Loud poping sound then smell coming from computer, but now all is fine?

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Vekkao

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May 16, 2015
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So, it started when my power went off in my house. I didn't take it as anything serious, just went into the other room and laid down while I waited for it to come back on, then heard an incredibly loud noise from half way across the house. When I went into the room, I immediately smelled this sort of burning plastic like smell (no smoke or anything) presumably coming from my computer when it turned back on. I've had it on constantly for the past 3 days, but that shouldn't really be an issue since some people NEVER turn their computers off and my computer is pretty new, as well as I put it together myself and double checked everything. It had a faint smell still for a while but not really anything at all like at first. I'm typing this from that computer though still, and everything is working perfectly fine, but obviously I'm kind of worried about what's to come next. Can someone tell me what might have happened? What I may need to check?
 
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Dunlop0078


I would call EVGA and see what they say, I bet they will replace it.
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What power supply do you have? Make and model. A load electrical noise followed by the smell of burning electronics is never a good thing, im surprised it still works, I would definitely keep it off when your not home if you dont want to risk burning your house down. Its probably something in your power supply, if I heard something like that i would not even power on my pc again until i replaced the power supply.
 
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Hmm that is a very good power supply im surprised it would do this. I would call EVGA and tell them what happened, they may want to replace it for you.

If you smelled burning then something was burning, electronics dont like to be burned lol. So even if the psu is working well right now it may not be very soon especially if you have another power outage that causes a surge, which is probably what happened luckily it looks like your psu managed to soak it up I bet if you had a cheaper power supply the surge would have took it out along with some or all of your other components.
 
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Well... That's the thing. I mean, do you think it really is something bad? Something gone wrong with it? Most people say after they hear something like that, the computer is dead. This was a couple incredibly loud pops followed by one another, but nothing beyond that and the smell, and now it seems to be completely fine. Should I still get it checked?
 
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I would call EVGA and see what they say, I bet they will replace it.
 
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Solution
Power supplies aren't the only things that can go pop. Capacitors on the motherboard can explode too, as can caps on the other components such as a graphics card. You can't open up the power supply to check it (well, you can, but doing so almost always voids the warranty), but you can at least open up the computer and check the motherboard for burned capacitors.

I would recommend at least looking at the board before calling EVGA just to be sure it isn't the board that had an issue. For example, one of the power delivery caps might have failed ( they don't all necessarily have to be fully functional in some situations for the computer to still be at least partially usable, espcially under light loads).
 
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Well what would the burned capacitors look like? Would they just be charred, or what? I mean, it sounded like something basically exploded, but I've been using it on almost full load and everything is still running perfectly...
 
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A blown capacitor would have a bulge at the top of it, possibly with some liquid coming out of it. I personally wouldn't use the computer until you figure out exactly what happened. You could remove the PSU from the case, take it to another room and see if you can detect any burnt smell coming from it.
 
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You'd know them when you see them. Different types of capacitors go differently, but they're pretty much all going to show obvious signs of damage if they exploded. You might see burn marks, probably misshapen (like parts of the top are blown open, easy to see), etc. When you here an explosion in a computer, that's usually because a cap literally exploded.
 
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Well I just took the case off and looked at and smelled everything individually (don't judge me) and there were no blown capacitors, and when I took the power supply out to smell if there was any burning smell leftover, there was none. In fact it didn't seem like there was any anywhere, at all. The only thing I could think of that happened since it's never happened before, was something happened because of the power outage like someone suggested above, though I have a surge protector that the computer was plugged into. It happened literally right as everything turned on, but there is absolutely nothing showing any signs of something gone wrong anymore. Should I still attempt to call for a replacement on the PSU?
 
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If there is no apparent damage to the computer, are you sure there isn't something other than the computer which could have been damaged during the surge? I'm not comfortable recommending a new PSU before we rule out other possible problems. EVGA might not appreciate it getting sent to them to discover it is in good working order, if that's the case.
 
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No, I'm almost certain it was the computer. The only things I had hooked up were the speakers (which were off, so it wouldn't have been some loud static noise or something from them, I don't think, especially since it was followed by the smell), the monitor, the computer and a lamp. I stopped and thought for a moment whether the computer was actually on, or if I turned it on immediately as I walked into the room, since I was kind of panicked after I heard it and walked in and smell a strong burning-plastic scent... I mean, when everything else turned on, as it's the only thing I would have had to hit the power button for, but everything was plugged in such as the power cord to it, so there's still the possibility of something internal exploding as it did, since everything was still technically powered up. There was no smell coming from anything else (though I also no longer smell anything from the computer either), and I don't think it could have come from anything else mentioned above, as well as there was no smoke at all even from the computer itself. If it was anything else I would say by the sound of the pop (it sounded more like a burst of a few pops all at once) whatever it was wouldn't be working, but I could say that too if it were the computer, since if it was, it shouldn't be working either. I'm worried but I don't even know if I should be since I seemingly have no way of finding the problem... Because it doesn't look like there is one.
 
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It's an odd situation, to say the least. If one cap blows, then it's not surprising for more to blow right after it- that's pretty common. I just don't see how there would be no indication of something being wrong with the computer if the blown caps were inside it. There aren't many caps that can go pop (especially in numbers of more than one) and the computer just keeps chugging along like nothing happened. Even for those, they should be easy to see if they aren't enclosed, like in a PSU ( which should really not work if even a single cap goes bad as far as I'm aware).
 
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Was the computer (or anything else) plugged into a surge protector? If so, is the "surge protection" led still on? For example, I had an old surge protector with 2 leds-one red that shows there is power to the unit, and one green that indicates surge protected. When I had a power surge, the device did it's job protecting the electronic equipment, but now the green led is off, meaning the surge protection is no longer present. The red power led is on, so now the surge protector is just acting like a power strip with no surge protection. Surge protection, from what I understand, is a one-time thing. At least on lower end units.
 
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Do you know if your wall outlet is grounded? If its not a surge protector wont work. Like I said if it were me I would not just brush off a load electrical pop inside my computer.
 
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The surge protector was indeed on. The protector is actually in the wall, well, it's hooked up to be on the wall, in a sense. Everything else is plugged into it, and it works just fine. It's expensive for what it was and it's always worked as it should, so I don't see that being the problem, but I guess there's no real way to tell that either, but the computer was and is plugged into it. I know it's definitely not the monitor, well, assuming it is, as I said there's no real way to check, but I'd assume it wouldn't be working after a sound that loud, on something this fragile. I'm just kind of at a loss for what to think it may have been, though it's obviously worrying and I wanted some opinions on it. Though it seems like there's no way for anyone to tell, I mean if everything is working perfectly, and there's nothing that physically seems wrong... Nothing should be wrong. Sounds like that don't just happen for no reason though unfortunately.
 
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Some background on hardware. Normal is for a defective part (ie PSU, disk drive, etc) to work just fine even when defective. For example, that PSU could have been defective when purchased. Still boots a computer. But that defect would be obvious in minutes with a meter. Just one example only as an example. Since maybe 100 other possibilities exist.

Only useful fact is that something exploded and a smell was observed. Others then used wild speculation to accuse a capacitor or some other specific part. It could have been most any part - hundreds - including a bleed down resistor that one would never notice until a powered off and unplugged PSU shocked him.

Generally a part that makes a loud noise and smell has a visual indication. But sometime such events cannot be seen without a magnifying glass or something equivalent. It could even be a part located underneath another part on the motherboard. Only useful reply is that something has failed - most anything in that computer - not just a capacitor.

Nobody has any reason to even suspect a surge. Or that the protector did anything useful. An adjacent protector, on the other hand, can even make appliance damage easier.You have no reason to believe the protector did anything useful. Even reputation of a PSU is bogus. The most likely reasons for failure is always a manufacturing defect (from the best and worst manufacturers).

Did you examine every part inside the PSU including those held in place by all that goop spread over many parts? Did you know some parts inside that PSU can harm a human if its bleeder resistor failed? Did you know what to short out before touching anything inside that PSU?

And again, a defective PSU can still boot and operate a computer. And maybe cause other problems months later. Some parts only do functions after power off, only during an initial power on, or (for example) to protect AM radios and other appliances from interference. Meaning no one can suggest a solution without hard facts. Only useful recommendation is to suggest what to inspect and how (ie with your nose or a magnifying glass).

You know the smell. Best chance of finding that tiny defect is (unfortunately) close examination with your nose right down on individual parts - including motherboard and peripherals. Or using a magnifying glass to inspect everything. You know something burned. That is a fact made obvious by both sound and odor. Currently that is the only known fact. So every part remains suspect.

Good luck on that search.
 
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No properly designed PSU will cause 'load' damage for many reasons. After some 100 years of PSU development, that has long been an industry standard. PSU must even contain functions that operate separate from the rest of that PSU - so that a failed PSU cannot cause other hardware damage.

Of course, that means a computer assembler bought a supply that meets all those industry standards in writing. Some PSUs are dumped into the market missing those functions. Legal since a computer assembler (not the PSU manufacturer) is responsible for those required functions. PSU manufacturer can lie in any sales brochure or advertisement. But he cannot lie in one place - numeric specifications.

Required is for a PSU to fail and never damage its load (those other computer parts). An industry standard that has existed for decades.

BTW, if a failed PSU was going to damage other parts, then those other parts were damaged in less than a millisecond. Those other parts are already damaged.
 
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