Intermittent No Power Issues

[adman29]

Hello all, 

 

I have this fixed with my wife's PC, but this keeps coming up from time to time. Basically what will happen, is that the PC will randomly go into a no power no post state. Usually the computer will show signs of life -- lights on the power/reset buttons on the Motherboard, however it will not boot whenever power is pressed on those, or the case power switch. Every time we've troubleshot this, taking it to another outlet will cause those lights to go out, and it will not respond to any power on/power off attempts. At least one time this has happened, we have replaced the PSU, and that fixed it, but what I'm starting to notice is that it might be time. For todays fix we did the following:

 

Unplugged computer (lost all lights)

Took to another room to test, no power on, no lights

<went to grab breakfast>

Attempted to switch to another PSU (backup that was given as RMA), no power on, no lights. 

Attempted to switch to a known good PSU (mine, in my computer), no power on, no lights

Attempted to test by removing GPU

Tried PSU in my computer, it acted dead, I think that I just had the wrong cables hooked up for that test (mines an EVGA, hers is a Corsair, I think the 24pin cables are slightly different)

Tested all PSUs with the paperclip method, after some fiddling figured out that all worked as long as the right cables were plugged in

Attempted CMOS clear button on her PC

Tried RMA PSU with her computer, still didn't work

Tried original PSU with her computer, worked this time.

 

I believe from noticing it was dead to the end was probably 2.5 hours since we went to breakfast. I will also add, this happened with her old computer occasionally. I don't believe it's the outlet, as it tests fine with an outlet tester and also tests fine with a multimeter. I have the computer on a fairly nice Rocketfish surge protector as well. This has happened with storms, and when the weather's fine, but usually we notice it in the morning when she tries to turn on her computer. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

PC Specs:

Corsair RM750e

NZXT N7 B650E

Corsair Vengeance 16GB x2

AMD R7 7700

EVGA 1080Ti

[SundaySilence69]

3 minutes ago, adman29 said:

Hello all, 

 

I have this fixed with my wife's PC, but this keeps coming up from time to time. Basically what will happen, is that the PC will randomly go into a no power no post state. Usually the computer will show signs of life -- lights on the power/reset buttons on the Motherboard, however it will not boot whenever power is pressed on those, or the case power switch. Every time we've troubleshot this, taking it to another outlet will cause those lights to go out, and it will not respond to any power on/power off attempts. At least one time this has happened, we have replaced the PSU, and that fixed it, but what I'm starting to notice is that it might be time. For todays fix we did the following:

 

Unplugged computer (lost all lights)

Took to another room to test, no power on, no lights

<went to grab breakfast>

Attempted to switch to another PSU (backup that was given as RMA), no power on, no lights. 

Attempted to switch to a known good PSU (mine, in my computer), no power on, no lights

Attempted to test by removing GPU

Tried PSU in my computer, it acted dead, I think that I just had the wrong cables hooked up for that test (mines an EVGA, hers is a Corsair, I think the 24pin cables are slightly different)

Tested all PSUs with the paperclip method, after some fiddling figured out that all worked as long as the right cables were plugged in

Attempted CMOS clear button on her PC

Tried RMA PSU with her computer, still didn't work

Tried original PSU with her computer, worked this time.

 

I believe from noticing it was dead to the end was probably 2.5 hours since we went to breakfast. I will also add, this happened with her old computer occasionally. I don't believe it's the outlet, as it tests fine with an outlet tester and also tests fine with a multimeter. I have the computer on a fairly nice Rocketfish surge protector as well. This has happened with storms, and when the weather's fine, but usually we notice it in the morning when she tries to turn on her computer. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

PC Specs:

Corsair RM750e

NZXT N7 B650E

Corsair Vengeance 16GB x2

AMD R7 7700

EVGA 1080Ti

l Think problem may from you house surge protector,can you try Connect power but without surge protector?

[Fasauceome]

6 hours ago, adman29 said:

Tried PSU in my computer, it acted dead, I think that I just had the wrong cables hooked up for that test (mines an EVGA, hers is a Corsair, I think the 24pin cables are slightly different)

This could be a serious issue. You can't mix and match brands and modular power cables, they are proprietary. Without you diagnosing the original issue, you won't be able to know for sure. 

 

If you're going to test your system with a different power supply (which you definitely should) make sure to use the cables that are included with that power supply. 

[adman29]

8 hours ago, SundaySilence69 said:

l Think problem may from you house surge protector,can you try Connect power but without surge protector?

Did that when moving to the new room, still persisted.

[adman29]

2 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

This could be a serious issue. You can't mix and match brands and modular power cables, they are proprietary. Without you diagnosing the original issue, you won't be able to know for sure. 

 

If you're going to test your system with a different power supply (which you definitely should) make sure to use the cables that are included with that power supply. 

I got it tested with the right cables in the end, but it wasn't till the third attempt (second with right cables) that the system booted.

[Fasauceome]

5 minutes ago, adman29 said:

I got it tested with the right cables in the end, but it wasn't till the third attempt (second with right cables) that the system booted.

glad that you ruled that out. Worst case scenario is that mismatched power supply + cables = dead stuff so you dodged a bullet.

 

9 hours ago, adman29 said:

I believe from noticing it was dead to the end was probably 2.5 hours since we went to breakfast. I will also add, this happened with her old computer occasionally. I don't believe it's the outlet, as it tests fine with an outlet tester and also tests fine with a multimeter. I have the computer on a fairly nice Rocketfish surge protector as well. This has happened with storms, and when the weather's fine, but usually we notice it in the morning when she tries to turn on her computer

something about this makes me question the quality of power coming into/within your house, and if it fluctuates at times when you aren't able to catch it. it's also something that a surge protector may not protect against, because those are most often helpful for more severe power fluctuations, and some discrepancies may not be filtered out. Also will point out that surge protectors deteriorate over time, and if they have surge protected in the past, they are spent. I don't believe that's necessarily common knowledge.

 

I wouldn't recommend a UPS system since those can be pretty darn expensive, but do you have any other ways of changing the power conditions that the PC is exposed to? The lights going out fully when you turn the PC on raises an eyebrow as to the quality of your home's electrical quality.

[adman29]

So, it's not the lights of the house that turn off, it's the lights on the motherboard turned off fully, but your response made me think of something. I went to the outlet and checked it, and the live hot came out when I pulled it from the box. I have secured the wire firmly (the terminal was just fully unscrewed) and have secured the outlet in the box more securely. Hopefully that's what was causing it.