ViceVersa

Hi, I'm pretty much a noob to say the least.

I custom built my computer about 4-5 months ago, and it worked great at the start (1-1/2 months?)

I'm pretty sure it didn't have any "power issues" or anything, like lack of power to any of the parts, it never had any wierd freezing or anything. I have top-of-the line reliable parts, and i had no problems. After about a month and a half, like usual, i would turn off my computer before i went to bed. As all computers, the motherboard light inside stays on, because i havent disconnected it from the wall. SO IT DOESN'T TRULY HAVE POWER! I would wake up, it would be fine, go to school, come home, open my door to my room and i could smell the oh-so-dreaded "electrical/burning" smell. The computer has no power at all, motherboard light off, broken PSU. I have the Antec TruePower II 480w, and im not exactly hauling massive amounts when it comes to hardware. I sent it back, and finally got a replacement after like a month, and guess what! THAT ONE DID THE SAME THING IN UNDER A DAY!!!! only about 4 hrs of use, come back from school-broken. My dad told me he heard a random sparking/electrical loud noise, and then a loud BANG! I DO have a surge protector(belkin), and it doesnt make sense that even if i did have a surge, that it wouldnt damage both my speakers and monitor both plugged into it.

My computer-savvy friend suggests i might have wierd power fluxuations in my house, but we have two other computers, and they are surge-protector-less, and my original power supply worked for over a month. My computer is well ventilated, and my room is far from hot, and this is the winter. Everything was properly installed, no issues like improper wiring.


Please help, any and all, i'm desperate.

JorisS

I beat the TSF crew to it here:

Can you list full specs of your system please?

dai

i prefer ups to surge protectors not that much more expensive,current day computers you expect to see at least 550w running them
you could have a loose wire that causes an arc in the power outlet on the wall but if it caused a surge big enough to get past the surge protector you would think it would have taken that out as well
it's long odds but you may have got a faulty second psu
we will see if we can pick anything up from your specs

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twajetmech

Hello and welcome to the forum....you friend may still be correct. Depending on what room your computer is in voltages can fluctuate in the house depending on what circuit its on. Thus if your computer was plugged in to the same circuit as say the fridge, it may very well have severe fluctuation. A surge suppressor in that case would be of no help since there would be periods of low voltage when the refridgerator's compressor kicks in. List your full specs as JorisS suggested and we'll be able to reccomend a good psu for you. You may want to consider moving the computer to another circuit AND getting a UPS. A blown psu, can take out just about any component in your system, but until you get the new psu, we can't know for sure what damage may have been done.

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Done_Fishin

That is a wrong assumption to make. You PC does have power. It's feeding if nothing else a standby 5V voltage which the mobo manufacturer will probably tell you should be a minimum requirement for your board. If you have any "wake up on" devices then these will also require to be fed from the standby supply. The other supply rails are normally turned off to reduce consumption. I am not sure whether the 3.3 Volt rail is also turned off or not.

What I am reading here is not a voltage surge problem. I am seeing that something has been overloading your supply and POSSIBLY the 5V standby voltage. My 350W supply allows 3Amps on the 5V standby supply rail.
A surge protector won't help you if there is a problem within the PC.

It is just possible that there is a faulty component batch for the power supply .. however have you double checked what the Voltage selector on the Power Supply is set correctly for the country you are living in ?

I would also suggest that you check that you have no "loose ends" ie screws etc that might be trapped under your Motherboard. Check that you have put all cables correctly on your Motherboard and that none have got trapped under a screw or casing part. I remember some cases had some sharp edges so make sure that nothing has been pushed up against panels that might cut through isolation.
Please post your supply details along with details about your PC system so that we can be sure that you haven't (unknowingly) been trying to feed a 600W system with a 500W supply.

It is just possible that your Mobo has a fault that it's drawing too much current when it's supposed to be in Standby. I am assuming that it appeared to be working at the point that you installed the new supply. Did you notice if the packaging looked new or was it perhaps a "refurbished" unit? Does it look new, are there any signs of being used .. like any dust on the fan blades? scratches ?

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ViceVersa

Okay, hopefully I wont forget anything-

AMD Athalon 64 3500+ Venice 2.2 (no overclocking done.....)
DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D
Powercolor X1800GTO 256mb
Seagate Barracuda 120gb 7200rpm
OCZ Platinum Revision (2 x 512MB)
Thermaltake "Big Typhoon"
NEC 16x DVD/CD drive
Antec True Power 480w Power Supply
2-Apevia 120mm Fans

All of this was brand new, never opened, not refurbished.

If my case might have issues, i doubt that its unreliable/has wierd reports- Antec P180 (windowed of course)




Is there any solution to electricity fluctuations? My circuit isn't connected up to anything big. I was surprised by the last power supply, it actually made the circuit blow. All i have in my room electrically is my pc (and its speakers, monitor) a couple lights, and a medium-sized stereo system.


Thanks

ViceVersa

Oh yeah, i have no clue if this is connected in any way, but occasionally I would shut off my computer, and it would semi "come back on". As in the lights on my motherboard would come back on as if they were about to start back up, and the fans (and the leds on the fans) would still be on, but nothing else.

ViceVersa

It is just possible that there is a faulty component batch for the power supply .. however have you double checked what the Voltage selector on the Power Supply is set correctly for the country you are living in ?
?[/quote]

What is the correct voltage for the US?

lol, I repeat, I'm a noob.

dai

how were you shutting it off from within windows or by the front case button
it sounds like you were using the button and not actually turning it off but putting it into sleep mode

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ViceVersa

No, I used windows to shut it off. It never froze on me unless i had some weird problem, which then i might use the front button. If i did turn back on after I shut it off, both the front button and keyboard/mouse would be unresponsive. (keyboard/mouse not even lighting up)




Fortunately, none of my other components have been damaged while this has been going on.

Kalim

Antec TP2480W specs:



From Antec.com

twajetmech

Sounds like you either have some wires not correctly installed and possibly a mobo standoff that is misplaced and grounding. Remember the AVG US house only has 15A per circuit in the house (30A for new construction) I would also say that even with the 480W psu it seems a bit under powered for my taste. I would estimate your rig is about 360W total draw +30% give a min 480W unit...we like to add an additional 100W to that so a good 550W or 600+W unit would be more appropriate for your system. The capacitor that blew in the old psu could have been defective, blown due to heat, or a short in the system. I would suggest you get your friend to help you disassemble the computer and reassemble it again, paying close attention to the standoffs and conections...make sure to take all esd precautions and have a tube of AS5 handy

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ViceVersa

Do you suggest, I just remove and reinstall my parts?


Should I stick with antec for power supplies?

And the final question-Is it that my power supply......gets too hot from working and then the capacitors blow up 12 hrs later?

Done_Fishin

yes but pay attention to what is happening bearing in mind that something could be the cause of your PSU blow ups. Keep your eyse open and look to make sure that everything is done properly.


That is your choice .. look for the power supply recommendations by TSF and combine that with your finances and any further advice that you might be given. We don't tell you what to do. We just give advice that you should weigh up and take into consideration when making a decision.

If something is pulling too much current then the power supply will overwork causing heat. It's akin to a car engine that is going down the motorway at full speed with the engine screaming. At some point the engine will throw a piston or blow a gasket. No guarantees what will go first.
When we are talking about a Power Supplies .. we want a supply that will adequately cover our needs and leave room for "acceleration" if required.

Hope this helps

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ViceVersa

Thanks a ton guys, I'll try to keep you updated on the progress of my problem.

Kalim

It might be your PSU fan is rubbish and so its overheating. Some Antecs did come with flawed fans although I'm not sure exactly which ones. The Antecs made by the third newer Antec factory opened are the cheaper constructions and are pretty bad failing pretty quickly. I know for sure TP3 is not included in them and SP2 is. Don't know of the TP2 though but I don't suspect it yet.

ViceVersa

Yeah, but if there was a problem with the fan, wouldnt the capacitors blow up while I have the computer running at full (games, mulitple windows, downloading, etc.??)

same with the thing overall, so if i was pushing it too hard, 12 hrs later or so it would have effect......i guess thats what the verdict is? or just crap parts. or a possible maulfunction with my installation.

Kalim

The PSU capacitors could be leaking and bulging in that case and you wouldn't necessarily find any sign of that on your motherboard.