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Oh noooo!

Thalestris24

By Thalestris24
in The Astro Lounge

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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My image processing computer just blew up!! :shocked: I was just transferring image files between drives and I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It soon became apparent that smoke was billowing out the back!!! Eeeks! Panic! Of course I switched off and unplugged as quick as I could. I hope it's not the motherboard - it's an i7, 16Gb. Funnily enough, it was working ok with nothing apparently wrong whilst smoke was coming out. Just waiting for the acrid smoke to clear before inspecting the damage...

Louise

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Davey-T

Davey-T

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Commiserations Louise, the trouble with laptops and computers in general is that they never get serviced so keep sucking in dust until something overheats.

I had one pack and when taken apart the poor thing was stuffed with fluff, looked like a tumble drier :grin:

Dave

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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14 minutes ago, Thalestris24 said:

I can't easily tell by looking. It was hoovered out a few months ago so no big buildup of fluff. I do suspect the psu - it's an arctic 500. Easily replaced if it's the culprit. I'll whip it out and have a closer sniff!

Louise

It does look (smell!) like the psu. I'll order a new one...

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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4 minutes ago, ChrisLX200 said:

500w is a bit weak these days, something like a 750w and your computer would be putting less stress on it. It will not use any more power with the higher capacity PSU of course, just gives you that extra in reserve.

ChrisH

Hi Chris

It's been in there for about 9 years, I think! I have indeed ordered a 750w replacement :)

Louise

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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2 minutes ago, Knight of Clear Skies said:

Fingers crossed it's just the PSU, I agree that sounds like a very likely culprit if it was still working while in flames.

Hope it was just that - no actual flames but lots of acrid smoke filling the room. Fortunately I got all the windows open quickly and the smoke alarm didn't go off!

Louise

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Ajhayter

Ajhayter

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Just wanted to chime in on this, as my background is hobby PC building.   

For an i7 based system a good quality 500w is plenty sufficient, even with a high end graphics cards and lots of mechanical drives to run. Having some overhead isn't a bad thing though.

The problem is there are lots of bad quality cheap power supplies on the market. Commonly they have bare metal casings but it's not always so, even the cheap ones have started powdercoating black for the illusion of quality. The cheap ones are also always much lighter for having less internal heatsinks, cheaper parts and thinner construction.

I  know you've already ordered it, but if it's a brand that's not easy to find reviews of I'd consider sending it back unopened and ordering something like a Corsair CX600 or similar from other solid brands like EVGA or XFX

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,review-32182.html

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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3 minutes ago, Ajhayter said:

Just wanted to chime in on this, as my background is hobby PC building.   

For an i7 based system a good quality 500w is plenty sufficient, even with a high end graphics cards and lots of mechanical drives to run. Having some overhead isn't a bad thing though.

The problem is there are lots of bad quality cheap power supplies on the market. Commonly they have bare metal casings but it's not always so, even the cheap ones have started powdercoating black for the illusion of quality. The cheap ones are also always much lighter for having less internal heatsinks, cheaper parts and thinner construction.

I  know you've already ordered it, but if it's a brand that's not easy to find reviews of I'd consider sending it back unopened and ordering something like a Corsair CX600 or similar from other solid brands like EVGA or XFX

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,review-32182.html

Hi

The one that blew lasted quite a long time, I suppose. I bought it over 7 years ago. I've ordered a CiT 750w Gold. I have a CiT in another desktop and it's nice and quiet :)

Louise

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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2 minutes ago, Uranium235 said:

Yikes! I guess its a good thing you were in the room while it went up in flames. Hope yout get it sorted out soon.

It was a bit disconcerting! The acrid smell hung around for the rest of the day... Hopefully, it will be ok again with the new psu - fingers crossed!

Louise

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ChrisLX200

ChrisLX200

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44 minutes ago, Ajhayter said:

Just wanted to chime in on this, as my background is hobby PC building.   

For an i7 based system a good quality 500w is plenty sufficient, even with a high end graphics cards and lots of mechanical drives to run. Having some overhead isn't a bad thing though.

The problem is there are lots of bad quality cheap power supplies on the market. Commonly they have bare metal casings but it's not always so, even the cheap ones have started powdercoating black for the illusion of quality. The cheap ones are also always much lighter for having less internal heatsinks, cheaper parts and thinner construction.

I  know you've already ordered it, but if it's a brand that's not easy to find reviews of I'd consider sending it back unopened and ordering something like a Corsair CX600 or similar from other solid brands like EVGA or XFX

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/low-cost-psu-pc-power-supply,review-32182.html

Many of them don't put out anywhere near their rated current output, and in any case if the current demand is 400w it's still better to put in a 750w [or better] than 500w. The only time I ever bought a pre-built PC (I was lazy and it was a 'quick fix') I had to to replace most of the internal parts anyway - and the first to go was the PSU even before it had chance to blow up! In fact, nothing remains of that PC other than the hard drive that came with it, the MB died taking the CPU and RAM with it, I'd junked even the case by that time because a full-length graphics card would not fit, and the case itself was made of paper-thin metal normally reserved for cans of dog food. Never again will I stray into pre-built computer territory :)

ChrisH

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barkis

barkis

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It goes without saying I suppose, but it's very fortunate you were there to see the smoke pouring out.
You may have had a major inferno had you left the desk for any length of time.
Good luck with the repair, hopefully the PSU replacement will sort it for you.

 

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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5 minutes ago, barkis said:

It goes without saying I suppose, but it's very fortunate you were there to see the smoke pouring out.
You may have had a major inferno had you left the desk for any length of time.
Good luck with the repair, hopefully the PSU replacement will sort it for you.

 

It must have the copying of a large number of image files between hard disks that did it!

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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Quick update... When fitting the new psu I noticed that the cables and sata power connector attached to a blu-ray drive was very badly burnt and it fell to pieces when I pulled it off the drive. So that was the culprit! I don't know if the blu-ray drive itself is ok or not but have left it disconnected for now.

I do still have an ongoing problem with Windows 10 and my Logitech wireless usb dongle which is used for mouse and keyboard. It's supposed to be Win 10 compatible but it causes boot problems sometimes (hangs forever). It's using the latest driver and Win 10 has the latest updates. Anyone else had problems with wireless attachments and Win 10?

Anyway, my imaging desktop seems otherwise ok and back up and running :)

Louise

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