Help diagnosing component causing computer failure

[arconreef]

The case of my computer's death is quite odd. During the last lightning/thunder storm, our barn was directly struck by lightning. This caused our computer to die. The strange bit is that my pc just happened to be protected by a surge protector! What's more, I used my trusty power supply tester, and it reads good. Though, the symptoms are what you would expect out of a dead PSU. It doesn't even begin to power on. Nothing. It's gone completely dark (i.e. there is absolutely NO response when I press the power button). So my questions are as follows: how could this have happened[?], and which components (are most likely) causing this complete failure to power on?
Could it be that the cpu has gone flatline, or is it the motherboard/other part? How would I go about testing which part it is?

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Motherboards are generally one of the first things to go out from a lighting strike but with with memory controller located on the processor on the Intel® Core™ processors even small increases in watts or amps can damage a processor. So I would expect it to be the board but it could be the processor to.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[westom]

The strange bit is that my pc just happened to be protected by a surge protector! What's more, I used my trusty power supply tester, and it reads good. Though, the symptoms are what you would expect out of a dead PSU.

A PSU tester can only report some failures. It can never report a supply as good. Quite normal is for a defective supply to be reported good by a PSU tester. Same money is always better spent on a multimeter that actually reports a supply good or bad. Without doubts. Because it reports numbers - not something subjective. Post numbers here so that others with greater knowledge can add plenty of additional facts. Much information is hidden in those numbers. Test says virtually nothing useful.

Best test is to never disconnect even one wire. Simply buy (for about same money as the PSU tester even in stores that also sell hammers) or borrow a multimeter. Set to 20 VDC range. Touch a purple wire where the PSU connects to the motherboard. Report that three digit number (which should be about 5 volts). Do same for a green and gray wire both before and when the power switch is pressed. Report those four responses.

And finally monitor any one red, orange, and yellow wire as the power switch is pressed. Then learn in the very next reply what has really failed.


Protectors located too close to electronics and too far from single point earth ground can make computer damage easier. An IEEE brochure even demonstrated same to a TV. The adjacent protector earthed a transient 8000 volts destructively through a nearby TV.

Protection superior to what any power strip might do is already inside every computer’s power supply. However, adjacent protectors can bypass that PSU protection. Connect the 8000 volt transient destructively through its motherboard.

If you doubt this, then post any power strip numeric specifications that define protection for each type of surge. No numbers exist because no power strip protector claims to protect from any typically destructive type of surges. You are now learning that popular urban myths completely contradict what a power strip protector manufacturer claimed. The manufacturer never claimed it provided protection ... as you have now learned.

Get a multimeter. Measure numbers. Post three digit numbers here. A reply (much longer than this one) summarizes what numbers from only six wires were reporting. Numbers contain that much more.

Either that or just start replacing good parts until something works. Those are your only two choices.

 

[dokk2]

The case of my computer's death is quite odd. During the last lightning/thunder storm, our barn was directly struck by lightning. This caused our computer to die. The strange bit is that my pc just happened to be protected by a surge protector! What's more, I used my trusty power supply tester, and it reads good. Though, the symptoms are what you would expect out of a dead PSU. It doesn't even begin to power on. Nothing. It's gone completely dark (i.e. there is absolutely NO response when I press the power button). So my questions are as follows: how could this have happened[?], and which components (are most likely) causing this complete failure to power on?
Could it be that the cpu has gone flatline, or is it the motherboard/other part? How would I go about testing which part it is?

Checked the fuse,inside the psu,should be about 2amp or so...???,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[westom]

Checked the fuse,inside the psu,should be about 2amp or so...???,,,,,,,,,,,,

The above posted procedure already answers that and over 100 other reasons for failure. Using only a minute of labor. And a tool that costs less money than a good hammer.

Japanese would say, "Work smarter, not harder." Exactly. Checking that fuse would be another example of working harder. How to check that fuse was not defined – making it even harder. Using the multimeter is a perfect example of how to work smarter – and faster.

Always seek better diagnostic methods – work smarter.