Sudden outbreak of Exploding Computer

Echo · January 2016

So my PSU just exploded, in the most literal fireworks sense. Quite the light show.

I had just given the CPU a fresh layer of cooling paste, after the CPU cooler got dislodged on the way home from a LAN at the start of the month. I'm guessing the manhandling caused years of accumulated dust and cat hairs in the PSU to dislodge and cause a short circuit, it didn't go boom until 10-15 minutes after booting it up again.

The power supply is obviously dead. How dead can I assume the rest of the hardware is?

LD50 · January 2016

"He's dead, Jim." dead, I would guess. But it's pretty much impossible to know unless you throw a new power supply in there and try to turn it on.

Handgimp · January 2016

Echo wrote: »

So my PSU just exploded, in the most literal fireworks sense. Quite the light show.

I had just given the CPU a fresh layer of cooling paste, after the CPU cooler got dislodged on the way home from a LAN at the start of the month. I'm guessing the manhandling caused years of accumulated dust and cat hairs in the PSU to dislodge and cause a short circuit, it didn't go boom until 10-15 minutes after booting it up again.

The power supply is obviously dead. How dead can I assume the rest of the hardware is?

This one's tough to evaluate with your eyes; look for any deformed capacitors in your motherboard's voltage regulator section, I guess. I'd hook it up to a fresh power supply and test component by component...

wunderbar · January 2016

if your PSU literally exploded, I'd be afraid to trust any of the components again. There is a more than zero chance that when it asploded it sent some kind of surge.

As suggested you can maybe see if any capacitors on the motherboard or video card are swollen/leaking, but honestly...... he's dead, jim.

tsmvengy · January 2016

Could always get a new PSU and see how things go, then if they don't go so well use that PSU in your new build!

Foomy · January 2016

I've had it go both ways when a psu has died, no real way to know until you get a new psu and get everything back together.

But you need a new psu anyway for a pc build, so there's nothing to lose by trying.

Echo · January 2016

I went out and got a new PSU, motherboard, RAM and CPU, because I've been considering an upgrade anyway.

Decided to gamble and tried the new PSU with the old stuff, and it's still working.

I could return the other stuff... but the old CPU/motherboard was five years old anyway, so I guess it's time for a forced upgrade.

Trace · February 2016

Echo wrote: »

I went out and got a new PSU, motherboard, RAM and CPU, because I've been considering an upgrade anyway.

Decided to gamble and tried the new PSU with the old stuff, and it's still working.

I could return the other stuff... but the old CPU/motherboard was five years old anyway, so I guess it's time for a forced upgrade.

save it for a good luck charm when you need to survive getting hit by lightning or something

because wow that stuff should be dead

Bucketman · February 2016

Hmmm I would like to avoid contracting EPSUS

BahamutZERO · February 2016

speaking of getting hit by lightning, if there was, say, a lightning strike on a power pole a block away from me while my computer was running that knocked out the local power grid for a few days, and there wasn't any noticeable sign of damage or misbehaving on the system's part afterwards for like 2 months, is it probably fine?

LD50 · February 2016

BahamutZERO wrote: »

speaking of getting hit by lightning, if there was, say, a lightning strike on a power pole a block away from me while my computer was running that knocked out the local power grid for a few days, and there wasn't any noticeable sign of damage or misbehaving on the system's part afterwards for like 2 months, is it probably fine?

Yeah. There's lots of shit between your computer and the lines on the street that are designed to keep your shit from getting fucked. Not that it couldn't, mind you, but if it did get fucked you'd know.

Tofystedeth · February 2016

Yeah, a block away you're probably fine. If it was like, the next house over you might be in trouble.

save it for a good luck charm when you need to survive getting hit by lightning or something

Usually a PSU will absorb most bad shit coming down the line and sacrifice itself for the sake of the more expensive/difficult to replace components*. Even with the PSU killing itself in a spectacular fashion there was probably a decent chance of survival.

*Can't do much to protect against induced current in an ethernet cable or miswired USB cables. To my regret.

Penny Arcade

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