What keeps blowing my power supply

[rendertrap]

I did have an ATX style pc, and one day i tried to switch it on and the power supply started to spark and smell.. so turned it off.... so I replaced the power supply.. thinking it was that.. and again it did the same thing...

How can I test which component is blowing it out without buying lots of new power supplies... I've got a suspission it could be the dvd rom as the plug smelt a bit funny, but can't determine that.....


There must be a way.....

let me know

[Mr Snatcher]

Could be that something is grounding. My suggestion is to bring it in to a repair shop and have them diagnose the problem. I doubt its your dvd rom, never even heard of that causing a psu to blow, if you want to be sure test that dvd rom in a different pc.

It also could be you have bad power coming from the socket, basically fluctuating or spiking.

[theargyspy]

What sort of Psu are you having trouble with?? worth getting a good one, i recommend Tagan 480W ATX got one in all 3 of my PCs quiet has a mouse too, and a 2 year warranty

Argy

[rendertrap]

okay, well its not the socket, as it was on two different sockets with two different power supplies.. what other component could it be?? its only a shitty computer, p700.. so it would cost like £40 for someone to have a look at it, which isn't worth my while.... is it probably a motherboard problem???? anyway I can test it myself without taking it to a shop??

[handyguy]

as mentioned, your mainboard is probably not grounded. take the board out, put it on some cardboard, put in the memory & video cards, & plug it in & see if it works.

[MasterMind]

Have you examined the power cable; especially the PSU end?

[Mr Snatcher]

Have you examined the power cable; especially the PSU end? Damn, I should have thought of that.

Its going be to literally impossible for you figure out if it is something on the mobo. First, its going to take alot of your time. It will get frustrating. You would need the proper equipment...like meters and such. Trust me, if you did the basics, trying a new cord, different outlet, seeing if the board was grounding, testing the suspected dvdrom, then your getting yourself into a world of sh1t.

Also could be that there is a huge amount of dust that eventually screwed the board, try cleaning it with canned air......who knows.

[suckslugs]

I had a similar problem a few years back with a siezing case fan, looked ok, never squeeled, but it was overloading the power supply, though that was back in the day without speed and heat monitors. was a very low power unit as they all were.

basic diognostics on anything are a good visual check, unplug everything and closely inspect again.
the run in minimal state, power unit, board, 1 memory, 1 hdd, no roms, onboard graphics if poss.
then plug in 1 component at a time, and see if anything plays you up.
other than that, give it too someone who can measure current draws, 1 have a magnetic field meter which you just hold near a wire, and it tells you the current passing through.
you say £40 is too much, you'll wish you'd paid it when your 2 or 3 power units down the road and its still broke

good luck bud