Why did this happen? What could it be?

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morpheus1870

morpheus1870

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Dec 30, 2016
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So very recenty I had a front USB blowout when I tried to attach my Drobo harddrive, which has resulted in me killing my Asus X99 Delux II motherboard (see post: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3333383/turning.html).

Now as I await the arrival of my new mobo (and crossing my fingers that no other components were damaged) I'm trying to figure out what was the cause of this and how it must be prevented from happening again.

The only other time I had a short like this (without any damage occuring) was when I tried to attach a second monitor to my PC via the back of the i/o through a thunderbolt connection. This resulted in the thunderbolt pci card blowing and the cable also being damaged. Both time the devices were mains powered devices.

My pc has never had any issues with my WD my book duo HDD connected via usb 3 but it seems as soon as I add anything else there that is mains powered (hasn't happend with usb sticks or keyboard/mouse) there is some kind of short/trip.

I think it could be possibly something to do with the adaptor I'm using for the main pc plug (the pc power cable is a 2 pin however our plugs are 3 pin) this small adaptor then has been going into a longer extension hub.
Could this be the problem? Should the main power cable be directly placed into the mains rather than a generic adaptor?

Could there be a ground issue? I've been able to charge my devices, use a whole host of usb devices without them overheating or acting oddly so I don't think it's a ground problem, but as soon as I used the mains powered usb device there was an issue.

Can i buy anything to protect my motherboard or components from this kind of thing. Shelling out another $600 on a motherboard is something I don't want to experience again.

Thank you in advance.

 
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makkem

makkem

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Jan 22, 2012
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Hi
Your computer main power (power supply) cable needs to be 3 pin as the power supply needs a ground connection to work correctly.
Is the 2 pin plug only able to fit one way or can it be reversed ?,possible that line/neutral is reversed and could be causing problems with other devices that are connected the other way.
 
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aquielisunari

Judicious
Mar 31, 2011
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Are you using a surge protector?

Is your 3 prong surge protector plugged into a 3 prong(grounded) outlet?

If I were...

Wait a tick... $600 for an X99 board? Not all in one shot(no pun intended) I hope.

You can always just avoid those. https://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Express-Connector-Controller-Internal/dp/B00FPIMJEW/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487420039 or https://www.amazon.com/Upgraded-Anker-SuperSpeed-Including-Charging/dp/B005NGQWL2/ref=sr_1_6?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487420031

And then I read the rest of the story. The PC isn't grounded. I don't know of a modern PC PSU that has a 2 pin connector. That corsair PSU has a 3 pin male connection. You then say "the pc power cable is a 2 pin ". The math doesn't work. This https://www.amazon.com/C2G-Cables-03134-Universal-IEC320C13/dp/B00005113L/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487420581 is what should connect the PSU to the surge protector.
 
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morpheus1870

morpheus1870

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Dec 30, 2016
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Sorry I meant the mains point is two pin and I've had it going into a 3 pin adaptor which has then been going into a longer extension hub. Non of them were surge protected just your regular ikea extension cables (i know retarded right).

Here is a picture of the black power cable and the white adaptor.

p2210287152-3.jpg




 
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aquielisunari

Judicious
Mar 31, 2011
6,499
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Get on the horn with Corsair. Explain your situation. Have them send you the correct cable. See that hole? That's the gaping maw of impending doom that should be filled with the ground prong. I've no clue. From the States so I won't attempt to get into the electrical side of things when Corsair can clear things up.
 
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morpheus1870

morpheus1870

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Dec 30, 2016
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You mean that the cable they sent me should have had 3 pins and one is missing? I'm currently living in the middle east with work (Qatar) here everything is 3 pin however I built my PC with parts from Dubai where they use 2 pin.

I've already bought a 3 pin power cable for when the new mother board arrives.

The earlier link with the usb 3 hub, this is a better solution than to plug directly into the pc? If there is a short will the hub take the brunt of it and save another costly repair?

Thank you all in advance again, i really appreciate your continued help
 
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morpheus1870

morpheus1870

Commendable
Dec 30, 2016
27
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Just had the electrician in he said the cable is grounded, that metal piece within the space is the ground. This cable was within the corsair box and is a standard cable for this region of the world.

What I need to know though is why this surge/spike/short that killed my motherboard and blew the usb port (it's all black and burnt) happened in the first place.

Would this be a good way to protect the system

Surge protector connected to mains outlet - psu power cable / external hard drive system connected to surge protector - usb 3 hub connected to the rear i/o and all usb devices including additional harddrives, keyboard, usb sticks etc connected to the hub.

Would this be the right way?

 
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