconnected) & all worked ok for an hour or so.
So obviously mobo, CPU, graphics card etc were fine.
Again the next day my brother went to turn the pc on & he heard a bang & then smelt burning? - the pc didnt even start up this time.
He called me over, to check things out.
There was no evidence of a short on any of the 3x PSU's btw.
The mobo was still sitting ok on offsets (not shorting) & no bulging caps or anything i can tell. No cables were touching case.
He was using a surge protector on the power socket, & that didnt trigger so no power overload or anything like that, i shouldnt think.
Whilst the PSU isnt that great it should run that system shouldnt it & the chances of 2 faulty PSU's are slim.
I tend to think something else in the pc is causing the PSU to die, as each time PSU is repalced the system works without a hitch for a period of time. Anyone have any ideas?


TIA.
 
Last edited:
At the risk of blowing another psu you could try monitor the voltages of the psu. If there is a 'short' somewhere the voltages should drop significantly and the psu should heat up as well. In that case id have to say something in the system is on its way out. I would gut the system, rebuild it outside the case (not on your favourite carpet though and power up. If somethings going faulty and drawing excessive power its gonna get hot. Check temps of chips, heatsinks, etc by touching them (mb, hdd, graphics, case of optical, etc)
 
wizardmaxx said:
At the risk of blowing another psu you could try monitor the voltages of the psu. If there is a 'short' somewhere the voltages should drop significantly and the psu should heat up as well. In that case id have to say something in the system is on its way out. I would gut the system, rebuild it outside the case (not on your favourite carpet though and power up. If somethings going faulty and drawing excessive power its gonna get hot. Check temps of chips, heatsinks, etc by touching them (mb, hdd, graphics, case of optical, etc)
Click to expand...

that really a good idea?! :eek:
 
As long as you 'discharge' yourself its no different to assembling a new system except that the power is going to be on. Obviously you only going to touch the casing of the components, not the pins so there shouldnt be a problem there.

As far as burning yourself. Yup it could happen. Again its a matter is being sensible about it. If something is sitting at 90c and you touch it, don't keep your finger there !!!.

I've done this many times, got a blister here and there, and culprits have ranged from southbridge to controller chip on hdd, but at least found the problem quickly.
 
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