Breaker Tripped, My PC Wont Turn Back On

[TX_Hazzrd]

So my breaker tripped a couple minutes ago and now my pc will not power on. The motherboard lights up to indicate power is going to it. The power button on the case will not turn it on. I also tried pressing the start button on the motherboard and that didnt start the PC either. Ive tried unplugging the PSU from the wall for a couple minutes then reconnecting and still nothing. I currently have it unplugged from the wall and im going to leave it like that for a bit and see if itll boot up after being off for a bit.

[StDragon]

It's possible the PSU is what tripped the breaker in the first place.

[TX_Hazzrd]

Just now, StDragon said:

It's possible the PSU is what tripped the breaker in the first place.

thats what i was thinking in the past but my pc has never tripped the breaker that i know of. its only when i have my tv on at the same time. the pc itself has never caused the breaker to trip. i replaced the psu a couple months ago but the breaker has still tripped occasionally so i know its not the psu

[CommanderAlex]

Any foul electrical smells from the PSU, as if it let out the magic smoke (of death)??

[TX_Hazzrd]

Just now, CommanderAlex said:

Any foul electrical smells from the PSU, as if it let out the magic smoke (of death)??

unless its already gone, no

[whm1974]

1 minute ago, TX_Hazzrd said:

thats what i was thinking in the past but my pc has never tripped the breaker that i know of. its only when i have my tv on at the same time. the pc itself has never caused the breaker to trip. i replaced the psu a couple months ago but the breaker has still tripped occasionally so i know its not the psu

That is unusual for a Breaker to trip using both a PC and TV at the same time.

[CommanderAlex]

Just now, TX_Hazzrd said:

unless its already gone, no

Ok, also, getting to your previous post above mine saying you replaced the PSU a couple months ago and the breaker trips occasionally, what else do you know is on this circuit with your computer?? Did you have your computer plugged into a surge protector?

[TX_Hazzrd]

1 minute ago, whm1974 said:

That is unusual for a Breaker to trip using both a PC and TV at the same time.

well theres many things in my room but not enough to excede a 20A breaker. my dad even switched the breaker with another room and its still tripped. so its either bad wiring in the walls or one of my devices is being funky.

[whm1974]

1 minute ago, TX_Hazzrd said:

well theres many things in my room but not enough to excede a 20A breaker. my dad even switched the breaker with another room and its still tripped. so its either bad wiring in the walls or one of my devices is being funky.

Sounds like the Wiring needs updated to Code or replaced. How old is the House?

[TX_Hazzrd]

1 minute ago, whm1974 said:

Sounds like the Wiring needs updated to Code or replaced. How old is the House?

house was built in the 70s. not sure exactly what year. but yeah weve suspected that for a while

[TX_Hazzrd]

5 minutes ago, CommanderAlex said:

Ok, also, getting to your previous post above mine saying you replaced the PSU a couple months ago and the breaker trips occasionally, what else do you know is on this circuit with your computer?? Did you have your computer plugged into a surge protector?

yes, pc is plugged into a surge protector power strip. there are 2 of those plugged into the same outlet. the list of things plugged into those are: PC, 2 monitors, speakers, xbox series x (rarely powered on), and a fan

[StDragon]

If something is throwing the breaker, then you're pulling too many amps through that circuit. A direct short will also trip it too. You might need to inspect each outlet that's on that circuit. When in doubt, seek a professional electrician.

[akio123008]

Are you sure it's a breaker? Or is it actually a ground fault interruptor (RCD)?

 

Breakers don't tend to trip all that often, that would involve quite high power draw or some short circuit, which are things that usually don't go unnoticed. Ground faults however are quite common and usually cause no other noticable effects.

[TX_Hazzrd]

1 hour ago, akio123008 said:

Are you sure it's a breaker? Or is it actually a ground fault interruptor (RCD)?

 

Breakers don't tend to trip all that often, that would involve quite high power draw or some short circuit, which are things that usually don't go unnoticed. Ground faults however are quite common and usually cause no other noticable effects.

i couldnt say for sure but i always have to flip the breaker back on

[TX_Hazzrd]

I figured it out. I pressed the "clear CMOS" button on the motherboard and it booted right up. (pressed it while the PC was powered on and all components connected)

[whm1974]

2 hours ago, TX_Hazzrd said:

I figured it out. I pressed the "clear CMOS" button on the motherboard and it booted right up. (pressed it while the PC was powered on and all components connected)

For some reason I forgotten about that one. The last time I did something like that, is when you pulled the battery out.

[Mavendow]

On 11/3/2021 at 4:12 PM, TX_Hazzrd said:

I figured it out. I pressed the "clear CMOS" button on the motherboard and it booted right up. (pressed it while the PC was powered on and all components connected)

While I am glad you got the issue resolved, I want to repeat @whm1974's advice - it sounds like the house's wiring needs to be brought up to code or replaced. Just two devices should not trip even a 15 amp breaker; at 120v that would be 1800 watts. This is a fire hazard which may put both your home and life at risk.

 

The only case where this is perhaps normal would be if the TV in question were an old plasma TV. Those draw a huge amount of wattage - a 50" plasma can draw 700 watts. In which case, you should consider putting your PC on another circuit so it won't be overloading the house's wiring.

[whm1974]

4 hours ago, Mavendow said:

While I am glad you got the issue resolved, I want to repeat @whm1974's advice - it sounds like the house's wiring needs to be brought up to code or replaced. Just two devices should now trip even a 15 amp breaker; at 120v that would be 1800 watts. This is a fire hazard which may put both your home and life at risk.

 

The only case where this is perhaps normal would be if the TV in question were an old plasma TV. Those draw a huge amount of wattage - a 50" plasma can draw 700 watts. In which case, you should consider putting your PC on another circuit so it won't be overloading the house's wiring.

Don't Plasma TVs tend to leak the plasma? AFAIK they haven't made those types of Displays in a few Decades.

[Mavendow]

On 11/4/2021 at 1:01 AM, whm1974 said:

Don't Plasma TVs tend to leak the plasma? AFAIK they haven't made those types of Displays in a few Decades.

Yep, wouldn't be common at all. Just mentioned it for the rare edge case. Also noticed I wrote "now" instead of "not," lol.

[TX_Hazzrd]

On 11/3/2021 at 7:33 PM, Mavendow said:

While I am glad you got the issue resolved, I want to repeat @whm1974's advice - it sounds like the house's wiring needs to be brought up to code or replaced. Just two devices should not trip even a 15 amp breaker; at 120v that would be 1800 watts. This is a fire hazard which may put both your home and life at risk.

 

The only case where this is perhaps normal would be if the TV in question were an old plasma TV. Those draw a huge amount of wattage - a 50" plasma can draw 700 watts. In which case, you should consider putting your PC on another circuit so it won't be overloading the house's wiring.

yeah my dad and i are both aware of the issue and its more than 2 devices in the room so its possible something is kicking on and jumping the power usage over the limit.
 

the biggest power users in my room would have to be

1) My TV which is an older plasma style TV that probably uses a decent amount of power

2) New insignia mini fridge which is likely the biggest energy user. its one of the 3 cu. ft. size too. (the old mini fridge i had would trip the breaker frequently so I replaced it)

3) My PC (obviously) its a 1000W psu, while nothing is likely drawing that much power its still a lot and I have overclocked my components.

4) many peripherals: 2 monitors, klipsch speakers, 2 honeywell fans, led lights around the ceiling, xbox series x under my desk, xbox one under the tv, an ethernet switch, phone charger, etc

 

Most of these are on simultaneously except the TV and the PC are rarely ever at the same time (and the xboxs are both in sleep mode)

generally the breaker trip happens when i turn on the tv while all other said devices are plugged in and powered on

 

But besides all this there likely is a wiring issue due to the age of the house, whether its out of code or just deterioration.

[TX_Hazzrd]

On 11/3/2021 at 5:36 PM, whm1974 said:

For some reason I forgotten about that one. The last time I did something like that, is when you pulled the battery out.

i had a friend recommend removing the battery but it was behind my gpu so i tried just pressing the CLR_CMOS button first and it worked!

[whm1974]

19 minutes ago, TX_Hazzrd said:

i had a friend recommend removing the battery but it was behind my gpu so i tried just pressing the CLR_CMOS button first and it worked!

Well to honest I didn't have to do this often. Only if I messed up the BIOS settings.

[Mavendow]

17 hours ago, TX_Hazzrd said:

yeah my dad and i are both aware of the issue and its more than 2 devices in the room so its possible something is kicking on and jumping the power usage over the limit.
 

the biggest power users in my room would have to be

1) My TV which is an older plasma style TV that probably uses a decent amount of power

2) New insignia mini fridge which is likely the biggest energy user. its one of the 3 cu. ft. size too. (the old mini fridge i had would trip the breaker frequently so I replaced it)

3) My PC (obviously) its a 1000W psu, while nothing is likely drawing that much power its still a lot and I have overclocked my components.

4) many peripherals: 2 monitors, klipsch speakers, 2 honeywell fans, led lights around the ceiling, xbox series x under my desk, xbox one under the tv, an ethernet switch, phone charger, etc

 

Most of these are on simultaneously except the TV and the PC are rarely ever at the same time (and the xboxs are both in sleep mode)

generally the breaker trip happens when i turn on the tv while all other said devices are plugged in and powered on

 

But besides all this there likely is a wiring issue due to the age of the house, whether its out of code or just deterioration.

 

Haha! How the heck! I seriously did not expect you to have an old Plasma TV! Omg. Since you do, that's the likely culprit. Your house's wiring is probably fine.

 

Explanation: 

• Plasma TVs use more electricity as they age on top of already being power-hungry. This is simply because hotter electronics use more electricity while older electronics tend to slightly degrade as well as collecting dust. Thus, an old plasma will always use slightly more electricity than a new plasma, and a new plasma uses much more electricity than any other TV model.
• PC power consumption is not flat; it can spike over the rating of the PSU in short bursts. Especially when overclocked. I don't know what your components are, but a 800w setup could potentially spike to 1100w when the CPU/GPU first kick in to load a program, before settling to their 800w rating.
• New mini-fridges use very little electricity unless they have a compressor - and newer ones typically do not have a compressor. Older models, however, would almost always have a compressor. So it's probably the PC/TV combo consuming most of the circuit's wattage; your old mini-fridge was probably okay, electrically speaking. It was likely pushing the circuit over its max rating when the compressor turned on with the PC/TV already active.

It appears you simply have too much on the circuit. Change which circuit your electronics are on and you should be alright.

 

Now, I am not an electrician, so if you still feel unsafe, getting an electrician to check the circuit is prudent. But I'm fairly confident the issue is an overloaded breaker.