PSU Problem

[matt3453]

Hello,

This morning, I woke up and plugged my computer into a surge protector and instantly there was a pop and a burning smell coming from the PSU. I was extremely worried that the system was fried. So I drove to a friends who has a new 650watt PSU he wasn't using and he let me borrow it. Plugged it in and thank god, everything worked fine. I just want to know what happened and how can I prevent this again? Now I have to buy a new PSU...

My specs and everything connected at the time on a 500watt PSU
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00ghz
8GB RAM
Nvidia 8600GT
One DVD drive
Two fans
1TB HD

Before this, the 500watt PSU was working just fine. What could have caused this? Was it all the things (printer, monitor, speakers etc) all plugged into one surge protector /w the computer that fried the PSU? Is it bad to constantly unplug and re-plug your computer the way I was doing? Could too many things plugged into one outlet do it? I just want to prevent this because if it happens again, I might not be so lucky.

THANKS!

 

[JohnnyLucky]

What make and model power supply do you have?
How old is the psu?
Is it still under warranty? Perhaps you could get it replaced by the manudacturer.

Your list of components do not use very much power. More than likely a component inside the psu failed. That can and does happen. I could happen to any psu. It happens most often with low budget, low quality power supplies of questionable value.

 

[jsc]

Stick with known reliable brands. I favor Corsair and Antec (all but the Basiq line). PC P&C and Seasonic are also very good.