Dusted out my pc, now it barely works.

[Yoford]

Ok, second time writing this. First time my pc shut off in the middle of writing (more on that later).

 

So i decided to dust out my PC today. I like a nice clean pc and more airflow is better imo. I'm a pretty experienced system builder (used to work as a repair technician in a pc shop) so i'm pretty confident when it comes to disassembly and reassembly.

 

I took apart my pc and blew out all the dust using a balloon pump which has always been my go-to dusting tool due to its lack of static and reusability. After dusting everything out I put all my components back into my pc, i plugged it back into the wall and attached all my peripherals just as it was before i took it apart. I booted it up and after about 30 seconds on windows, the cursor froze and i got a back screen.

 

I started trouble shooting my problems by removing components (graphics card and non-essential drives) the best result i got was when my pc booted but my cpu was running at around 0.2 - 0.8 Ghz. After i had about 10 minutes of stability, i thought it would be a swell idea to come to the LTT forums to talk about my issue. Well like i said, half way through my writing, my pc flickered a black screen at me, and shut off. By this point i'd already come to the conclusion that my OCZ 550w psu from a few years ago had finally died. I think that my dusting may have caused this (oops). Either that or a motherboard fault, as unlikely as that would be, considering that the motherboard is the only part of my pc that i didn't remove. Is there anything i should be considering before going out and buying a new PSU?

 

I didn't post this in the power supply section of the forum because I'm honestly not 100% sure it's my PSU as likely as it might be.

 

Specs:

Core i5-6500 at 3.2Ghz

8gb DDR4-2133 ram

Gainward Phoenix GTX 1070 Graphics card.

MSI Mortar b150m Motherboard.

OCZ Fatal1ty 550w 50+ White power supply (RIP)

 

TLDR; Computer machine broke, might be psu. What do?

[ImNotThere]

test with a new psu? is there a possibility that you can use a "donor" system to transplant parts to make sure it all works to eliminate problems

[ImNotThere]

test with a new psu? is there a possibility that you can use a "donor" system to transplant parts to make sure it all works to eliminate problems

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

did you remove the static electricity from your body when you took it apart? 

 

and test it with another psu.

[Yoford]

1 minute ago, ImNotThere said:

test with a new psu? is there a possibility that you can use a "donor" system to transplant parts to make sure it all works to eliminate problems

Unfortunately, i don't have a spare PSU. None of my friends are the kinds of people to have power supplies lying around either. So I'm kinda screwed.

[Yoford]

Just now, firelighter487 said:

did you remove the static electricity from your body when you took it apart? 

 

and test it with another psu.

I always work with bare feet, and regularly ground myself on either a metal bench or the psu so static electricity was not the issue at all.

[Alesek]

it seems like PSU imho

 

other things that come into mind: did you take off your cpu cooler when dusting it? maybe you put it back on incorrectly

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

1 minute ago, Yoford said:

I always work with bare feet, and regularly ground myself on either a metal bench or the psu so static electricity was not the issue at all.

grounding yourself on the psu won't do anything if it's not plugged in.

[Yoford]

1 minute ago, Alesek said:

it seems like PSU imho

 

other things that come into mind: did you take off your cpu cooler when dusting it? maybe you put it back on incorrectly

Nah, never touched it. I did a bit of digging around in my bios to see if something changed and even reset the CMOS but to no evail.

[Yoford]

1 minute ago, firelighter487 said:

grounding yourself on the psu won't do anything if it's not plugged in.

It was plugged in ;p

plus i never experienced any static shocks during both disassembly or reassembly

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

you could try to unplug every power connector, and plugging it all back in.

1 minute ago, Yoford said:

It was plugged in ;p

plus i never experienced any static shocks during both disassembly or reassembly

i didn't know it was plugged in. also, you can have static shocks, even if you don't feel them or see them.

[Yoford]

Just now, firelighter487 said:

you could try to unplug every power connector, and plugging it all back in.

i didn't know it was plugged in. also, you can have static shocks, even if you don't feel them or see them.

Hm, well it could be possible that i zapped the psu without realising it. Which sucks because I'm always so careful about it.

[Alesek]

you could also try to disassemble the whole thing and run it outside of the case, in case there is a short somewhere

[cj09beira]

For static to kill anything you would need a strong shock and even just touching the case would be enough for the energy to dissipate with no harm done. 

I had a CPU in my pocket for 3 weeks and it still works fine

[cj09beira]

Plus zapping a psu is really hard as the psu's case will work like a Faraday'cage

[Yoford]

6 minutes ago, cj09beira said:

Plus zapping a psu is really hard as the psu's case will work like a Faraday'cage

So it's probably either just old age + me pushing it over the edge by being a little too rigorous with my cleaning like i first thought.

[A Silver]

56 minutes ago, Yoford said:

Unfortunately, i don't have a spare PSU. None of my friends are the kinds of people to have power supplies lying around either. So I'm kinda screwed.

Shame you aren't friends with me, I have a 550w psu lying around which I was too lazy to sell. Do you still have a warranty on your PSU?

[Aleks NE]

1 hour ago, Yoford said:

Ok, second time writing this. First time my pc shut off in the middle of writing (more on that later).

 

So i decided to dust out my PC today. I like a nice clean pc and more airflow is better imo. I'm a pretty experienced system builder (used to work as a repair technician in a pc shop) so i'm pretty confident when it comes to disassembly and reassembly.

 

I took apart my pc and blew out all the dust using a balloon pump which has always been my go-to dusting tool due to its lack of static and reusability. After dusting everything out I put all my components back into my pc, i plugged it back into the wall and attached all my peripherals just as it was before i took it apart. I booted it up and after about 30 seconds on windows, the cursor froze and i got a back screen.

 

I started trouble shooting my problems by removing components (graphics card and non-essential drives) the best result i got was when my pc booted but my cpu was running at around 0.2 - 0.8 Ghz. After i had about 10 minutes of stability, i thought it would be a swell idea to come to the LTT forums to talk about my issue. Well like i said, half way through my writing, my pc flickered a black screen at me, and shut off. By this point i'd already come to the conclusion that my OCZ 550w psu from a few years ago had finally died. I think that my dusting may have caused this (oops). Either that or a motherboard fault, as unlikely as that would be, considering that the motherboard is the only part of my pc that i didn't remove. Is there anything i should be considering before going out and buying a new PSU?

 

I didn't post this in the power supply section of the forum because I'm honestly not 100% sure it's my PSU as likely as it might be.

 

Specs:

Core i5-6500 at 3.2Ghz

8gb DDR4-2133 ram

Gainward Phoenix GTX 1070 Graphics card.

MSI Mortar b150m Motherboard.

OCZ Fatal1ty 550w 50+ White power supply (RIP)

 

TLDR; Computer machine broke, might be psu. What do?

22

Double or even triple check all the connections, if it doesn't help test it with another PSU.

[Gaurav S Rao]

On 10/10/2017 at 2:50 PM, Yoford said:

Ok, second time writing this. First time my pc shut off in the middle of writing (more on that later).

 

So i decided to dust out my PC today. I like a nice clean pc and more airflow is better imo. I'm a pretty experienced system builder (used to work as a repair technician in a pc shop) so i'm pretty confident when it comes to disassembly and reassembly.

 

I took apart my pc and blew out all the dust using a balloon pump which has always been my go-to dusting tool due to its lack of static and reusability. After dusting everything out I put all my components back into my pc, i plugged it back into the wall and attached all my peripherals just as it was before i took it apart. I booted it up and after about 30 seconds on windows, the cursor froze and i got a back screen.

 

I started trouble shooting my problems by removing components (graphics card and non-essential drives) the best result i got was when my pc booted but my cpu was running at around 0.2 - 0.8 Ghz. After i had about 10 minutes of stability, i thought it would be a swell idea to come to the LTT forums to talk about my issue. Well like i said, half way through my writing, my pc flickered a black screen at me, and shut off. By this point i'd already come to the conclusion that my OCZ 550w psu from a few years ago had finally died. I think that my dusting may have caused this (oops). Either that or a motherboard fault, as unlikely as that would be, considering that the motherboard is the only part of my pc that i didn't remove. Is there anything i should be considering before going out and buying a new PSU?

 

I didn't post this in the power supply section of the forum because I'm honestly not 100% sure it's my PSU as likely as it might be.

 

Specs:

Core i5-6500 at 3.2Ghz

8gb DDR4-2133 ram

Gainward Phoenix GTX 1070 Graphics card.

MSI Mortar b150m Motherboard.

OCZ Fatal1ty 550w 50+ White power supply (RIP)

 

TLDR; Computer machine broke, might be psu. What do?

Check if out and the thermal paste didn't become dry lol

[Yoford]

31 minutes ago, A Silver said:

Shame you aren't friends with me, I have a 550w psu lying around which I was too lazy to sell. Do you still have a warranty on your PSU?

Nah, 3 year warranty, 5 years old. Besides, i was gonna upgrade anyway, I have bigger ambitions than what 550w can supply </3

[Yoford]

Necro time: Bought a new PSU and pc works perfectly lul