If a just built PC goes bang on power-up...

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

On 23 Nov 2004 20:42:24 GMT, darnit7@aol.comnolitter (PawsForThought)
wrote:


>My Thermaltake psu doesn't have a switch either and is automatic.

Yea, here's what Zalman says about it.

http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product/view.asp?idx=76&code=015
Simplifying Source Input - Free Voltage
Unlike products with Passive PFC, where you have to set the operating
voltage (115VAC / 230VAC) with a manual switch, this product can be
used with any normal AC input source ranging from 100VAC to 240VAC.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Most likely a voltage selection issue, or fault on the PCB.
o Very cheap PSUs have a horribly high DOA rate
o They often are not fully ATX compliant re protection

A quiet fizz is the filter, a louder noise the big primary electrolytics.

This is where ATX compliance matters 🙂
o ATX compliant PSUs should tolerate full circuit by shutting down
---- on removal of the short-circuit the PSU should be undamaged
o ATX compliant PSUs should not emit smoke, matter or such like
---- some smoke is however inevitable in some component failures
o ATX compliance says nothing about voltage selector protection
---- unfortunate, since 220V on 110V damages PSU primary side


I mention ATX as recoverable on short-circuit for another reason:
o Laptop-brick & DC-to-DC convertor boards are becoming popular
---- 120-200W in a tiny board board, £20 for 200W versions
o Many convertor boards are not quite ATX compliant
---- short-circuit is triggered at 120-200%, but is non-recoverable

Using a big 12V Industrial/DIN fanless PSU you can power many PC
boards silently, but short-circuit protection needs careful thought.

Hopefully damage is limited to the PSU.
--
Dorothy Bradbury

 

[terry]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

> Speaking of personal experiences, here's mine. Three of the computers
> I assembled for friends suffered lightning strikes this year, all of
> them Athlon XPs linked by a neighborhood network.
>
> The lightning bolt partially vapourised a (fortunately) disused
> cordless phone antenna on the roof of one of them. Smoke rose from the
> house and neighbors ran to see if anyone was hurt. One computer had a
> discrete LAN card which was destroyed while the other two had
> integrated LAN ports and the motherboards had to be replaced - mobo
> chips were literally blown apart and the network switch was a charred
> mess. But the CPUs and other components all survived and everything
> ran as usual the next day.
>
> Another computer, also an Athlon XP that I built for a local cable TV
> company, was damaged last year in a freak accident that caused 60V AC
> to be fed back to the computer via the video signal link. The mobo
> also had chips blown up and had to be replaced along with the PSU, HDD
> and RAM. The CPU survived and is still going strong today.

That's nothing, When i was serving over in Iracq i had an AMD based field
laptop top take a direct hit from a scud missile- then run over by a
(friendly) tank- all that was visibly left was the smoking AMD chip- apart
fron one slightly bent pin it was fine! - got it in my PC right now sending
this post!....;-)...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Mike Tomlinson <mike@NOSPAM.jasper.org.uk> wrote in
news😱vBJPjANr5oBFwJX@jasper.org.uk:

> In article <cnv47d$gjn$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk>, Fred Finisterre
> <finisterre@gmail.com> writes
>
>>Yeah, I was thinking that. i bought it from Ebuyer.com in the UK. Not
>>only was the voltage select switch set wrong, but it was suppled with
>>a mains cable that was wrong for the UK. I've noticed Ebuyer selling
>>non-Brit stuff before (I Bought a Creative MP3 player from them that
>>had a US style mains plug). I may try and claim from them, but they'll
>>probably claim that there there is a warning in the case manual (and
>>to be fair there is).
>
> I disagree. If it's sold for use in the UK, it has to be suitable for
> its intended market, therefore it should be sold with the switch
> correctly set.
>

I'm inclined to believe this. I cant provide any good links but generally
if you sell electrical stuff the end user should be able to plug it in with
no electrical risk. (One reason why we dont have to wire plugs anymore (*)
) Suppose something flew off and blinded the OP? If things are inclined to
bang when plugged in then the seller is responsible. IMO


(*) Those were the days. Trimming each wire to their different lengths.
Maknig sure the plug had a firm grip of the sleeve wire ..

--
Lordy

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

"Mike Tomlinson" <mike@NOSPAM.jasper.org.uk> wrote in message
news😱vBJPjANr5oBFwJX@jasper.org.uk...
> In article <cnv47d$gjn$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk>, Fred Finisterre
> <finisterre@gmail.com> writes
>
>>Yeah, I was thinking that. i bought it from Ebuyer.com in the UK. Not only
>>was the voltage select switch set wrong, but it was suppled with a mains
>>cable that was wrong for the UK. I've noticed Ebuyer selling non-Brit
>>stuff
>>before (I Bought a Creative MP3 player from them that had a US style mains
>>plug). I may try and claim from them, but they'll probably claim that
>>there
>>there is a warning in the case manual (and to be fair there is).
>
> I disagree. If it's sold for use in the UK, it has to be suitable for
> its intended market, therefore it should be sold with the switch
> correctly set.
>
> In your situation, I'd change the switch to 230V and raise a RMA with
> ebuyer. Just say the PSU went bang on power up (this is a fairly common
> failure mode even when the switch is correctly set); don't tell them the
> switch was wrong.
>
> The Antec True 380 is a nice PSU, it'd be worth getting a replacement
> under warranty. They're almost 60 quid new.
>
> --
> .sigmonster on vacation
>
>

Not to mention that they're a customised version designed for extra
quietness.


---
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

"Martin G.1.0" <ghz1866@nospamplease.org.invalid> wrote in message
news:41a3d524$0$31512$9a6e19ea@unlimited.newshosting.com...
>
>
> "Zotin Khuma" <zotin_k@rediffmail.com> wrote in message
> news:304fc392.0411231241.485af2ea@posting.google.com...
>> "I.P.Freely" <i.p.freely@spamblockdsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
>> news:<41a3585f$0$10003$cc9e4d1f@news-text.dial.pipex.com>...
>>
>> ......<snip>.......
>>>
>>> I am just putting into writing my own experiences. Would you rather me
>>> lie?
>>
>> Speaking of personal experiences, here's mine. Three of the computers
>> I assembled for friends suffered lightning strikes this year, all of
>> them Athlon XPs linked by a neighborhood network.
>>
>> The lightning bolt partially vapourised a (fortunately) disused
>> cordless phone antenna on the roof of one of them. Smoke rose from the
>> house and neighbors ran to see if anyone was hurt. One computer had a
>> discrete LAN card which was destroyed while the other two had
>> integrated LAN ports and the motherboards had to be replaced - mobo
>> chips were literally blown apart and the network switch was a charred
>> mess. But the CPUs and other components all survived and everything
>> ran as usual the next day.
>>
>> Another computer, also an Athlon XP that I built for a local cable TV
>> company, was damaged last year in a freak accident that caused 60V AC
>> to be fed back to the computer via the video signal link. The mobo
>> also had chips blown up and had to be replaced along with the PSU, HDD
>> and RAM. The CPU survived and is still going strong today.
>
> I once had a bolt of lightning shoot out of my floppy drive, bounce off my
> cat, and then into my dog. Now my dog can fly, and my cat can make herself
> invisible whenever she wants to. Oh yeah, now both the dog and cat are
> able to talk now too.
> ;-)
>

Jesus you too were lucky, I once had this nuclear reactor go into
meltdown......


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.799 / Virus Database: 543 - Release Date: 20/11/2004

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Troll.

"TMack" <REMOVETHECAPStonymackin@bigfoot.com> wrote:

>Path: newssvr12.news.prodigy.com!newssvr11.news.prodigy.com!newscon03.news.prodigy.com!newsmst01a.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!not-for-mail
>From: "TMack" <REMOVETHECAPStonymackin@bigfoot.com>
>Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt
>Subject: Re: If a just built PC goes bang on power-up...
>Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 18:18:34 -0000
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>References: <cnts9d$4b5$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk> <41a2ef0e$0$15428$cc9e4d1f@news-text.dial.pipex.com> <Xns95AA178424622wisdomfolly@151.164.30.42> <41a30c1a$0$29084$cc9e4d1f@news-text.dial.pipex.com> <Xns95AA2CE7C46D3wisdomfolly@151.164.30.42> <MPG.1c0d2164edcb4685989d55@news.individual.net> <Xns95AA45D41B7B4wisdomfolly@151.164.30.48> <MPG.1c0d49af3a38e63989d5c@news.individual.net> <Xns95AA5059AEB45wisdomfolly@151.164.30.44> <MPG.1c0d57c26eb3bb15989d5d@news.individual.net> <Xns95AA59E2820Dwisdomfolly@151.164.30.48>
>X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de djzs1TWkqgNYFaONlm4A0gV97VYfT1/ZoYTlRWpnPzIfvIep4=
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>
>"John Doe" <jdoe@usenet.is.the.real.thing> wrote in message
>news:Xns95AA59E2820Dwisdomfolly@151.164.30.48...
>> Troll.
>
>Top-posting weirdo!
>
>Tony
>
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Troll.

Mike Tomlinson <mike@NOSPAM.jasper.org.uk> wrote:

>Path: newssvr12.news.prodigy.com!newsdbm03.news.prodigy.com!newsdst01.news.prodigy.com!newsmst01a.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!newshosting.com!nx02.iad01.newshosting.com!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!news.tele.dk!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!lnewsoutpeer01.lnd.ops.eu.uu.net!lnewsinpeer01.lnd.ops.eu.uu.net!bnewsoutpeer01.bru.ops.eu.uu.net!bnewsinpeer00.bru.ops.eu.uu.net!bnewspost00.bru.ops.eu.uu.net!emea.uu.net!not-for-mail
>Message-ID: <tPSI3vADt5oBFwLa@jasper.org.uk>
>Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 20:19:15 +0000
>From: Mike Tomlinson <mike@NOSPAM.jasper.org.uk>
>Reply-To: Mike Tomlinson <mike@jasper.org.uk>
>Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt
>Subject: Re: If a just built PC goes bang on power-up...
>References: <cnts9d$4b5$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk> <41a2ef0e$0$15428$cc9e4d1f@news-text.dial.pipex.com> <Xns95AA178424622wisdomfolly@151.164.30.42> <41a30c1a$0$29084$cc9e4d1f@news-text.dial.pipex.com> <Xns95AA2CE7C46D3wisdomfolly@151.164.30.42> <MPG.1c0d2164edcb4685989d55@news.individual.net> <Xns95AA45D41B7B4wisdomfolly@151.164.30.48> <MPG.1c0d49af3a38e63989d5c@news.individual.net> <Xns95AA5059AEB45wisdomfolly@151.164.30.44> <MPG.1c0d57c26eb3bb15989d5d@news.individual.net> <Xns95AA59E2820Dwisdomfolly@151.164.30.48> <MPG.1c0d606091fdae7e989d60@news.individual.net> <Xns95AA6065B9C20wisdomfolly@151.164.30.48>
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>
>In article <Xns95AA6065B9C20wisdomfolly@151.164.30.48>, John Doe
><jdoe@usenet.is.the.real.thing> writes
>>Troll.
>
>*plonk*
>
>--
>.sigmonster on vacation
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Did ebuyer ever give this guy his money back or what?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,uk.comp.homebuilt (More info?)

Mr Jessop wrote:
> Did ebuyer ever give this guy his money back or what?

I couldn't be bothered in the end. I needed the PC built quickly, as it was
for a client. A new PSU did the job - nothing else was fried. Interestingly,
I bought the replacement PSU from them (the exact same one that was in the
case originally) and it didn't have a voltage selector switch.

I raised a complaint via an enote, and they told me to fill in an RMA, but
didn't specifically say they would replace the case.

Cheers,

Fred.