My PC Suddenly Turned Off And I Couldn't Power Back on For About 5 Minutes

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Robertwhyte

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May 6, 2014
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So basically i was modding skyrim, then i played with all my mods installed , TPs, ENB etc and about 10 minutes in my PC just shuts off, no lights just completely dead, i switched off the PSU unplugged the power cord and tried again, although my Mobo LEDs were on this time, it wouldn't start from the front panel on/off button, so i had to use the start button on my motherboard, i pressed it several times until a spark erupted from around the 8 pin cpu power socket which made my heart jump down into my ass! but after the spark it booted normally. Everything is working fine now, i ran Unigine Valley for about half an hour to see if it was the GPU that shorted, it was fine, so my guess is that it was the CPU that shorted or overheated which is unlikely because its not overclocked and its very well cooled. Anyone know what the problem is? or couldve been? i just dont want it to happen again and quickly diagnosing what caused it will help, to me it looks like something shorted.
 
Solution
ko888
Unplug the CPU power connector an look for signs of arcing (i.e. discoloration of metal contacts). Arcing will cause oxidation of the metal and lead to an increase in electrical resistance. The increase in electrical resistance, at the contact junction, will cause heating of the contact junction and if it gets hot enough it will melt the connector and lead to a short circuit and possibly a fire.
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getochkn

getochkn

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Jul 2, 2006
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Usually when that happens, it's the motherboard, the circuit that controls the power on/off via the grounding of the green wire on a PSU to be exact. Seen them go a lot. Sometimes it's a bad cap, and it takes 5 mins for it to drain power enough to reset itself. Usually, there is nothing that can be done if it continues except always keep the PC on. I've actually wired a second switch on a PC a few times to switch the green wire to ground to get power to the board, then you would use the power button on the PC as a second power stage. Doesn't always work though.

If it's a one time issue, could have just been a weird glitch. If it keeps happening, it's usually the board.
 
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littleleo

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May 8, 2009
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Sounds like you had something overheated and it needed to cool down before you could fire up again. how is the cooling on your case are all the vents clean and clear of obstructions? Is the cooler on your CPU making good contact or is it loose. DO you have a fan on the front of the case to pull air in and a fan on the back to push it out to get a good airflow from front to back?
 
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Robertwhyte

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May 6, 2014
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This was the 1st time thats it happened, after the spark erupted from around the 8pin CPU power socket and then booted to the desktop, i shut it down and was able to turn on the PC with no problems via the front panel switch. so i hope youre right, that it was just a weird glitch but the symptoms make it seem like it wasnt.
 
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Robertwhyte

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May 6, 2014
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My cooling is great, i have a hyper 212 evo in push pull with 2 noctua nf f12s, 2 120mm outakes on the top, another on the rear, and 1 200mm fan intaking on the front, my temps on my CPU have never gone above 60c and My gpu when under full load hovers around 60-65c. Although when i opened up my case to take a look the start button was actually quite warm, but the mainboard temps never go above 31c? but even if it did overheat that still dosnt explain the spark.

EDIT: infact come to think of it, it was probably warm due to it having a rather bright LED (The start button on the MoBo)
 
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littleleo

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May 8, 2009
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Sorry I didn't have a chance to ready the entirety of your 1st post. The spark is worrisome and I wouldn't sit done until your heart relocates in your chest. How is the wiring in your house is the house well grounded? Do you have a UPS for your PC? If not perhaps you should invest in a good one to be safe. When you touch the inside of your case be sure you've grounded yourself and you have no static charge that can damage you motherboard. If you did have a static charge and you were touching the power connector you were lucky a charge like that hit any of the chips on your MB would have fried them. The power connector is better shielded.
 
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ko888

ko888

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Feb 18, 2009
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Unplug the CPU power connector an look for signs of arcing (i.e. discoloration of metal contacts). Arcing will cause oxidation of the metal and lead to an increase in electrical resistance. The increase in electrical resistance, at the contact junction, will cause heating of the contact junction and if it gets hot enough it will melt the connector and lead to a short circuit and possibly a fire.
 
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