Project Reality Forums

i5 750
gts 250
4gbs of ram
some intel motherboard

today my bro was ppaying prototype and the pc started making noises and then it just shut down and smelled of burning wire. No chance of reviving it.

I suspect a psu faoiure just want to get some feedback from u guys before i. Make my bro buy a new psu.

The old psu is 500w

thnx everyone

MAKE NOTE: The Capacitors in the PSU is still holding enough charge to electrocute you with a strong enough charge to stop your heart.


UNplug your PC.
Remove ALL Cable connections to the PC< mouse, keyboard, cat5, monitor, etc.
Open it up.
Take out a flashlight and start looking to find the point that burned.
It could be the motherboard or the PSU.
The place it burned will look burnt, you'll know it when you see it.


Here is a video that might be easy to follow:
How to Diagnose and Replace a Failed PC Power Supply: 17 steps - wikiHow

Did that already found nothing in the mb but didnt go opening a psu. Just need an opinion and an idea what else could it be

what is the name/model of PSU ?

Do you see power led on your motherboard ?

Edit: removed procedure, my english is bad a,d [R-COM]LITOralis.nMd give good.

Guys its psu. Ist leaking something now (derp) PROLLY acid so im not touching it till i get ome gloves

If you feel the PSU might be damaged, your best option is to just borrow another PSU and try a swap. If your system powers up with the loaner, then you solved the problem.

If you don't have a spare PSU, ask a friend to borrow theirs and explain it only takes a few minutes. If no friends have a spare, call a local repair shop. It's better to pay some gimper kid $20 at a shop than order an unnecessary replacement.

And don't forget, if you're not able to find a 500w "loaner", you can probably get away with a 350w if you only plan to power it up for a few minutes. Of course, you'll want to temporarily use onboard video if available, or unplug stuff you don't need for the test such as sound cards, surplus drives, capture or other misc PCI cards, USB card readers, etc. That should keep power consumption low enough during testing.



As for leakage from your current PSU, I seriously doubt you'd have a caustic in there unless it was a $5 Made-in-China PSU (and came with free lead-flavored candy). The primary components found in a common PSU will be a few IC, tons of resistors, capacitors, some relays, a couple diodes, etc. I'm not aware of any commercial/private PC PSU that use liquid chemicals in their construction, to include the use of internal batteries that would be using a liquid acid content.

Chances are that any liquid(s) inside your tower were brought in either intentionally (liquid cooling, etc) or accidentally (spills, etc). You should definitely unplug everything, disassemble as much as possible, and let it dry out for a few days before messing with it. If the liquid happens to be soda or something that leaves a residue, clean it with approved products to minimize risk of shorts.


If others use your PC as well, and viewing of pornographic material with said PC is known to occur, then DEFINITELY wear gloves if you suspect any liquid leakage.

[R-DEV]Ninja2dan wrote:
If others use your PC as well, and viewing of pornographic material with said PC is known to occur, then DEFINITELY wear gloves if you suspect any liquid leakage.

Lol definatley not that
ive removed it and replaced with a friends and it worked still not sure what the liquid is. Will report back when i find out. And my cooling shouldt be as no leaks were found in it plus the liquid looks diffrent

500W seems a bit low for that comp setup

it probably got maxed out from prototype which made all the hardware run at high load


I would suggest getting 600W PSU

Why are you pushing him to spend money ?
The GTX 240 has Max Power Draw: 70 W , he could use as little as a quality 80:Gold 450W PSU and still be fine.

My 5€ says its a No name "500w" PSU with bad chems in caps or wax over pcb.

Anyway, have you tested with the other PSU is PC ok?

If it wont start remove cmos battery and reset the cmos data by shorting a jumper or pressing a button if board has one. Consult manual for the board to find pins/switch. Make sure PSU is not connected to mainboard when doing this. Place jumper back in original position, push the battery back and fire it up.

If it wont start again, get everything turned off/disconnected, and use only mainboard, gpu ( if mobo has no integrated ), cpu, and keyboard. ( yeah cooler too )

If it wont start after that its going to cost him money....

Good luck