patioman

Hello all.....

This is my first post. I have a 1.6Ghz clone that has worked fine for about 18 months. I just moved from an apartment to a house. The Computer system was moved by myself in my car, so no rough handling occurred.

My problem is that when I power up now, it stays on for about 3 seconds and shuts back down. That's all I can get it to do right now.

Any ideas?....thanks...

Gary

whodat

gary welcome to the forums
you need to take the access panel off the box to see if all the power connections are pushed in tight, even the one from the outlet.




post back

Volt-Schwibe

this sounds to me like what happens when the cpu heatsink has fallen off.

but, only certain machines can panic that fast, and i have no idea if yours can.

you might try looking closely at the insides when you have it open, especially make sure the heatsink has not fallen off.

also, try turning it on with the cover off, and make sure the fans are all spinning.

patioman

Thanks for replying all...

I have removed the cover and cleaned out all I could. I have also removed the power supply, taken the cover off and cleaned it. I have also already removed the heatsink and cleaned it along with all other fans.

I have disconnected and reconnected all power supply cords within the case. I have also tried another external power cord along with a different source to no avail.

All fans turn and the harddrive begins winding up before it shutdowns.

The problem occured before all the above mentioned and is still doing the same.

Thanks....
Gary

Stu_computer

I'm suspecting the motherboard (mobo) is the problem.

Are you saying you disconnected all power leads from the floppy/hd/cd drives, then tried turning it on while they were still disconnected and it still failed?

Have a very close look at the mobo and make sure no screw or other metal has fallen and lodged on components, or for anything that looks odd-like a hairline crack.

While your in there again, you may as well disconnect the drives (power and data), and pull any PCI cards, remember which goes in which slot-it does matter. Then try powering up again.

whodat

gary
too much of a coincidence with the move and no operation now...something had to have happened.
is it possible that the 120/230 switch on your power supply was moved during the handling of your box. [ quite frankly, i dont even know if it would go for 3 seconds if that were the case]
but could you check?
also please check the pins on the monitor cable, make sure they are straight.

patioman

Hey...thanks for the replies all...

I removed the power connectors to all devices last evening. It would power on then and stay on, and the monitor was working fine telling me I have no bent pins. I began reconnecting the power connectors but the machine shut down soon as I connected the hard drive. I have done this several times, connecting components in different sequence with the machine shutting down when I connect the hard drive. I have checked the power source switch on the back and it is set to 115V.

I normally leave my machine on 24/7 so when I moved, that was the first time it has been turned off for a while. I'm thinking possibly my power supply is going. Is the hard drive the most demanding component as far as load? If this is the case, the load may be too much for a failing power supply.

Thanks for all your help.....
Gary

whodat

hi
did you try using a different power leed to the hard drive, from the one you were using? and the end yellow wire on the power cable is to the outer edge of the hard drive? so is the drive ok if you leave off the rom and floppy?

Geekgirl

I am hoping I read this wrong, but you are not connecting your devices up while the machine is running are you? This is what Im reading.

Your thoughts on the psu may be correct, I would replace to rule it out

patioman

I am powering down between cable connects. I learned the hard way in the past not to do any connecting/disconnecting while power is on.

With just the hard drive connected I have the same problem.

I have tried different power leads to no avail. I have noticed that connecting power to my CDROM sporactically causes this problem also.

Still thinking it is the PSU.

Thanks all......

Stu_computer

The heavy power users these days are the CPU and video cards.

Basically, if you tried different configurations and the hd was consistently the fault point, then the hd would be suspect.

The ps will/should "fail safe" (shut down) when there's a short or overload in the system.

You say same problem but sporadic with CD drive.

Try connecting the CD drive only then put a CD in it, when it spins up the draw should cause the same shutdown problem-because CD drives use more power than hd's.

Thus you would prove the ps is no longer adaquate.

.

patioman

Thanks for all your all.....

I replaced the PSU and all is well.

Gary

Geekgirl

Thats great o hear