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Dead PC? Something burned

cmsamocmsamo Registered User regular
in Help / Advice Forum
I just went to press the power button on my PC and nothing happened. Checked the power and it was good (monitors turned on etc) so I unplugged the power cable and re-plugged it. Pressed the power button and the PC turned on. I saw the BIOS post screen etc and all looked normal but within seconds there was that really acrid "electrical burning" smell. I turned the PC off right a away. Haven't turned it back on since.

I took the side off the case and I couldn't see or smell anything wrong with the PSU, but I think I detect a hint of the smell coming from around the mobo/processor area... Damn.

My question is what is the best way to go about diagnosis/repair? I'm worried about turning the PC on again.

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Posts

  • Eat it You Nasty Pig.Eat it You Nasty Pig. tell homeland security 'we are the bomb'Registered User regular
    If it won't start properly, the first step is to isolate the damaged part, generally by swapping things in and out and seeing if it works. Start with the PSU, move to processor, mobo, etc. Most people don't have a pile of spare parts lying around though

    actually smelling something burning would lead me to check two things: 1) the processor mount (possible decaying thermal paste/heatsink) and 2) fans. If it's not either of those things it's probably the PSU.

    also clean out the case thoroughly; some foreign material (hair, animal fur, etc) getting singed could be have generated the smell

    hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
    that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
  • cmsamocmsamo Registered User regular
    I gave it a clean out, god rid of dust etc. Powered the sucker back on, and everything works. Temp readings seem OK right now, so I think I dodged a bullet. Thanks for the advice!

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  • BlindZenDriverBlindZenDriver Registered User regular
    cmsamo wrote: »
    I gave it a clean out, god rid of dust etc. Powered the sucker back on, and everything works. Temp readings seem OK right now, so I think I dodged a bullet. Thanks for the advice!

    Sounds like you should be okay. Still do make a backup of everything you do not wanna lose on the thing just in case something bad happens.

    Bones heal, glory is forever.
  • [Paragon][Paragon] I'm a real doctor, for pretend! North DakotaRegistered User regular
    Make sure and look closely at the capacitors on the board. This was a few years ago (think AMD barton era) but I had an MSI board behave like that before the capacitors fully blew and killed the whole thing. (Look for burn/scorch marks or leaking capacitors)

  • L Ron HowardL Ron Howard The duck MinnesotaRegistered User regular
    Put your hand on the case above the PSU and see if it's really warm.
    I had a similar issue a couple of years ago with my computer. Awful burning smell, etc. I think with mine though it would run for a few minutes, and then under heavy load the PSU would turn off to save the rest of the system from burning out.

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