Smoking wire

[Jtalk4456]

So to start, I am working on a coworkers pc. I get it plugged in and get 3 short post beeps which for an Intel mobo is ram error. I replace the ram, no post code, but no video either. I turned it off and tried again, post code is back. I take it apart clean it and put it back together. I plug in, turn it on and it's sounding so much quieter from cleaning. No post code, but still no video. I wait a sec since it's old, then I see smoke... 

I immediately kill power and turn on its side to find the source, which turns out to be a power wire going to a molex chain and 1 Sata (not being used) 

Has anyone had this happening and know how to Prevent it? Also for the video part, I'm thinking bad motherboard or gpu. Any ideas? 

[Jtalk4456]

[mariushm]

Disconnect that right away ... use some electrical tape to insulate that wire.

 

The insulation melts usually because the wire gets extremely hot, which happens when something is short circuited. Check and make sure no two wires are not in contact.

[Jtalk4456]

4 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Disconnect that right away ... use some electrical tape to insulate that wire.

 

The insulation melts usually because the wire gets extremely hot, which happens when something is short circuited. Check and make sure no two wires are not in contact.

it's been disconnected, but i can't find any wires touching. Could this be caused by an old PSU? This is a 2011 gateway were talking about here, so i'm not assuming anything to be in great condition

[Razor Blade]

is that a berg connector plugged into a fan header?

[Jtalk4456]

2 minutes ago, Razor Blade said:

is that a berg connector plugged into a fan header?

i plugged that in where i found it, i hadn't seen that type of connector before and thought it was an older fan connector. That's probably the cause for the short circuit right? How bad am I screwed then?

[mariushm]

Yeah, you have something connected in that fan header .... which is supposed to push energy from the motherboard to something. And you have a connector coming from the power supply going into that header pushing energy into the header ... it's like two people arm-wrestling, and the result is the weaker part (that cable) gets damaged by heating up

Maybe just that header is damaged , the psu could be damaged ... depends.

[Razor Blade]

3 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

i plugged that in where i found it, i hadn't seen that type of connector before and thought it was an older fan connector. That's probably the cause for the short circuit right? How bad am I screwed then?

Unplug it, pull off the rats nest of splitter adapters. Try again. Hopefully it didn't fry anything important.

 

If you're lucky the reason may have been the PSU may have been drawn down so much it didn't post....

[Jtalk4456]

1 minute ago, mariushm said:

Yeah, you have something connected in that fan header .... which is supposed to push energy from the motherboard to something. And you have a connector coming from the power supply going into that header pushing energy into the header ... it's like to people arm-wrestling

This is why i hate old connectors that I don't know. I'm wondering how it worked before, maybe not plugged in fully. 

[Jtalk4456]

ok assuming that only killed the wire, which i didn't need anyways, any ideas on the video not working once the ram was replaced

[Razor Blade]

Oh and make sure you separate any wires that melted together. If you're able to get the system to boot, either repair the PSU or replace it.

 

If it is a berg connector it is a power connector for a floppy drive.

 

Quote

ok assuming that only killed the wire, which i didn't need anyways, any ideas on the video not working once the ram was replaced

If it has integrated graphics, remove that AGP card, hook the cable directly to the motherboard VGA out and try it again.

[ARikozuM]

I don't know what "wire" is, but the CDC warns against smoking most things. 

Spoiler

They'll never take... OUR SAUSAGES!!!

 

[Tech_Dreamer]

Quote

 

 

The top capacitor looks overblown & the lower one slightly bulgy , that bulging usually comes from  bad power draw from PSU, Had this issue on my old sempron ECS mobo, had to get it replaced & got it working again , you should probably try that , i had it fixed from a 3rd party, wouldn't recommend that you do it yourself.

 

i'm not sure if it's the capacitor, because mine was way overblown than this , like the screw grooves were barely visible kinda blown up damage.

[Jtalk4456]

So It's working now. Apparently all i had to do was short it and it's fine now

I have to get some electrical tape tomorrow for the bad wire, but other than that it's done

4 minutes ago, Tech_Dreamer said:

The top capacitor looks overblown & the lower one slightly bulgy , that bulging usually comes from  bad power draw from PSU, Had this issue on my old sempron ECS mobo, had to get it replaced & got it working again , you should probably try that , i had it fixed from a 3rd party, wouldn't recommend that you do it yourself.

To clarify did you replace the PSU or did you get someone to replace the capacitor itself?

[Tech_Dreamer]

Just now, Jtalk4456 said:

So It's working now. Apparently all i had to do was short it and it's fine now

I have to get some electrical tape tomorrow for the bad wire, but other than that it's done

To clarify did you replace the PSU or did you get someone to replace the capacitor itself?

did both, had some cheap Chinese nameless 400 watts if i recall correctly , it worked for more than a year perfectly, then it showed random shutdowns & power loss, i tested out the mobo on another PSU from a relative wasn't starting up still, had a repair guy do the troubleshooting & figure it out for me .

[Jtalk4456]

ok this thing uses a 300W so that's cheap, how much did replacing a capacitor cost? Given it's not as bad as yours would you recommend it being worthwhile on a computer this old?

[Razor Blade]

Just now, Jtalk4456 said:

ok this thing uses a 300W so that's cheap, how much did replacing a capacitor cost? Given it's not as bad as yours would you recommend it being worthwhile on a computer this old?

If it works don't repair it.

[0x1e]

3 hours ago, Jtalk4456 said:

ok this thing uses a 300W so that's cheap, how much did replacing a capacitor cost? Given it's not as bad as yours would you recommend it being worthwhile on a computer this old?

Personally, it's not worth it.

Tell them the computer works fine for now, but expect it to die slowly. So use the time you've bought to save up for a new machine.

You should never use those splitter cables. They are 99% of the time cheap shit that either fall apart, melt or cause fires. Electrical tape will again only buy you time. The wire has already burnt tho it's insulation which is pretty thick plastic (compared to the wire), a thin piece of plastic will fare no better (electrical tape)

[Ace McPlane]

9 hours ago, Jtalk4456 said:

So It's working now. Apparently all i had to do was short it and it's fine now

I have to get some electrical tape tomorrow for the bad wire, but other than that it's done

To clarify did you replace the PSU or did you get someone to replace the capacitor itself?

I really would be giving up on this one at this point.

It's a really old computer at this point that's obsolete anyways.

If smoke came from it, it's dangerous to keep using.

It's the perfect excuse to build a new, modern machine.

 

If price is an issue, we can give some tips on how to save some cash.

GTX 970's for example go for like 150-200 used on Ebay and even support VR so you don't need to buy a brand new, super expensive graphics card to build a powerful rig.

[Jtalk4456]

2 hours ago, stateofpsychosis said:

I really would be giving up on this one at this point.

It's a really old computer at this point that's obsolete anyways.

If smoke came from it, it's dangerous to keep using.

It's the perfect excuse to build a new, modern machine.

 

If price is an issue, we can give some tips on how to save some cash.

GTX 970's for example go for like 150-200 used on Ebay and even support VR so you don't need to buy a brand new, super expensive graphics card to build a powerful rig.

Sadly it's not for me and the person doesn't have enough to get a new pc, even a dirt cheap one. This guy would struggle to find $50. I night have an old PSU sitting around that I can lend him if I can find it so he has a backup

[Ace McPlane]

2 hours ago, Jtalk4456 said:

Sadly it's not for me and the person doesn't have enough to get a new pc, even a dirt cheap one. This guy would struggle to find $50. I night have an old PSU sitting around that I can lend him if I can find it so he has a backup

I understand. I've been there. Glad I'm not anymore.

I was actually in the same boat when I built my 2nd last computer..

I quit some bad habits that were expensive like energy drinks and that money built up fast.

 

A new PSU won't help if you fried something on the motherboard though so be sure to think this through.

[Jtalk4456]

2 hours ago, stateofpsychosis said:

I understand. I've been there. Glad I'm not anymore.

I was actually in the same boat when I built my 2nd last computer..

I quit some bad habits that were expensive like energy drinks and that money built up fast.

 

A new PSU won't help if you fried something on the motherboard though so be sure to think this through.

As I have it working currently, I'm assuming nothing on the mobo got fried. 

[Ace McPlane]

4 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

As I have it working currently, I'm assuming nothing on the mobo got fried. 

Let's hope.

Keep a close eye on it for a while with it running to be sure it's okay.

Better safe than sorry right.

[Jtalk4456]

1 hour ago, stateofpsychosis said:

Let's hope.

Keep a close eye on it for a while with it running to be sure it's okay.

Better safe than sorry right.

amen

[Jtalk4456]

I'm getting stable video now, not sure what changed. I've got to check logs for a few errors to be safe, but it seems to be running for now