Crack and then a burning smell

[alexander]

Hello, I need some urgent advice, I was just playing on Battlefield 2 and then I heard a fizzle/crack and the base unit just switched off (well cut off, not an ordered shutdown).

The was a VERY severe burning smell and so I took all the plugs out etc. I have now tried connecting it back up and the computer will not switch on at all.

Am I right in thinking that this is the power supply, I am pretty certain it is as the smell I think is originating from there, the CPU and GPU smell fine.

I was a little confused as it is a Seasonic PSU and they are meant to be quite good. Here are the specs of my machine:

430W Seasonic S12 PSU
E6300 at 2.8ghz With Scythe Ninja
7900GS With Zalman Vf-900Cu
2GB Corsair XMS2 PC6400
400GB Samsung Spinpoint
Audigy 4
Gigabyte S3 Motherboard

I think that is everything but is the general consenus be that it is a blown PSU (if you can have that), I have no real idea but I think it is the PSU, my motherboard doesn't have any lights so I cannot tell if any power is getting through at all, and before you say, I do not have a spare PSU to use to test it, I think I may need to buy a new one.

Any suggestions and help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

PS: The PSU was bought from Overclockers, would I return it to them or to Seasonic, if so how long would they take as I may need to buy another PSU in the mean time.

[staffsMike]

Sounds like PSU very uncommon for seasonics to blow though.

Do you have an old mobo to try and plug in just to see if theres a sign of life?

I believe you get a 3 or 5 year warranty with seasonic but you should be able to RMA it to ocuk for the first year.

[alexander]

Sorry, no I don't sadly, it is more of a one PC household here. Is it dangerous as I am always very edgy and broken, high power electronics.

[this_is_gav]

If you've nothing to test, and there's no scorch marks on any of the components (hard drives, motherboard, graphics card, etc), then it's fair to assume it will be the PSU. Seasonics are of course prone to having a faulty component as any other, but I agree with the above, it's very rare for a Seasonic. Still, as it's a Seasonic have a little piece of mind - the chances are there's been no damage to any other components, so it should just be a RMA.

[staffsMike]

nah its not dangerous but i wouldnt switch it on now.

Its almost certainly the PSU but any PC repair shop will test it for you im sure.

What you need to hope is that it didnt take the rest of your components with it (they have good circuit breakers etc..so it shouldnt have) but you need to get a working psu on it asap.

[Agent]

Was you running any spiking / surge protection equipment?
Always worth an investment

Does sound like the PSU though. Not many things can cause a crackling sound in a computer.

[alexander]

**** on a stick, I seem to have lost the receipt for the PSU, I guess there is nothing I can do about it then?

Anyway, I've ordered one of those Corsair 520W Modular ones which is a severe waste of money as I hardly use the PC any more, what are the chances that other components are ******?

It WAS connected to a surge protector!! A UPC one. I guess they are pretty **** then...

Anyway, thanks for all the help, hopefully I'll be back up and running shortly!

[daza]

If you bought it with a credit card or online you'll have a receipt for it if you bought by cash your most likely buggered.

[CrazyMonkey]

Corsair 520W Modular its a great PSU and it isnt going to blow on you any time soon, i really hope it is the PSU as it does sound like it.

You could have tried manually powering up the psu by connecting the correct pins on the motherboard power cable using a paper clip, if it didnt power up then its the psu...

Hope you get up and running soon.

[Agent]

It WAS connected to a surge protector!! A UPC one. I guess they are pretty **** then...

Unless you can conclusively prove that it was caused by a spike / surge, then no, its not 4 stars.
It was just a question. The PSU could simply have been faulty.

[Blitzen]

**** on a stick, I seem to have lost the receipt for the PSU, I guess there is nothing I can do about it then?

Anyway, I've ordered one of those Corsair 520W Modular ones which is a severe waste of money as I hardly use the PC any more, what are the chances that other components are ******?

It WAS connected to a surge protector!! A UPC one. I guess they are pretty **** then...

Anyway, thanks for all the help, hopefully I'll be back up and running shortly!

The surge protector ( i take it you mean where all the plugs for the base unit/monitor/etc are plugged in) won't offer protection if it was a PSU based blow out.
If it was a electricity spike from the mains though i would expect it to have protected your components with the help of the PSU. (Good ones just act as a big power break whereas 'El Cheapos' tend not to).

The only way to know for sure, regardless of scorch mark being present or not, is to test with another supply.

[DratUK]

If the fan on the psu is not spinning up then its defo the psu, think we have come to that conclusion already though.
I hope it hasnt taken anything else out.

Best of luck m8.

[roorooroo]

Defo sounds like PSU...i had the exact same thing happen to me..fried absolutely everything in the case..plus the keyboard!

[Sarah`]

You could test the psu by connecting the green wire to a black (ground) wire using a paperclip or something similar, if it doesn't start up then it's definitly the psu.

Just hope it didn't take anything else with it.

[IntaCepta]

Pretty crap how if a psu will go down it will take everything down with it

[ajones]

Pretty crap how if a psu will go down it will take everything down with it

This is why we all recommend buying decent PSUs, but this is maybe an example were even good ones can sometimes go wrong. I've lost an entire rig before (managed to salvage the HDD which was good) from using an "OEM PSU", an experience probably shared by many here.