[SOLVED] Is it safe to use some parts of a short circuited desktop?

[wolfblood]

I think that I accidentally short circuit my motherboard along with my power supply.

This what happened:

I bought a new power supply as a replacement from my previous psu.

In the first boot (psu rgb not connected), it works then I turn it off. Afterwards, I connect the psu's rgb to the motherboard but then I tried to boot it up, It open briefly (1-2sec) with a spark sound in the 8pin then automatically turn off along with the psu.

I tried to jump start the psu but it seems to be dead.

I tried to power on the motherboard with the old psu but it doesn't open at all, no flash of lights at all.

I have no other desktop in order to test the other parts (ram,ssd,cpu,hdd), but I'm planning to buy a new motherboard.

Is it safe to use the cpu, ssd, ram, & hdd even they don't have burnt marks? or should I just buy all new parts?

 

[TerryLaze]

It is safe because as you have noticed they just stop working they can't do anything else.

If you are afraid you can buy a cheap junk PC from goodwill or a thrift store to test things out but then you are in danger of the PSU blowing up again and burning out other things.

Did you find out why it blew? Why did you buy a replacement if your old one still works?

 

[drea.drechsler]

I think that I accidentally short circuit my motherboard along with my power supply.

This what happened:

I bought a new power supply as a replacement from my previous psu.

In the first boot (psu rgb not connected), it works then I turn it off. Afterwards, I connect the psu's rgb to the motherboard but then I tried to boot it up, It open briefly (1-2sec) with a spark sound in the 8pin then automatically turn off along with the psu.

I tried to jump start the psu but it seems to be dead.

I tried to power on the motherboard with the old psu but it doesn't open at all, no flash of lights at all.

I have no other desktop in order to test the other parts (ram,ssd,cpu,hdd), but I'm planning to buy a new motherboard.

Is it safe to use the cpu, ssd, ram, & hdd even they don't have burnt marks? or should I just buy all new parts?

It might be OK but I'd bring it up one step at a time to minimize possible problems.

Attach the motherboard to the PSU, case and fans without CPU, GPU, memory or drives. Then attach power to the PSU and turn it on. It should spin fans and flash LED's...if you attached a system speaker it should beep the error codes at you because of all the missing parts. If that works then shut down and install CPU and try again, then memory and drives, finally GPU. Obviously, only once everything is installed will it function normally but you at least get to see if it spins fans and lights LED's without shutting down.

If something else was damaged it would most likely be in the motherboard VRM circuit, so you'd want to see that first to prevent damaging the CPU. But the drives, GPU and memory VRM's also use +12V from the PSU so installing them one at a time helps you identify if any of them were damaged when the PSU blew.

 

[geofelt]

If there was a flash short, I would say that nothing is perfectly safe.

What is the make/model of the parts in question?

What parts are you planning to buy?

What is your budget?

 

[wolfblood]

If there was a flash short, I would say that nothing is perfectly safe.

What is the make/model of the parts in question?

What parts are you planning to buy?

What is your budget?

My motherboard is aorus b460 pro ac, I have bought it on brand new sale and works perfectly fine

My cpu is pentium gold g6400 (10th gen)

I'm planning to buy another motherboard, I'm hoping that the cpu, ssd, hdd, and ram are safe.

 

[wolfblood]

It is safe because as you have noticed they just stop working they can't do anything else.

If you are afraid you can buy a cheap junk PC from goodwill or a thrift store to test things out but then you are in danger of the PSU blowing up again and burning out other things.

Did you find out why it blew? Why did you buy a replacement if your old one still works?

I buy new psu because the previous psu (generic) make some weird noise since the brownout/power outage and it I only got that as a freebie from the case

I forgot to remove the other rgb connector of psu from motherboard, therefore I have put the two rgb sync connector of psu to my motherboard. (To be clear, it is only one rgb sync connector from psu but with two different end connector but accidentally plug both of them)

I regret for not checking it again before powering it on.

Do you think that my cpu, ssd, ram, hdd are also dead?

 

[wolfblood]

It might be OK but I'd bring it up one step at a time to minimize possible problems.

Attach the motherboard to the PSU, case and fans without CPU, GPU, memory or drives. Then attach power to the PSU and turn it on. It should spin fans and flash LED's...if you attached a system speaker it should beep the error codes at you because of all the missing parts. If that works then shut down and install CPU and try again, then memory and drives, finally GPU. Obviously, only once everything is installed will it function normally but you at least get to see if it spins fans and lights LED's without shutting down.

If something else was damaged it would most likely be in the motherboard VRM circuit, so you'd want to see that first to prevent damaging the CPU. But the drives, GPU and memory VRM's also use +12V from the PSU so installing them one at a time helps you identify if any of them were damaged when the PSU blew.

In the back part of the mobo, around the vrm. There is one with hardened leaked, may one of the capacitor.

Does my cpu damaged as well? How about my ram, ssd, hdd?

 

[drea.drechsler]

In the back part of the mobo, around the vrm. There is one with hardened leaked, may one of the capacitor.

Does my cpu damaged as well? How about my ram, ssd, hdd?

Can you post a picture of the area of the motherboard with the hardened leak?

It's impossible to say with any certainty the CPU and other parts are failed without testing.

 

[wolfblood]

Can you post a picture of the area of the motherboard with the hardened leak?

It's impossible to say with any certainty the CPU and other parts are failed without testing.

Can you post a picture of the area of the motherboard with the hardened leak?

It's impossible to say with any certainty the CPU and other parts are failed without testing.

this is the hardened leak...but upon checking the cpu, it does not have any burn marks

 

[drea.drechsler]

this is the hardened leak...but upon checking the cpu, it does not have any burn marks

That appears to be oils from the thermal pad between the FET's and heatsink on topside. It's not uncommon at all for the oils to ooze out of the pads and seep through the motherboard to bottomside. It's much more common on older boards, or those that have been run at high temperatures for extended periods.

It's presence alone doesn't make a high possiblity there's VRM damage. But the solder joint it surrounds does look a bit strange, possibly because of the light though. If it were my board I'd touch that joint with a soldering iron to reflow the solder on the chance it's not making reliable connection.

 

[wolfblood]

That appears to be oils from the thermal pad between the FET's and heatsink on topside. It's not uncommon at all for the oils to ooze out of the pads and seep through the motherboard to bottomside. It's much more common on older boards, or those that have been run at high temperatures for extended periods.

It's presence alone doesn't make a high possiblity there's VRM damage. But the solder joint it surrounds does look a bit strange, possibly because of the light though. If it were my board I'd touch that joint with a soldering iron to reflow the solder on the chance it's not making reliable connection.

This is another photo, it is near at the bottom of ram slots.

Since it does not boot again, I tried to plug the old psu and jump start the mobo with screw driver, however even I fastly remove the contact of screw driver to the pins, some of part there just light up (like about to burn for a few seconds) then little smoke comes up. (I totally regret again after doing this)

I hope that my cpu, ssd, ram, and hdd are fine.

 

[drea.drechsler]

....
Since it does not boot again, I tried to plug the old psu and jump start the mobo with screw driver, however even I fastly remove the contact of screw driver to the pins, some of part there just light up (like about to burn for a few seconds) then little smoke comes up. (I totally regret again after doing this)
..

Photo not needed...the unexpected release of smoke is enough for me to consider the motherboard bad enough to bin it and get a new one. Don't regret doing this, that's what you had to do to find out.

Frankly, it's impossible to say with any certainty that the CPU, RAM, GPU and drives are unaffected. I'd want to try them one at a time in a junk system first if it's possible.

 

[wolfblood]

Photo not needed...the unexpected release of smoke is enough for me to consider the motherboard bad enough to bin it and get a new one. Don't regret doing this, that's what you had to do to find out.

Frankly, it's impossible to say with any certainty that the CPU, RAM, GPU and drives are unaffected. I'd want to try them one at a time in a junk system first if it's possible.

Thanks for the info, i call a technician to checkout the parts before I proceed which are the things should I buy to have a working desktop again.

 

[wolfblood]

Photo not needed...the unexpected release of smoke is enough for me to consider the motherboard bad enough to bin it and get a new one. Don't regret doing this, that's what you had to do to find out.

Frankly, it's impossible to say with any certainty that the CPU, RAM, GPU and drives are unaffected. I'd want to try them one at a time in a junk system first if it's possible.

My new mobo just arrived, which is MSI b460m-a pro.

After installing the cpu, ram, and ssd from the previous build, I turn it on and it turns out that the cpu and ram are also dead but the new mobo is not affected.

the new mobo has EZ Led Debug which shows what component prevents the desktop from booting

I hope that the ssd is safe though since there is no indication on that ez led debug about the bootable device (ssd)


if the ssd/m.2 is also dead, what could possibly it cause/harm the new desktop if I try to use it?

 

[drea.drechsler]

...
if the ssd/m.2 is also dead, what could possibly it cause/harm the new desktop if I try to use it?

Most likely nothing. But there is a chance it might damage the VRM on the motherboard that is used to downconvert the +12V from the PSU to the voltage it needs. If you have access to one, trying it in a junk system first would be a good way to gain confiidence it won't harm your new motherboard.

 

[wolfblood]

Most likely nothing. But there is a chance it might damage the VRM on the motherboard that is used to downconvert the +12V from the PSU to the voltage it needs. If you have access to one, trying it in a junk system first would be a good way to gain confiidence it won't harm your new motherboard.

I haven't tested the case fans from the previous build, is it possible that they may have been damaged too? If so, is it possible that they can damage ng new mobo?

 

[drea.drechsler]

I haven't tested the case fans from the previous build, is it possible that they may have been damaged too? If so, is it possible that they can damage ng new mobo?

Way less likely...really, not likely at all. Fans are very robust and perfectly comfortable operating at +12V. Since +12V is the highest voltage available in the system, outside the PSU case of course, there's not much likely hood you could have damaged a fan.

 

[wolfblood]

Way less likely...really, not likely at all. Fans are very robust and perfectly comfortable operating at +12V. Since +12V is the highest voltage available in the system, outside the PSU case of course, there's not much likely hood you could have damaged a fan.

Since some of the new components/parts of the new desktop haven't arrived yet, I just want to know if the HDD from the previous build is safe to use?

I haven't test it out and I'm afraid that it might cause damage to the other parts if it is also affected from the previous build

I'm hoping that I could still use it since I store most of my projects, activities, and assignments there.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Since some of the new components/parts of the new desktop haven't arrived yet, I just want to know if the HDD from the previous build is safe to use?

I haven't test it out and I'm afraid that it might cause damage to the other parts if it is also affected from the previous build

I'm hoping that I could still use it since I store most of my projects, activities, and assignments there.

HDD is probably safe to use again even if it's damaged. It's power input comes directly to the PSU and doesn't risk the motherboard. If it's shorted internally a modern PSU of decent quality should have short circuit protection and simply shut down...or not turn on.

 

[wolfblood]

HDD is probably safe to use again even if it's damaged. It's power input comes directly to the PSU and doesn't risk the motherboard. If it's shorted internally a modern PSU of decent quality should have short circuit protection and simply shut down...or not turn on.

My new desktop is working now but I still not using the old hdd since the sata to usb converter haven't arrived (cause I gonna test the old hdd with the old android device which support otg)

However...On my new desktop, sometimes the screen randomly turn off then on. Only the display, the fans are still running and when it turns on the display is still on what I am doing (like surfing the net).

There are also instances that when the avr makes a tickle or buzz sound briefly, the display turn off then on but I can still resume on what activity I'm doing

But this screen off then on only occurs once, everytime I use the desktop. Once it happens, it doesn't repeat.

For the meantime, I'm only using igpu of the cpu (pentium g6400)

I want to make sure on what component to return for replacement, what do you think it is?