Vacuumed PC case. Now PC shuts down within 10-20 sec.

eband00 · Jan 22, 2015

Hi Guys, I've got a problem and need your opinion on what's wrong.

Here are my pc specs:

FX-8350
Cool-it Vantage Sealed water cooler.
Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3
OCZ GSX850
EVGA GTX480
4x4gb Patriot Viper Extreme
Crucial SSD

My pc was starting to run a little hot under load, i knew it was probably the CPU cooler radiator being clogged with dust. So i disconnected the case, opened it up and vacuumed all the fans and the radiator. I used handheld cordless vacuum cleaner...

Put everything back together and the PC booted up, started loading windows and shut-off. I booted it back up again and it shut-off within 2 seconds. The more i waited before booting it back up again, the farther it went before shutting off. Big WTF?

The cpu cooler has a built in screen showing the cpu/water temp, on boot-up the temp was in the high 20's. CPU does not overheat. Couldn't get far in the BIOS since it would turn off soon after accessing the menu.

Here's what I've ruled out: Disconnected case's power switch and jump the motherboard's pins to boot, it worked but turned off soon after. Power switch is good..

Tried keeping 1 ram stick on the motherboard (tried all 4 one after the other)... same result. Ram looks to be ok.

I took out the GFX card, let the pc turn on and waited, it turned off soon after: GFX is not the problem.

I took out the motherboard PSU connector and jumped the green and black wire to turn on the PSU. PSU turned on and ran with GFX and all the other components connected except for that motherboard connector (24-4?). PSU did not turn off, it ran for over a minute.

I then read about NOT using vacuum cleaners because of static electricity... Did i mess up my motherboard? IS there anything else i can try to confirm my idiotic mistake?

I feel like an idiot.

I've attached a video clip of the problem. On the 2nd boot-up, the cpu cooler alarm went off because the one of the fan wasn't working right. I reset the bios and couldn't access it to change the required settings to make the cooler work right.
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9wSfFPpUbw"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9wSfFPpUbw[/video]

tambeshakunt · Jan 22, 2015

Try clearing the CMOS. You will have to re do the BIOS settings though.

1)Remove your motherboard battery.
2) Then press +hold the power button to discharge any remaining current.
3)Wait 2-3 mins
4)Replace the battery
5) See if it helps.

eband00 · Jan 22, 2015

I cleared the CMOS using the battery method (still turns off) and using the motherboard clean_cmos jumper. Still acting up on default settings.

rpenri · Jan 22, 2015

Did you ever unplug the PSU from the outlet and do what tambeshakut suggested? A lot of times at work, we troubleshoot PCs not booting back up...one of the tricks we try after installing new RAM.

If that still doesn't work, the last trick we do is order a new PC. LOL...ain't nobody got time for that.

eband00 · Jan 22, 2015

rpenri :

Yup, went through the steps he posted. Still does shuts down.

rpenri · Jan 22, 2015

Well if you have another PSU try it. Uninstall anything that isn't essential just to get it to boot to BIOS just to see if in fact it's the PSU or the M/B. If it does, then install 1 component at a time until you arrive at the culprit (if it's not the M/B).

eband00 · Jan 22, 2015

Unfortunatly, i don't own another PSU.

I disconnected everything from the motherboard expect for: PSU 24-4, GFX card and cpu cooler. Still shuts down. I then tried removing the GFX card and booting it up, shuts down as well...

Is there any way other way to rule out the PSU?

eband00 · Jan 22, 2015

So i went ahead and tested the PSU's voltage readings:

Ground (from molex connector) and readers from 24-4 connector are:

Yellow: 12.57v (4.6398% difference)
Purp: 5.42v (8.0614% difference)
Red: 5.56v (10.6061% difference)
Orange: 3.89v (16.4117% difference)
Blue: -12.92v (7.3836% difference)

When testing using a ground from the 24-4 connector, readings were 0.05v less.

Going with the rule of thumb where the difference should not be more than 5%, does that mean i have a bad PSU? The test took 5+ minutes, and the psu did not shut down.

eband00 · Jan 22, 2015

I went ahead and bought a Corsair CX600M power supply as i thought it was the issue. I also bought some arctic silver 5 to reseat the cpu, just in case.

Results:..... Still powering down. 1st try went all the way till the windows loading screen, 2nd time powered off before even showing the motherboard screen.

So i think i did screw up the motherboard?

ohiou_grad_2006 · Jan 22, 2015

Kinda wondering if something shorted maybe the vacuum built up static.

eband00 · Jan 23, 2015

That's what i'm thinking too. I didn't add, remove or touch any components. Since i didn't know about static in vacuum cleaners, i didn't really pay attention if i touched the motherboard or not with the tip...

tambeshakunt · Jan 23, 2015

You should have waited before going out to buy a new PSU. PSU is very unlikely to be damaged or cause of the issue and anyway the CX600 isn't a very good unit for the future anyway.

If none of the tips work and if you have tried the no post checklist (link is in my signature) then yes...I think you will need a new board. Let me know if you want some suggestions.

ohiou_grad_2006 · Jan 23, 2015

If you want a board similar to what you have, check out the gigabyte 970a-ud3p. Or maybe go for a 990 series. I've got the board the op has and it's not a bad board though.

eband00 · Jan 23, 2015

I thought the cpu was the problem since the voltage readers were way out of tolerance. I can and will return it though, only lost 15% of the cost.

Here's the motherboard i will be buying tonight:
http://www.ncix.com/detail/asus-m5a99x-evo-r2-0-atx-90-76030.htm?affiliateid=7474144

I have an AMD Phenom 2 that i can try on the existing motherboard to rule out the cpu, should i do that?

tambeshakunt · Jan 23, 2015

Yes that is a very good board.

eband00 · Jan 28, 2015

Alright guys, so i bought an new Asus motherboard...

IT WORKS. I fried my old motherboard by vacuuming it. I feel so dumb...

tambeshakunt · Jan 28, 2015

Great...at least the problem is fixed.

ohiou_grad_2006 · Jan 28, 2015

Win some lose some. I find that I prefer compressed air from a can. Just never tip the can upside down or too far sideways or you have liquid come out.

tambeshakunt · Jan 29, 2015

Yep, from now only use compressed air to clean your pc. Spray in short bursts and don't let the liquid come out.

The best method by far.

Eliteforce1uk · Aug 7, 2016

A lot of useless information on this thread.
I would like to say that the "Cool-it Vantage" is not compatible with ANY Gigabyte motherboards!!
If you are going to use it, do NOT use the Cpu_fan header

Vacuumed PC case. Now PC shuts down within 10-20 sec.

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