Omfg, Help

[lynx]

I'm with clocker on this one.

If the PSU is blown, then it must have been pretty poor quality in the first place. A basic requirement of any PSU is the ability to shut down before a dead short does any damage.

[clocker]

Not so, not with a direct short to the case. Unless a specific short occurs that redirects say 12volts to a 3 volt area of the mobo there should be no damage to the board unless its physical (from the fall) there is no 120volt ac to the board remember.
Huh?
There are about a million protruding contacts on a motherboard and at least half of them would cause a dead short if the live board touched a metallic case.
Pffftt!!
Your right about the replaceable fuse, at least as in from the outside. Thats why I told him how to get inside. When you send a supply thats dead in for repair or replacement what do you think they do?
I think they throw it away and send a new one.
Given the economies of production it would be cheaper to replace than open it up and troubleshoot a problem.
they open it up and change the fuse (it is replaceable, its in one of those pop out clamp type holders inside the unit. Some have more than one fuse in there).

Of all the PSUs I've personally opened up I have never seen a fuse in a clamp style holder- they have all been soldered in.

[Chewie]

Not so, not with a direct short to the case. Unless a specific short occurs that redirects say 12volts to a 3 volt area of the mobo there should be no damage to the board unless its physical (from the fall) there is no 120volt ac to the board remember.
Huh?
There are about a million protruding contacts on a motherboard and at least half of them would cause a dead short if the live board touched a metallic case.
Pffftt!!
Your right about the replaceable fuse, at least as in from the outside. Thats why I told him how to get inside. When you send a supply thats dead in for repair or replacement what do you think they do?
I think they throw it away and send a new one.
Given the economies of production it would be cheaper to replace than open it up and troubleshoot a problem.
they open it up and change the fuse (it is replaceable, its in one of those pop out clamp type holders inside the unit. Some have more than one fuse in there).

Of all the PSUs I've personally opened up I have never seen a fuse in a clamp style holder- they have all been soldered in.

Some years ago I had an AT PSU with a replaceable fuse but every one (all ATX, BTW) I've opened since hasn't. I just grabbed the fans (yeah I'm a tight old git!) then junked them.

[Appzalien]

Geeze, Sorry I tried to help. Next time I'll let you brainy experts get them to spend their money instead of being a little adventurous.

[clocker]

Geeze, Sorry I tried to help. Next time I'll let you brainy experts get them to spend their money instead of being a little adventurous.

Didn't mean to be heavyhanded and I completely approve of healthy curiousity but...

What happens if young Seedy does open up the PSU, finds that the fuse is soldered in (which I can almost guarantee it will be) and somehow manages to replace it?
We already know the lad has no PSU tester- else there wouldn't be a reason to post in the first place- so how to see what's what? Plug into the motherboard which leapt off it's moorings and is possibly dead (and IMO, almost certainly damaged)?

That combo fails to POST but you (he) still doesn't know which, if not both, components are at fault.
So, he could test the PSU with his friend's PC but if the supply is faulty it may not POST OR it may take that motherboard out as well.
So...still no POST but maybe TWO dead PCs instead of just one.
And, a pissed off friend.

For a home user, without access to disposable PCs to test on, by far the fastest and most economical approach would be to replace the motherboard and the PSU and hope that the RAM and CPU are still good (which they most likely are but we can't just assume even that as yet).

Seeds has already said that using his backup crap laptop is driving him crazy, do you really want to push him closer to the edge?

[Appzalien]

OK, so he goes to replace the motherboard and finds they don't make it anymore or he has to roll the dice and buy one from e-bay, Oh heck just get a newer board and powersupply but damn, now I need new memory and a new cpu for the new board... you might as well tell him to buy a new machine. I've been tinkering since the day I could walk and I don't buy a new one until all avenues are covered. And your wrong about the board, thats what fuses are for to blow before parts are damaged, were talking no more than 12volts DC here and by the way if you agree that the powersupply is gone be it fuse or other, why would you suggest buying both a board and a supply when clearly it would be too his advantage to just get a supply first (or replace the fuse) and see for himself if the board is gone? You make little sense in your argument.

[Chewie]

...I've been tinkering since the day I could walk...

If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, don't exaggerate!"

[tesco]

OK, so he goes to replace the motherboard and finds they don't make it anymore or he has to roll the dice and buy one from e-bay, Oh heck just get a newer board and powersupply but damn, now I need new memory and a new cpu for the new board... you might as well tell him to buy a new machine. I've been tinkering since the day I could walk and I don't buy a new one until all avenues are covered. And your wrong about the board, thats what fuses are for to blow before parts are damaged, were talking no more than 12volts DC here and by the way if you agree that the powersupply is gone be it fuse or other, why would you suggest buying both a board and a supply when clearly it would be too his advantage to just get a supply first (or replace the fuse) and see for himself if the board is gone? You make little sense in your argument.

Your arguments don't actually make sense.
A single fuse cannot protect the motherboard.
The power supply is feeding 3volts, 5 volts, and 12 volts to the motherboard.
They would alll need to be fused seperately.

If everythingn is sharing one fuse then it will be the 120/240VAC input to the power supply that's fused, not protecting the motherboard.

But I do like your thinking though. IF his power supply happens to have a fuse for every feed leaving it (keep in mind i've never seen a fuse inside of a PSU), it could be a good idea to try replacing those before buying a new one.
Easier to just borrow one from a friend to try.



edit: BTW your AT power supply probably had a fuse because the switch for it on the front of the pc was 120/240 and ran through the inside of the case.

[Seedler]

OK, so he goes to replace the motherboard and finds they don't make it anymore or he has to roll the dice and buy one from e-bay, Oh heck just get a newer board and powersupply but damn, now I need new memory and a new cpu for the new board... you might as well tell him to buy a new machine. I've been tinkering since the day I could walk and I don't buy a new one until all avenues are covered. And your wrong about the board, thats what fuses are for to blow before parts are damaged, were talking no more than 12volts DC here and by the way if you agree that the powersupply is gone be it fuse or other, why would you suggest buying both a board and a supply when clearly it would be too his advantage to just get a supply first (or replace the fuse) and see for himself if the board is gone? You make little sense in your argument.

Your arguments don't actually make sense.
A single fuse cannot protect the motherboard.
The power supply is feeding 3volts, 5 volts, and 12 volts to the motherboard.
They would alll need to be fused seperately.

If everythingn is sharing one fuse then it will be the 120/240VAC input to the power supply that's fused, not protecting the motherboard.

But I do like your thinking though. IF his power supply happens to have a fuse for every feed leaving it (keep in mind i've never seen a fuse inside of a PSU), it could be a good idea to try replacing those before buying a new one.
Easier to just borrow one from a friend to try.



edit: BTW your AT power supply probably had a fuse because the switch for it on the front of the pc was 120/240 and ran through the inside of the case.

Took it to friend's house today, and yes the mobo and RAM are dead. CPU, gfx card, HDD, optical drives and PSU are all intact. Now to scraping this case and building a new rig...

[Chewie]

Now to scraping this case and building a new rig...

Scraping the case for what? Is it some sort of smear test?

Well at least you have nailed down the problem.
I see plenty of 939 boards on offer all over the net here in the UK but unless you've got an AGP gfx card (can't be arsed to go check ) it might be a better option to upgrade to Intel.

Edit:
Shit, just seen your other thread. [goddammit where's the headslapsmilie?]