Help! Weird power supply issues

KLawinger · Jan 31, 2016

I had a tough power grand 850w power supply about 10 months ago and it worked flawlessly until two days ago where i experienced the power supply completely failing. When the power supply failed it also took out my motherboard with it, I thought it was just a motherboard failure so i purchased a new one. Upon reinstalling everything and correctly connecting everything i powered on my system to realize that it would not start, the only sign of life was a short burst of power that would cause the computer to start for less than a second then turn off immediately. I thought initially that it was shorting out somewhere so i redid everything and tried again, no dice. Ive tested the power supply with many different systems and get the same result.
TL

R, System dosent boot but turns on for half a second then off again, tried with different power supply (CX750M) only to have it turn on but catch my hdd on fire...

I have a i5 4690k
HAD a b85 msi mobo that died
PSU: thermaltake toughpower grand 850w gold
980 ti
etc
current mobo is a z97 msi krait

-Kevin

Ralston18 · Jan 31, 2016

Sort of not following your timeline here....

After the first power supply failure that took out your motherboard you bought a second motherboard and, I trust, a new power supply and all that also failed.

And you plugged the power supply (supplies) into other systems that also do not start up....

And the HDD caught fire: do you mean just sparks or actual flames....?

What is the computer plugged into: wall outlet, UPS, power strip? Any other local electrical problems such as lights flickering?

More information is needed. Thanks.

KLawinger · Jan 31, 2016

Ralston18 :

oh wow just read my own typing, so sorry.

okay, so first off i thought my motherboard had died so i bought a new one then after re installing everything and hit the power button it will turn on for a split second and turn off, so i tried it with a different psu (CX 750m) and it turned on and all the fans spun up. although the fans spun up and it worked for like 5 seconds i heard a pop and the corsair psu fried my hdd. that part isnt important, the thermaltake psu will turn on if i short out the 24 pin then the fan on the psu will turn on but havent been able to test anything else.

turkey3_scratch · Jan 31, 2016

Seems like when the Thermaltake went out, it did some damage to not only the motherboard but also the hard drive. After the Thermaltake died, it would shut down right after it started up, probably from its protection circuits (though it'd been nice if they worked the first time). So when the CX was plugged in, it then burnt the hard drive. Basically, you're going to have to replace all the damaged components, and may be looking at a system almost completely fried save perhaps a couple of parts.

KLawinger · Jan 31, 2016

turkey3_scratch :

This is concerning, if the CPU was fried would the system power on at all? i would hope that theres some kind of failsafe on the motherboard, but i did not see any burn lines on the dead board and the cpu looks fine as well

Ralston18 · Jan 31, 2016

First of all I am going to say be careful.

With two PSUs causing problems I think you need to reconsider the situation.

My thought is that the first PSU failed and left problems behind (maybe in a power cable/connector) that caused the second round of failures.

Everything along the the various electrical paths is suspect and potentially lethal now. Do not plug in anything again or try another start.

What is your power source? Wall outlet at the beginning I am sure but anything else in between the wall outlet and the computer power plug?

Internally are you very sure there are no shorts from motherboard to case or between other components?

Inspect (power off and unplugged) all of the internal power cables and connectors. Remove them and look for any signs of blackening, corrosion, metal to metal contact, insulation being melted or curled.

Just changing components and applying power is not going to work now and most likely will cause more damage and risks.

You need to do a post mortem as best you can to figure out the exact cause.

KLawinger · Jan 31, 2016

Ralston18 :

i have a surge protector between the pc and the outlet, nothing is being shorted out motherboard wise because it started with the other power supply, and to address the cx causing the hdd to fail, it wouldnt have been the first time anyone has used a corsair builder series problem that caused problems. i used the cx about 5 months ago and it took out another hdd as well but i just attributed it to drive failure.

Ralston18 · Feb 1, 2016

I am somewhat hard pressed here to attribute such problems to a hard drive failure perhaps barring a defective power cable/connection to the hard drive.

Two failed PSU's in that time span is really bad luck I think but not improbable. May be worth checking the respective manufacturer's websites for FAQ or Forum related complaints of a similar nature.

Turkey3_scratch's comment about the system possibly being completely fried is well worth noting. There are likely to be more, future failures as the damage cascades around. None of existing components can really be trusted at this point.

Probably time to cut your losses and move on.

Still do the "post mortem" just for the record.

It will give you some peace of mind to know that it was indeed just bad luck or some "perfect storm" of events that are very unlikely to occur again.

KLawinger · Feb 1, 2016

Ralston18 :

Everything looks as if it was brand new, cpu socket and cpu are perfect yet the board is dead. seems that maybe it just took out the board and then the psu crapped itself

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