I KID YOU NOT! One of my computers just BLEW UP!

[AaronP]

So, I turn on my Athlon 1600XP computer and about 2 seconds after I turn it on, I hear a POP and see a big cloud of smoke come out of the power supply fan in the back! So, I open the case up, and man does it smell bad! All burnt smelling.

So, I take a look and everthing looks fine, and I turn it on again. It posts fine and goes into Windows no problem.

What just happened?

 

[Tarmouth]

pics ?

 

[tritium4ever]

I'd stop using the computer until you get a new power supply. That can't possibly be good for your parts...

 

[GT1999]

Your power supply had gas and had to excuse itself.

Seriously, I don't know.. sounds like something blew up in the PSU though that's for sure.. LOL

What's got me is that the damn thing still works..

 

[jcarson]

I ad this happen once, the pop was LOUD. It was on a mac. Then it did not boot. After a new PSU, it was fine.

Scary though..

 

[Pink0]

I had this happen with a duron 600. The pop was so loud on I was on the other side of the room before I was aware. The power supply needed to be replaced. I wouldn't use it until you do that.

 

[flood]

Sounds like a capacitor in the psu blew.

 

[bozo1]

Did you have any marshmallows handy?

 

[jonah255]

hmm just last night i had some smoke axion myself. apparently two pins on the floppy power connector got pushed together and shorted. wires burned up. lost that floppy connector and one of the 4 pin connectors. cut off that part, taped it up with electrical tape. everything still works fine. there was a lot of damn stinky smoke though.

-jonah

 

[cliftonite]

Originally posted by: Tarmouth
pics ?

 

[JSSheridan]

I agree with flood, it's probably a capacator that blew. I've had capacators blow on me in electronics lab with a loud pop, foul odor and smoke. The job a capicator does in a AC to DC (rectifier) supply is to filter out any AC components and pass a smooth DC voltage. Without the capacitor, there will be voltage fluctuations, which could possibly lead to instability or hardware damage. I think you should definately get a new PSU dude. Of course, you could use this as an excuse to get a new system, but that's up to you. Good luck. Peace.

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: flood
Sounds like a capacitor in the psu blew.

Good point, have you opened your PSU at all? Anyone know how to purposely make a capaciter blow? Just a little experiment I would like to try.

 

[JSSheridan]

Originally posted by: jonah255
hmm just last night i had some smoke axion myself. apparently two pins on the floppy power connector got pushed together and shorted. wires burned up. lost that floppy connector and one of the 4 pin connectors. cut off that part, taped it up with electrical tape. everything still works fine. there was a lot of damn stinky smoke though.

Yeah, I try to avoids shorts too. X volts divided by 0 ohms gives infinte amperes of current. Of course, stuff will start burning before the current gets to infinity. Captain Obvious strikes again.

Peace.

 

[JSSheridan]

Originally posted by: Tabb
Anyone know how to purposely make a capaciter blow? Just a little experiment I would like to try.

Yeah, easy. You take an electrolytic capacator that you can buy at radio hack (shack). The cap will have polarity markings on it. Hook it up to a DC power supply backwards (positive voltage terminal to negative cap terminal). Then just start turning up the voltage until it blows. I've never done it on purpose, just carelessly hooked it up backwards. Knock yourself out dude. Peace.

 

[spanky]

Originally posted by: tritium4ever
I'd stop using the computer until you get a new power supply. That can't possibly be good for your parts...

i would try to replace that psu asap too.

 

[anthrax]

I would say the fuse blown...if glass fall out...then its the fuse for sure..

 

[CraigRT]

who cares what happened..... just replace the damn PSU before it takes your computer out with it! :Q

 

[newbiepcuser]

who cares what happened..... just replace the damn PSU before it takes your computer out with it!

replacing a powersupply is a lot cheaper than replacing everything.

 

[Alphazero]

Happened to me too. The system worked fine for a few more weeks. I had to replace the power supply when it blew up again.

 

[sharkeeper]

Electrolytic capacitors...

Yes when they suddenly fail and the electrolyte heats and expands...pow!

Of course the newer ones have one shot vents which open with little resistance, usually less than 100 psi.

I remember taking big electrolytics out of old tv sets and connecting them via extension cord to a dc power supply at 2x their rated running volts in reverse! Some of them were more potent than cherry bombs. The foil and paper scatters all over the place like a party popper the size of a footlong! Then the smell...smells like cheerios cooking in peanut oil. :Q

You could always cut the molex from your PS and splice the red and yellow wires together and connect them to a power cord. Splice the red and yellow on the molex together to the black (hot) on the power cord. Connect both black leads on the molex to the white (neutral) of the power cord. Get a least a 50 foot extension cord and you'll be all set to try some over voltage testing on some dead 75GXP's (common as acorns this time of the year!) or some CD roms. You would be surprised at the pyrotechnics observed from a typical cd rom drive when running on 120 or 240 volts!

Cheers!

 

[Pink0]

smells like cheerios cooking in peanut oil.

You've cooked cheerios in peanut oil? Wait, you've cooked cheerios in anything?

 

[fluxquantum]

Originally posted by: bozo1
Did you have any marshmallows handy?

LMAO!

 

[Bovinicus]

I can't say exactly what happened. Some part of your PSU blew up. All I can say for sure is that you should NOT be using that PSU. Something is definitely wrong with it. You should return it to the manufacturer for a new one if it still has a warranty. That is pretty crazy. Once I connected some of the PSU cables wrong in my system and the wires for the power switch, reset switch, etc. started to melt. That was pretty crazy. I don't like when fire meets with computer usage. Geeks are not made to deal with insane problems such as these!

 

[dszd0g]

I agree with those that are saying it sounds like an electrolytic capacitor blowing. In one EE lab I had at school there were a few students who would take any electrolytic caps that other students had left in lab and proceed to hook them up backwards and blow them. It was generally pretty distracting to what I was trying to do But it was worth the entertainment. I can say I've seen quite a few electrolytic caps explode and that sounds like what happens.

For anyone reading this, do not try this at home. This was EE students fooling around. Do not hold it in your hand, I am talking about a litteral explosion that you could see with a couple of feet diameter of intense force and shrapnel(sp?) going in all directions. Everyone near by would wear safety glasses and no one was within 10 feet or so when they exploded.

I would not use that power supply anymore. Maybe it was a bad capacitor and if you opened it up and replaced it all would be good, but it is also possible that something else caused that capacitor to blow. Power supplies aren't expensive enough to be worth not replacing compared to the cost of the rest of the computer that could be damaged by continuing to use it.

I have to ask, after this happened what led you to believe that turning it back on would be a good idea?

 

[dszd0g]

Tom's Hardware Guide's new article, Inadequate and Deceptive Product Labeling: Comparison of 21 Power Supplies shows a good picture on the first page of the electrolytic capacitors for the switching regulator, one of which probably exploded in your case. In the picture, the two big black cylinder things are electrolytic capacitors (or at least look like it to me from the picture). As pointed out in that article, that generally happens with cheap power supplies when one overloads them. I would replace that power supply with one that can handle a higher load.