My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

[julie*mango]

I heard a frying noise and then nada...the tower was overheated. I let it cool down...try to reboot...but nothing...could it be the power supply gone bad? There was a fan there that was not working and that was causing it to overheat. Will surgery (new power supply box) help my baby live again? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/70394-bawlout.gif[/img]

[Rebycman]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

Ooof that's bad... Double check and turn the computer on and check if the fan is running on the power supply. If its not working then you probably fried the PC. Usually when power supply's die it fries other componets. My parents had theirs go out on them and it fried the processor, motherboard, ram, and hard drive. You could try a new power supply but you will probably just be wasting money....but still it could be worth a try.

One other thing you can check is open the case and stick your face down close and smell for burnt electronics. If there is a hint of something burnt then you are probably screwed.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

-Reby

[MrsBlue]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

<font color="blue">What happens to make the PC burn out like that? And what age does that happen? Skells, how old is your PC? </font>

[julie*mango]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

It's 5 years old [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[dahjah]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

isn't dat ancient?

dem tingya age fastah den dawg [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

[Rebycman]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

[ QUOTE ]
<font color="blue">What happens to make the PC burn out like that? And what age does that happen? Skells, how old is your PC? </font>

[/ QUOTE ]

More often than not the cause is something called 'dirty power'. Your average household has peaks and valley's in its power load and your breaker switches are there to pop before the load gets too much for your house to take. The problem is your computer is a lot more sensitive to these spikes and valley's than say your toaster. Over time dirty power can indeed fry your power supply which in turn sends a spike of juice which blows out most your componets.

To avoid this I suggest getting a battery backup. The battery acts as a surge protector and actually cleans the incoming power and feeds your PC a clean stable power supply from the battery. These can be fairly inexpensive now days but you should replace the batteries inside the APC once every 2-3 years. The last one I bought was under $40.00 so they are very reasonable.

It could also be the unit was never cleaned (using compressed air), or the bearings died in the fan and then the power supply overheated and pop'd, or just a bad power supply (though I doubt it since its 5 years old).

Anyway any news on the puter? Ya smell anything burnt?

-Reby

[MrsBlue]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

<font color="blue">Does a plug in surge protector work just as well?

When you mention cleaning the unit with compressed air, can you give a little more detail? Anything else I can do to keep this from happening? </font>

[Gen]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

[ QUOTE ]
isn't dat ancient?

dem tingya age fastah den dawg [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

dem have a life of 5 years...

depreciate using the SL method yah skelly..I hope yuh been doing that on yuh tax return for the past 5 years...

and then juss guh buy a new one... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[Rebycman]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

You can buy cans of air that are used to blow out dirt, dust, hair, debris that gathers in and around computers and keyboards. The fans are constantly moving air so they are one of the first things that get coated in dust. The can of air has a little tube you fit on it (like a can of WD-40) and you can spray air to remove the dust from your PC. It works great for getting into heatsinks, fans and keyboards (omg keyboards get soooo nasty if ya don't clean them out from time to time). I usually buy cans of compressed air at Costco for about $10.00 for 3 cans.

A surge protector will help protect a system from the high spikes but they do nothing for houses with the low spikes. Have you ever turned the washer/dryer on and had the lights dim for a second? That's a low spike in your house's power supply, meaning there isnt enough juice to keep the lights on full power and your washer/dryer at the same time for a fraction of a second. This low spike over time does as much damage as a high surge/spike would. For this reason I suggest the battery backup because the battery takes a charge from your plugin, then feeds the PC power off the top so there is always a minimum and maximum surge protection and gives you a clean power feed.

Make sense?

-Reby

[MrsBlue]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

[ QUOTE ]
You can buy cans of air that are used to blow out dirt, dust, hair, debris that gathers in and around computers and keyboards. The fans are constantly moving air so they are one of the first things that get coated in dust. The can of air has a little tube you fit on it (like a can of WD-40) and you can spray air to remove the dust from your PC. It works great for getting into heatsinks, fans and keyboards (omg keyboards get soooo nasty if ya don't clean them out from time to time). I usually buy cans of compressed air at Costco for about $10.00 for 3 cans.

A surge protector will help protect a system from the high spikes but they do nothing for houses with the low spikes. Have you ever turned the washer/dryer on and had the lights dim for a second? That's a low spike in your house's power supply, meaning there isnt enough juice to keep the lights on full power and your washer/dryer at the same time for a fraction of a second. This low spike over time does as much damage as a high surge/spike would. For this reason I suggest the battery backup because the battery takes a charge from your plugin, then feeds the PC power off the top so there is always a minimum and maximum surge protection and gives you a clean power feed.

Make sense?

-Reby

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="blue">I'm sorry I wasn't clearer. I'm aware of the cans of compressed air. What I meant by detail is does it entail opening the case to clean the parts? Or just spraying the air into the fan vent at the back?

I see what you're saying about the power. Thought I was safe with a surge protector, damn.

On a funny note, my sister took the keys off her keyboard to clean it and lost some of them, so now she has to use a pen or paperclip to press some. Drives me crazy when I'm trying to use it. </font>

[Rebycman]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

I should probably make a new post about cleaning computers but I'll run ya through the basics. First off let me start by saying you will need to unplug stuff in the back of your computer to do this so if you are confused by this go ahead and make little stickers for the cables (but really most stuff can only be plugged in one spot but things like speaker cables, mouse, and keyboard cables can get mixed up).

So first off you need to shut down the computer and then in the back of the case you need to unplug the main power cord to the computer (IMPORTANT - do not unplug this until you have turned off the PC). As you look at the front of your computer the side you need to open is on the left (usually the motherboard sits on the right side so if you open it on the left you can see inside your computer case). To remove this panel all you need to do is unscrew 2 small screws at the back side of the case (again on the left side). The panel should then be able to pop'd or slid off of the case.

You should now be looking into your computer with all its wires, fans and gizmo's. IMPORTANT - Before you reach in and start poking around you need to ground yourself by either touching the power supply or a metal appliance like a range/oven. What you are going to be doing is using short bursts of air from the can to force the dust out of your computer. Start with the exterior of the case at the back where the power supply fan is. Spray air into the power supply from the back/front/sides to clear as much dust as you can. Make sure to and avoid tipping the can to prevent spraying any of the compressed air/liquid from spraying out. Once the power supply is clear you can look inside your computer and you should see another fan sitting right on top of the motherboard, this is your actual processor (well the processor is under the fan and under the heatsink). First ya want to clean the heat sink under the fan so on the side of the heatsink (under the fan) spray a few small bursts to remove any buildup, get both ends where its open. Now go ahead and spray the fan clear and then you can work your way around the interior of the case. When it looks clean go ahead and slide the side cover back on and don't forget to screw it back on!

Keyboards are very difficult to clean but if you spray it out once a month you can keep from getting a heavy buildup. Pickup the keyboard and stand it on one end, then take the air and start from the top and spry along the gaps in key rows in a downward direction. Repeat for each row of keys, then flip the keyboard around so up is now down and down is up and do the same procedure and spray air down each rows of keys. By alternating the direction you can get more gunk out of the keyboard. To be honest though I usually just replace my keyboard about once a year (or I do something stupid like spill coffee in it lol).

I really don't advise you take keys off a keyboard but if you must then use a camera and snap a few images before you pop them off, and do it in an area where you wont lose keys. You can soak the keys in hot soapy water to help clean them. If you do remove the keys use Q-tips to clean the area under the keys but don't use any liquid (you can use slighly damp Q-tips to remove those sticky spots with heavy buildup, but be careful)

I only suggest you use canned air or a dry towel to wipe down anything inside your computer case...water and electronics don't mix folks so no sponges!

The last tip for the day is never put a computer's case on a carpet or right on the floor. Lots of dust and nasty things down low and your computer fan will suck the dirt into your PC case. I've seen cases 100% full of cat hair...almost like they opened it and stuffed in hair ...*shudders*...

Regards,

-Reby

[julie*mango]

Re: My Baby...PC.... Finally Died...

Nothing smells burnt. When I get the chance I am going to transfer the HD's to my external enclosure and see if it still works. Am in the middle of moving so things moving kinda slow here. Thanks for the advice!