PSU Pops when I turn power on at the wall but PC is fine!

[Zenshien]

Hey there, so I have an EVGA 1000W Gold PSU.

So I have this weird issue where, when I turn on the power at the wall the PSU kind of pops, quite loudly.
However there's no sign of any sort of metallic or electrical smell and the PC still boots up fine afterward... I can't figure it out, but it worries the crap out of me -.-

atm, my current rig is--

MoBo: Asus Hero VIII
RAM: 16gb Corsair Vengeance
HDD: WD Black 1TB
GPU: EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SC
CPU: Intel I5-6600k
Keyboard: CoolerMaster Storm (Blue)
Mouse: Redragon Perdition

I can't find answers anywhere, all i seem to find is people saying their PSU exploded and PC won't power on... but mine pops and then still works fine - I should mention, the pop is from the PSU itself rather than the wall and the only changes i've made recently are switching my GPU from an R9 380 to the GTX 1060

Oh yeah, and nothing is Overclocked either

 

[GameFreak01048]

Hello!

Did it pop before you changed your GPU? What's the longest you've been on the PC once the PSU has popped?

It could be just electricity flowing into the PSU (random guess) but I wouldn't say that is normal, when you switch the mains on is the PSU switched off? I always make sure that I switch my PSU off and then the mains switch off and the reverse for when i'm turning the system on, as long as your pc acts normal when you use it I don't think it's particularly a problem just something a bit odd.

 

[Zenshien]

Hello!

Did it pop before you changed your GPU? What's the longest you've been on the PC once the PSU has popped?

It could be just electricity flowing into the PSU (random guess) but I wouldn't say that is normal, when you switch the mains on is the PSU switched off? I always make sure that I switch my PSU off and then the mains switch off and the reverse for when i'm turning the system on, as long as your pc acts normal when you use it I don't think it's particularly a problem just something a bit odd.

Hey there, it didn't pop before I changed the GPU, and yesterday I stayed on my PC all day without issue (from 1pm to around 2am)

Normally I leave the PSU switch on the PSU itself turned on, when I first installed the GPU, I did turn off the PSU switch and when I plugged it back in when I changed the GPU initially, and when I first installed the GPU I then turned the power switch on the PSU on, which is when it first occurred - I stood there looking at my PC thinking "Don't F-ing tell me that's just blown..." then I tried powering the PC on and it worked fine!

I spend the entire day gaming without issue!

 

[GameFreak01048]

Hello!

Did it pop before you changed your GPU? What's the longest you've been on the PC once the PSU has popped?

It could be just electricity flowing into the PSU (random guess) but I wouldn't say that is normal, when you switch the mains on is the PSU switched off? I always make sure that I switch my PSU off and then the mains switch off and the reverse for when i'm turning the system on, as long as your pc acts normal when you use it I don't think it's particularly a problem just something a bit odd.

Hey there, it didn't pop before I changed the GPU, and yesterday I stayed on my PC all day without issue (from 1pm to around 2am)

Normally I leave the PSU switch on the PSU itself turned on, when I first installed the GPU, I did turn off the PSU switch and when I plugged it back in when I changed the GPU initially, and when I first installed the GPU I then turned the power switch on the PSU on, which is when it first occurred - I stood there looking at my PC thinking "Don't F-ing tell me that's just blown..." then I tried powering the PC on and it worked fine!

I spend the entire day gaming without issue!

I think that because you have played on your PC for more than 12 hours (slight stress test! ) I think that everything should be alright, if you start to notice performance dips though or anything else out of the ordinary, then that will be something to be concerned about, but the popping thing is just an odd thing I believe, especially if your PC works normally regardless.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

It's probably just the relay in the power supply , nothing to worry about.

 

[GameFreak01048]

It's probably just the relay in the power supply , nothing to worry about.

You know your stuff, I can tell you know a HECK of a lot about power supplies so +1 for this here

 

[Zenshien]

Hello!

Did it pop before you changed your GPU? What's the longest you've been on the PC once the PSU has popped?

It could be just electricity flowing into the PSU (random guess) but I wouldn't say that is normal, when you switch the mains on is the PSU switched off? I always make sure that I switch my PSU off and then the mains switch off and the reverse for when i'm turning the system on, as long as your pc acts normal when you use it I don't think it's particularly a problem just something a bit odd.

Hey there, it didn't pop before I changed the GPU, and yesterday I stayed on my PC all day without issue (from 1pm to around 2am)

Normally I leave the PSU switch on the PSU itself turned on, when I first installed the GPU, I did turn off the PSU switch and when I plugged it back in when I changed the GPU initially, and when I first installed the GPU I then turned the power switch on the PSU on, which is when it first occurred - I stood there looking at my PC thinking "Don't F-ing tell me that's just blown..." then I tried powering the PC on and it worked fine!

I spend the entire day gaming without issue!

I think that because you have played on your PC for more than 12 hours (slight stress test! ) I think that everything should be alright, if you start to notice performance dips though or anything else out of the ordinary, then that will be something to be concerned about, but the popping thing is just an odd thing I believe, especially if your PC works normally regardless.

I didn't play the PC more than 12 hours before I changed the GPU - the GPU was delivered that morning before I booted up the PC so I changed it over, then powered up the PC and that's when I first noticed the pop (when i turned on the PSU switch)

Again, this morning, the PC had been powered off all night, I powered on the wall switch and the PSU popped again before I hit the PCs power switch.

 

[GameFreak01048]

Hello!

Did it pop before you changed your GPU? What's the longest you've been on the PC once the PSU has popped?

It could be just electricity flowing into the PSU (random guess) but I wouldn't say that is normal, when you switch the mains on is the PSU switched off? I always make sure that I switch my PSU off and then the mains switch off and the reverse for when i'm turning the system on, as long as your pc acts normal when you use it I don't think it's particularly a problem just something a bit odd.

Hey there, it didn't pop before I changed the GPU, and yesterday I stayed on my PC all day without issue (from 1pm to around 2am)

Normally I leave the PSU switch on the PSU itself turned on, when I first installed the GPU, I did turn off the PSU switch and when I plugged it back in when I changed the GPU initially, and when I first installed the GPU I then turned the power switch on the PSU on, which is when it first occurred - I stood there looking at my PC thinking "Don't F-ing tell me that's just blown..." then I tried powering the PC on and it worked fine!

I spend the entire day gaming without issue!

I think that because you have played on your PC for more than 12 hours (slight stress test! ) I think that everything should be alright, if you start to notice performance dips though or anything else out of the ordinary, then that will be something to be concerned about, but the popping thing is just an odd thing I believe, especially if your PC works normally regardless.

I didn't play the PC more than 12 hours before I changed the GPU - the GPU was delivered that morning before I booted up the PC so I changed it over, then powered up the PC and that's when I first noticed the pop (when i turned on the PSU switch)

Again, this morning, the PC had been powered off all night, I powered on the wall switch and the PSU popped again before I hit the PCs power switch.

SR-71 BlackBird has it on the money, he knows his stuff no doubt

 

[Zenshien]

It's probably just the relay in the power supply , nothing to worry about.

Cool - really hope so, It's worrying the crap out of me!
First time I've had this happen over 3 builds.

It didn't do it before I replaced my GPU - Is that normal too? :\

 

[James Mason]

Get a surge protector to be safe: https://www.amazon.com/APC-P11VT3-Performance-SurgeArrest-Protection/dp/B0012YLTR6

 

[Zenshien]

Well guys I just discovered something... and it's something that made me Facepalm like mad!
I found out that GameFreak01048 was bang on the money, it was the electricity flowing into the PSU!

What seems to have happened is---
When I changed my GPU, I used that as an excuse to move my computer table around, and when I set my computer back up, I had gotten the plug for my Monitor and PC switched around... Now, that might not sound like a big issue, HOWEVER, the End part which goes into the PSU and plugs into the 3 pins, is Shorter on my PSU cable than on the Monitor cable.

So the longer end length meant that the cable was loose (found out after I shutdown last night and I nudged the wire and it sparked!).

At that moment I decided "What the hell.. I'll give it a shot" - So I powered off the mains, switched the plugs and then powered the mains back on, no popping, no sparks or anything

TL;DR - The Popping was caused my the same sort of cable, but with a longer, looser fitting that goes into the PSU!