[SOLVED] Mini PC (NUC) shuts off randomly ?

[xtrips]

Hello,
I have this rather new mini pc, the chinese kind, brandless, out of warranty though. From the very beginning it had these random but very frequent sudden power off. As if unplugged from the AC socket.
After some verifications I made I can say for sure that:

• it is not the OS. Reinstalled from scratch many times.
• it is not the SSD or nVME. Been switching and swapping them.
• it is not the external power supply.
• it is not the cooling system. At least I can say that the fan is working fine.

So it can be either the CPU, the motherboard, the contact between the fan and the CPU, or the sole RAM stick installed.

When using the PC I never know when it will shut off, but I can cause a shut off simply by trying to run a stress test from an online web site. It shuts off instantly.
I would like to know how I could determine what is at fault. Sending it for repair is out of the question.

 

[vov4ik_il]

It might be your power brick is on the way out… how did your cross it out? Did you tap into it to see what it looks like under load?

 

[LazerTechX]

Hello,
I have this rather new mini pc, the chinese kind, brandless, out of warranty though. From the very beginning it had these random but very frequent sudden power off. As if unplugged from the AC socket.
After some verifications I made I can say for sure that:

• it is not the OS. Reinstalled from scratch many times.
• it is not the SSD or nVME. Been switching and swapping them.
• it is not the external power supply.
• it is not the cooling system. At least I can say that the fan is working fine.

So it can be either the CPU, the motherboard, the contact between the fan and the CPU, or the sole RAM stick installed.

When using the PC I never know when it will shut off, but I can cause a shut off simply by trying to run a stress test from an online web site. It shuts off instantly.
I would like to know how I could determine what is at fault. Sending it for repair is out of the question.

Sounds like a thermal or power issue, first off, what temps are you getting? On some systems the fan can still work perfectly fine but its already overheating, may be because of dust buildup, dried thermal paste or something along those line. Check if the temps on your CPU are well within spec.

For a power issue, Listen if you can hear noises from your power brick, if it makes an audible noise, its likely on its way out due to overheating or dirty power. If you dont have a surge protector or something like that, its possible over time dirty power caused the brick to get damaged.

Lastly, I would say its the motherboard due to dirty power.

These are the problems I saw when fixing laptops over the years and Mini PCs aren't as far from a laptop so maybe its one of those problems.