My computer blew up =(

bloaty · Jan 30, 2003

Ok let me first of all say, never again will i use a cheap bottom of the line PSU's because thats what blew up in my computer. My room was full of smoke and it still reaks of burning. I dont know what happend, i opend the thing up and it was all charred inside with a few exploded capacitors. What if i wasnt home to shut it off? That could have burnt my house down.
It wasnt just the PSU that blue up alone, it took out my Hard drive, cd-rom, floppy and my 9700pro. Most of it i can get replaced but loosing the 9700pro is very bad, i no longer have the box or any reciepts for it. Does anyone know if i cant send it back on warrentee or something still if all i have is the card itself(its almost physically undamaged)?

God damnit it all to hell.

AndrewT · Jan 30, 2003

I feel for you man, my other puter's PS blew too (same like yours did, except it died alone because the computer was off)

if you registered with ATI then you might get lucky, you have to call them I guess and see

gl

Press 1 if you want to be on hold, 2 for disconnect, 3 for a representative who will put you on hold before disconnecting.

10GHZ · Jan 30, 2003

ye.. same.. sorry to hear man, its still under warrenty right? next time, get a name brand PSU. i use Antec Trupower 540w, works great. or you can get Enermax, they good 2

Crashman · Jan 30, 2003

LOL, clean off the burn marks and send it to ATI, that is after registering it. "Honest, I don't know what happened, I was just playing a game and the screen went black!"

You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!

GeneticWeapon · Jan 30, 2003

That's really the shits, but thank goodness you had an ATI card, a GeForce FX would have blown the sparks all over the house with that fan...

If someone with multiple personalities, threatens to commit suicide, is that a hostage situation?..xXZoomInstagibXx

Jake75 · Jan 30, 2003

Gee, that sucks.
Maybe it´s time to move my computer away from the curtains?...hmmm, nah...let it burn.

My sig, not yours

bloaty · Jan 30, 2003

I just registerd it, going to call ATI when i get home later. My friends lent me a 3gig HD and a TNT2 m64 for now though. God this sucks, woke up this morning and i was almost convinced it was all some horrible nightmare.

bloaty · Jan 30, 2003

Yay, just phoned and they said it wont be a problem to RMA it. I guess its good i bought a built by ati card eh?

Losing my 9700 made me sad, i was sad. But since i get it fixed/replaced i am happy!

RCPilot · Jan 30, 2003

I guess that you didn't hear the POP & then see the smoke Huh?? Aren't those PSU's a funny things? Why waste mony on them?? Don't worry there are a lot of floks out there like that though. Hope some read this & take heed.

I'm still learning & having fun doing it!! Trouble comes with the things you forget or overlook along the way that make it not so fun!!

AMD_Man · Jan 30, 2003

ATI has a fast no questions asked RMA service. One of the best I've seen, I might add.

Intelligence is not merely the wealth of knowledge but the sum of perception, wisdom, and knowledge.

davepermen · Jan 30, 2003

i feel sorry for everyone (bloaty for example) who lost his pc once because of something like that..

i remember how my hd died..

i realised it one day after, the moment my pc had to access the hd again (run over night and day only from ram, hehe

)

was quite irritating

and everything went to hell..

"take a look around" - limp bizkit

www.google.com

flowmaster · Jan 30, 2003

my psu blew up also but im happy it didnt do anything to my psu and it was a Ati based Hercules 9700 pro video card ( are these related that it could be the 9700pro thats messing with ppl psu's?) and I have a crappy psu. But I was overclocking my video card and had a cheap crappy psu that did its job for what I was holding in my rig.
It didnt take anything out with it tho, At which Im happy about..

"I sawed-off the fan on my Nvidia FX VIDEO CARD and reached a db score of 240db on Futuremark's DEAF METER 2003"

wurrmm · Jan 30, 2003

Any power supply has the capability to burn out. The bane of all PSUs is dust. Enough dust gets in there and you have a dead PSU fan and the nex thing you know...BOOM. Also dust can clog up air flow and BOOM!!!! I have a compressor in my garage and every so often I blow all the dust out of every inch of my case, fans, and PSU included.

One mans throw-away is another mans god-box. Help friends in need, I always do!!
Then again, having extra parts are great for making dedicated servers for LAN parties!!!!

eden · Jan 31, 2003

Yes all, clean your PC's inside thoroughly. Buy cheap air compressed cans from any local electronics/home hardware retailer, such as Radio Shack. I do that every 2-3 months and I do know it helps prevent.
Just blowing air with the long thin tube, into the PSU is enough, as well as onto the HSF.

Also, to make things even more safe, buy brand name PSUs. I have my money and trust on Antec, but would try Enermax as well, however I know these 2 companies are the main and most trusted ones. They have my business for sure.

--
This post is brought to you by Eden, on a Via Eden, in the garden of Eden.

DCB_AU · Jan 31, 2003

You can easily avoid this problem by installing a Quick Blow Inline Fuse before the PSU.

First, borrow/obtain a set of "Tong Testers" (measures amps/current flow), or to temperarily fit/connect a Amp Meter inline with the incoming supply {before the PSU} and record the amps with all PC components operational- max current draw.

Fit a rated Quick Blow Inline Fuse of slightly higher amperage of that recorded.

By doing this, the fuse will blow quickly before a major fault occurs and not allow a high current "flashover".

If you don't know how to do this, a PC or Electrical Workshop can. Cost$ would not be much.

Electrical Technician,

DCB_AU

dinoshan · Jan 31, 2003

interesting... i believe the ps manufacturers know of this problem, so why aren't they installing fuses to protect in the first place?
how much is it going to cost them extra to do this?

RobD · Jan 31, 2003

The amount of PC's that I've seen have problems because of dust is incredible. Clean em up with compressed air, and voila! One working PC. It's one of my standard tools in my toolkit.

I've just got an Antec Truepower 550, and it's tremendous. Cost a bit more, but I'd rather trust well known companies than stick with unbranded. I've been caught out before, and that's once too often for me!

phill21 · Jan 31, 2003

one word... insurance?
if you have contents insurance (over here anyway, in the uk i mean) you could put in a claim say because of a power spike and under the insurance, they will give you a equievent spec'd system.. happened with my amiga setup.. £1600 worth of amiga hardware and the sodding towers psu blew up the amigas motherboard, ppc cpu and graphics card, everything.. i was not happy.. had it about a year, i still think that was the most perfect 'pc' i have ever had.. fast effient and very eay to use.. only problem, paying £200 for a 8mbs s3 graphics card.. i think now they have voodoos in them, but woop pee.. i have a 9700 pro.. sad thing is that the darn 69k or ppc cpu (the one i had anyway) wouldnt be able to do hardly anything in the way of performance compared to what i have now.. sigh.. memories...

if all else fails... kick it and if it goes wrong, say it wasnt you...

bloaty · Jan 31, 2003

Well dust should be cleaned out and can cause problems(my athlonXP 2000 overheats if i dont clean out the HSF bi-monthly).
My PSU didnt have dust, fan or airflow problems however. I think my system neede a lot of power and that put it under a lot of stress till it just, well exploded one day. A few of my friends went out and bought new surgeprotectors and PSU's the day after they saw what happend hehe, i dont blame them.

BTW, anyone know how long it takes ATI to reply to an RMA request through email? My replacement TNT2 on a 21" monitor is making my eye sore.

phill21 · Jan 31, 2003

well i do have a fan on the side of my tower blowing cold air into it.. shame it runs so darn hot.. and the psu has a fan on the underside of it to suck the old air out from the cpu fan and then that goes out the back of the tower.. all in all it does cool it down rather a lot, i have my hi-fi, pcs all on surge protectors.. my girl friends sons pcs isnt working at the moment, i have no idea why, i think that the psu has gone.. but i have no idea why.. oh well sh*t happens..
i have no idea about ati.. i would assume they are very good tho.. i must say, my 9700 pro looks fantasic on my iiyama ha202dt monitor.. really worth the near £800 the two cost!!!

if all else fails... kick it and if it goes wrong, say it wasnt you...

flowmaster · Feb 1, 2003

my power supply didnt have dust when I opened it after It blew out. The fuse on it wasnt blow either which is stupid because it should go so that the power supply survives tho.

"I put a flowmaster on my Nvidia FX VIDEO CARD and reached a db score of 240db on Futuremark's DEAF METER 2003" Goto :<A HREF="http://=http://www.Digitalstormonline.com" target="_new">http://=http://www.Digitalstormonline.com</A>
Edited by flowmaster on 01/31/03 05:33 PM.

My computer blew up =(

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