Booting up SOMETIMES trips the breaker

[and.m.daw]

I tried searching the forums but no one seemed to have my particular problem. It is an Antec 620 HCG.

When I press the boot up button on my tower it sometimes immediately trips the breaker requiring me to go to the circuit breaker and switch it back on. Sometimes I have to repeat this multiple times. We have had the outlet checked with one of those outlet checkers and it says the wiring is fine. As far as I can tell, the only outlets on the breaker are a USB charger, 2 monitors, a TV which is always off, and the PC.

The breaker DOES NOT trip while the PC is under heavy load. However, after a few hours of being on (even completely idle) I often get a memory_management BSOD within minutes - especially after launching something intensive. If I immediately reboot it will give me the same BSOD within 30 minutes. But the next morning I will be able to have a few hours before this repeats again. This, to me, strongly suggests a hardware issue - possibly overheating.


I don't know if these are related. Is it possible a defective PSU would be the source of both the tripping of the breaker and the BSODs? What would be my next step?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, that is likely a bad/failing PSU.
Swap in a new one, before that one dies and maybe kills some other components.

 

[BFG-9000]

Try swapping the breakers in the breaker box with another that's the same amperage.

Once a circuit breaker has been tripped enough times, it can develop a sort of hair-trigger and trip with any sudden inrush of current, but still work fine on other circuits with the rated load but a less sudden turn-on. With the bimetallic type of breaker this may be due to a simple rise in heat because the contacts pit when used to break the circuit, and this means extra resistance, which of course means more heat. With the electromagnet type breaker this can simply be due to the mechanical switch loosening up from use!