Question Turning on power supply switch, trips the circuit

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Z

zm210803

Reputable
Aug 10, 2018
11
0
4,510
I was using my PC for and was just surfing the web when suddenly my room’s circuit broke and my entire room went dark. After turning the breaker on and off. I tried turning the pc on again after half an hour. This time the moment I flipped the power supply switch, the circuit tripped again. I have not tried turning it on again. What are the possible causes for this? My pc is 3-4 years old and has been working fine so far. PSU is 700W
If it helps my country’s residential voltage is 230v

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cc3Z2V
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
vov4ik_il said:
Apparently, the PSU is either shorting or provides potential to the ground wire which trips residual current device ...
Click to expand...
Maybe. A ground fault interrupter (US term) could be the problem. Or the breaker could be faulty. Or there could be too much load on the circuit. An electrician should be contacted to ensure the building infrastructure is operating properly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vov4ik_il
Upvote 0 Downvote
rgd1101 said:
what else is running on the same circuit?
Click to expand...

nothing major, just a few lights and a fan. Nothing new that wasn’t there
vov4ik_il said:
Apparently, the PSU is either shorting or provides potential to the ground wire which trips residual current device ...
Click to expand...
kanewolf said:
Maybe. A ground fault interrupter (US term) could be the problem. Or the breaker could be faulty. Or there could be too much load on the circuit. An electrician should be contacted to ensure the building infrastructure is operating properly.
Click to expand...

could either of you please explain in more layman terms
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
zm210803 said:
nothing major, just a few lights and a fan. Nothing new that wasn’t there



could either of you please explain in more layman terms
Click to expand...
I don't know what country you are in, but with 230VAC mains, it is not the US. In the US, there are regulations that require some mains outlets to have protection devices. One of them is called a ground fault interrupter (GFI). If current is sensed between the hot and ground then the breaker trips. Your country may not have any requirements like this.
Breakers do wear out. They have springs and metal that heats up based on the amount of electricity flowing. Those components can wear out. An electrician can put a meter on the circuit an read the current in the circuit compared to the rating on the breaker (and the size of the wire). An electrician can then determine if the current is actually too high or if the breaker is tripping at a lower than designed current load. Without knowing the rating on the breaker and the actual current load, if the electrical infrastructure status can't be made.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Residual Current Devices are sort of protection against electrocution and electrical fires. If you touch a phase wire with your bare hand, there will be a current flow from phase to ground (cooking your body). Those devices (also called differential automatic circuit breakers) compare the current flow on the “hot wire” (phase, ~) and the “return wire” (zero, 0) and if those do not match - it trips, stopping the flow. “Sort of protection” because touching both wires will not trip it.

In some cases a faulty appliance or bad/improper wiring will provide potential to and create current to the ground, bypassing the “return”, which will trip the breaker.
In many countries it is either mandatory or strongly advised installing RCD breakers (not sure if GFI works same way or a similar US term). Many switching PSU will have a built-in protection too.
Have a look at the breaker that trips, it should have clear markings on it which would tell what type it is.

P.S. Here is an illustrated variant
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
zm210803 said:
I was using my PC for and was just surfing the web when suddenly my room’s circuit broke and my entire room went dark. After turning the breaker on and off. I tried turning the pc on again after half an hour. This time the moment I flipped the power supply switch, the circuit tripped again. I have not tried turning it on again. What are the possible causes for this? My pc is 3-4 years old and has been working fine so far. PSU is 700W
If it helps my country’s residential voltage is 230v

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cc3Z2V
Click to expand...
Take the pc to another room and test.
See if it pops the breaker for that room.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Update: I have tried turning the PC on in different rooms but it keeps tripping the circuit of that room. All other electrical appliances work fine in my house. Is it safe to assume that the problem is with the psu or should I call an electrician?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yup, if the breaker is tripping in other rooms following that PC it seems pretty self evident that something is up with it, specifically.

Might be worthwhile to take a look around inside the PC before replacing anything just to be sure you don't see any evidence of a short, something burnt, a bug that crawled across something, cat pee, so forth.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom