Help I busted my PC

[Undave]

My graphics card kept overheating so I got myself some more fans to improve the airflow in the case. After I\'d put them in and gien everything a bit of a dust I closed up the case and now it won\'t work. When I plugit in the fans start going and there\'s a little light on the motherboardbut there are no beeps, no POST, and the hard drive doesn\'t seem to be doing anything.

The oddest thing is that the power button doesn\'t seem to do anything. Normally you need to push it to get it started but the fans come on as soon as it\'s plugged in without me pressing anything.

Any of you techies have any clue as to what I\'ve done?

I\'m writing this on the laptop so I\'ll check in in a couple of hours to see if anyone has a possible solution.

Ta.

 

[No Such Agency]

How exactly did you \"give it a bit of a dust\"? And did you guard against static during this procedure?

 

[Undave]

I have one of these USB vacuum cleaners for getting crumbs out of your keyboard. I just gave it a quick once over to get rid of the biggest dustbunnies.

 

[fieldarchy]

Using canned air is the only way you should dust a computer (which reminds me I need to get some canned air). If you vacuumed it you may have just sent a shock through your computer frying everything.

 

[airhead]

you may be overloading the power supply with all those fans.
Try unplugging all the ones you just added and see what happens.
If it boots, then shut down, add a fan and reboot.

I got a bad fan - cost a power supply. But now I\'ve got a nice heavy one that you can heat your lunch on.

 

[Undave]

Well I didn\'t go anywhere near the motherboard with the cleaner I just got all the worst bits of dust out of all the corners. Hopefully that won\'t have affacted it at all. It\'s not the first time I\'ve done that and nothing untoward happened before.

What gets me is that the main power button isn\'t doing anything. I can\'t turn the fans off without unplugging the whole thing. The button is lit but nothing happens when I press it.

 

[fieldarchy]

yeah it shouldn\'t matter though whether or not it was close to the motherboard. If you shocked something else in there it would travel to the motherboard since it\'s connected there.

I\'m actually speaking from some experience here. If I were close by man I\'d come over and take a look at it. I built my own system and have plenty of spare parts. Then I could start unhooking things trying to figure out what the problem is.

But alas . . .

 

[War Griffon]

Check all the wiring connections you may have pulled one loose when you stuck that USB thingy about inside, normally if you are usina a tower the main case power wire slots onto the motherboard at teh front bottom edge so it is possible you have moved it.

Failing that do as Airhead said

 

[Undave]

OK I tell a lie it isn\'t actually the first time it\'s done this but last time all I did was close up the case and set it upright and it worked fine. I just need to figure out what\'s different this time...

 

[Andegon]

Hi ! :idea:
Maybe i can help you with some tips !

First of have you cleard cmos on the motherboard ?
If you dont know how too do that you can search on google.

Second , try disconnect all components you dont need to boot , like memory , harddrive , grapich card, soundcard , all but the cpu and 1 memory stick.

Also try too change the powersupplier if you can.

If you need more help you can find me on messenger. I have worked at a support firm for 4 years and with webdesign so i hope i can help you !

Best regards.
Andegon

 

[mrrocknroll]

Exactly how many fans have you installed??
I kinda had the same problem during the summer time last year and replaced the old ones with new ones.
I\'m with Andegon where he speaks about the power supply. I had to check to make sure that the fans I had bought where compatible with my current power output. I\'m no expert on pc\'s but I\'ve taken mine apart a few times replacing key things.

 

[Sukigod]

This does sound like a power supply issue - the motherboard lights up but the powerbutton doesn\'t work. I suspect the fans are pulling too much power from the powersupply (and they might me first in the power chain) which leaves the motherboard lacking in juice. Not enough power to some electronics can damage them almost as much as too much power and refusing to start can be included as a safety measure to protect itself.

I agree with Airhead\'s approach. It worked before the fans were installed, go back to that state and add fans until it stops working. In the end, if you need all those fans you will probably need to upgrade your powersupply.

Good Luck!

 

[MPJ]

Use this opportunity to buy a Mac and end your problems. :drunk:

 

[War Griffon]

Originally posted by MPJ
Use this opportunity to buy a Mac and end your problems. :drunk:

Sod that I would rather cut my hands off

 

[mrrocknroll]

Originally posted by War Griffon

Originally posted by MPJ
Use this opportunity to buy a Mac and end your problems. :drunk:

Sod that I would rather cut my hands off

Dunno why, but that comment made me remember this picture.

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[veggiemanuk]

Yep, had this one myself about a year ago, think I just checked all the cables.

Even a loose HDD Power/Data cable can cause this, also check the front panel connectors usualy located in the botton right of the mobo.

Can\'t remember exactly what caused mine but checking the cables cant hurt.

The only time ive had a problem with my PC is when my Flat Frog (Alcatel USB ADSL Modem) fried my mobo years ago, frustrating as hell. Been inside my PC more times than I care to remember and not once worried about static (16 years and counting) so I doubt very much this is the issue.

 

[squidders]

First off - the days of motherboards going pop if you look at them funny are long gone. Components are very robust these days and you will have to try very hard to kill a machine by cleaning it. Before now I have rinsed a motherboard under the cold tap to clean it... safe enough as long as you don\'t make moving parts wet and reapply heat sink compound.

ok... If it\'s done this before and only moving it around sorted the problem, I would check all the connections by going around and methodically unplugging everything one at a time and re plugging it back in a few times, this should ensure that all connections are as they should be.

The connections from the front buttons to most motherboards are rubbish so check one hasn\'t unplugged its self.

unplug and reseat any cards in the PC - graphics, network, audio, tv tuner, raid controllers etc.

If that didn\'t work, it may be a failure of one of the fans or power supply, roll back to the pre fan installation setup and see that everything works like airhead suggested.

If you are still posing on the orum, you have at least 1 working PC - if nothing above works, try swapping the PSU from the working machine (assuming it\'s not a laptop or mac etc) to the dead one.

If all you did was add some fans, the odds are that it\'s something simple.

 

[mud duck]

Not an expert, but what the heck. Is there a power switch on your power supply? Flip the switch let it sit a minute or so and try again. Or maybe a fuse on the supply? Just a thought.

 

[Arma]

Could try taking the card out, taking off the heat sink and adding some thermal paste (Arctic Silver generally rocks). I used to be hardcore into modding and O/C - this was something that would maybe drop the temp 1 or 2 degrees only.

Ensuring the heatsink is sat properly is a good start mind!

It does also sound like a power issue however. Try unplugging some unpowered USB devices if you have any, then HDDs etc. See what happens. If not, upgrade the PSU - Enermax ftw.

 

[Undave]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I\'m back!!!!


or depending on your point of view BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! He\'s back!!!

After stripping the whole thing down I discovered that the problem stemmed from some warping in the casing caused by me manhandling it about one too many times. The casing had shorted out the motherboard and killed it stone dead.

Still, every cloud has a silver lining I decided that it was high time I was due an upgrade so the only original parts left inside now are the two dvd rws and the sound card. I also got myself a case with the biggest fans I could find so no more overheating problems. My PC now looks like it\'s about to take off any minute due to the huge jet turbine on the front.

Add that to the sickly green glow emitted by my necron powerplant and it makes for quite a light show.

Thanks for all your help guys, it\'s good to be back :bouncy: