AACCK! 2 PSUs killed in 2 days...

Okay, I have NO IDEA what happened, but somehow my PSU got fried. Smelt something funny, and when i touched the PSU it was extremely hot. Computer shut itself off like a minute later.
I put a spare in so I could finish typing up some homework papers. I kept the computer off overnight, just to make sure it wouldn't die during the night. Today when I got home from school, I turned on the computer and about 20 minutes later the second PSU died the same way.

Neither of the overheated ones work on other mobos anymore. Completely dead.

I tried my last spare PSU. only plugged in the ATX connector, and the comp booted. Immediately shut it off so that I don't lose a third.

Now, what the heck causes that to happen?? And what should I do?? I'm thinking it's a motherboard problem, since I've got the comp plugged in through a surge protector. My sys:

ASUS A7V333WR, 512MB PC3200 DDR, XP2200+ watercooled. I don't think the rest could have any impact, so I won't bother writing it. And yes, I checked for leaks, everything is dry as a bone.

PhoenixMDM said:

Okay, I have NO IDEA what happened, but somehow my PSU got fried. Smelt something funny, and when i touched the PSU it was extremely hot. Computer shut itself off like a minute later.
I put a spare in so I could finish typing up some homework papers. I kept the computer off overnight, just to make sure it wouldn't die during the night. Today when I got home from school, I turned on the computer and about 20 minutes later the second PSU died the same way.

Neither of the overheated ones work on other mobos anymore. Completely dead.

I tried my last spare PSU. only plugged in the ATX connector, and the comp booted. Immediately shut it off so that I don't lose a third.

Now, what the heck causes that to happen?? And what should I do?? I'm thinking it's a motherboard problem, since I've got the comp plugged in through a surge protector. My sys:

ASUS A7V333WR, 512MB PC3200 DDR, XP2200+ watercooled. I don't think the rest could have any impact, so I won't bother writing it. And yes, I checked for leaks, everything is dry as a bone.

Click to expand...

same thing nearly happened to me about 3 hours ago, I was plugging everything back in and started it only to see billows of smoke pouring from the back of the floppy drive. turns out the 5v pin was touching ground and was melting the harness and the plug. check for bent pins and/or melted connectors and you'll find your problem I think.

Nope. I just dismantled and reassembled everything, checking each component for what you suggested. Not a single sign.

It still seems like a motherboard problem to me. If I can't figure it out relatively soon, I'll buy a new mobo. *sigh* at least there's some decent sales right now...

**EDIT**
Just ordered a NF7 and a new PSU from newegg. *sigh* thanks for the help anyways...

Did you get a chance to look at the voltages in the BIOS? If one of them is really low or really high thats your problem right there. Sometimes when a PSU is overloaded this happens. Your pump isnt getting its power from the PSU in any way is it? What is the wattage rating of these powersupplys? If it is 250 or below that could have been your problem. What PSU did you order from newegg? Also, look around the socket and look at the voltage mosfets and the caps. Are the heads of any of the caps blown or bulged out? What about the little square mosfets? Are any of those messed up or bent?

Good Luck!
-Amd0Cer

you might check your household supply voltage at the receptacle you use (and the main CB box- be friggin' carefull!)- I was blowing light bulbs all around the house and when I checked the voltage it was at 138volts! A quick visit to the power company resulted in a new transformer install on the pole. You also might want to see if your receptacle is grounded/wired properly. I ended up rewiring my entire house (it's 100+ yrs old) after I moved in- unbelievable wiring practices in the past. Just seems very strange to keep toasting power supplies....

What were the specs on the PSUs you toasted? If they were both 300W generic ones that happen to be grossely overrated on their lines, you could just be over working them.

edit: try underclcoking and lowering your voltages, in addition to unplugging un-needed things from the PSU (floppy, cdrom, spare hdd, etc).

It was a 300W antec, one of those "super-quiet" models. The second PSU was a 250W generic, and I made sure to unplug the floppy, DVD-ROM, and nonvital fans. MBM5 logs don't show any voltage spikes or the like, so I doubt it's that. My pump runs directly from 120v wall power, which I checked and got a reading of 117v. No physical damage of any kind can be found, bent pins, blown caps, or anything else. I'm thinking the problem is with the motherboard, since power comes in through the wall (which i've checked) through the power supply,and then gets distributed and switched mainly through the motherboard (gone are the days of those AT PSUs with a nice independent on/off switch..)

I ordered a Sparkle 350W supply, Item# N82E16817103420. I never really thought about overworking them.
Maybe if I list my specs you can tell me if 350W is going to be enough?
Abit NF7, AthlonXP 2200+, 512mb Corsair XMS PC2700 DDR, Maxtor 7200RPM 40GB, Maxtor 7200RPM 120GB, generic DVD-ROM, Pioneer A04 DVD-RW, Ti4600 running dual monitors, generic NIC. Also have two UV fans, those 4LED ones from xoxide.com.

The power supply I toasted, I opened up afterwards (by throwing it against the brick wall of my hous, which was quite satisfing seeing as before it started to smoke and turn my computer off I was playing UT and kicking Zan's butt) it was filled with dust. So now everyso offent I spray some compressed air into my new one.

Well, I just installed the new mobo and PSU. Seems like an awesome board.
I can't boot into windows anymore though. I get to that Windows XP loading screen, and then it just reboots. Right now, I'm using a Knoppix cd to access the computer, and my C drive looks just fine. D is another issue though... My bios sees it, but recognizes it as an 8 gig drive. I think maybe when the PSU's died, they sent lots of power to that drive and fried it. Any way I can try to recover anything from it?

I hear that a reinstall of windows is almost always necessary with this board, which is fine. I just want my D drive back.

PhoenixMDM said:

Well, I just installed the new mobo and PSU. Seems like an awesome board.
I can't boot into windows anymore though. I get to that Windows XP loading screen, and then it just reboots. Right now, I'm using a Knoppix cd to access the computer, and my C drive looks just fine. D is another issue though... My bios sees it, but recognizes it as an 8 gig drive. I think maybe when the PSU's died, they sent lots of power to that drive and fried it. Any way I can try to recover anything from it?

I hear that a reinstall of windows is almost always necessary with this board, which is fine. I just want my D drive back.

Click to expand...

just do a full windows repair, it will fix everything and you can get everything easier that way.

or try booting safe mode and uninstalling your video driver. you might need to reinstall that.

Well, I did the repair, seems to work great now. Only problem is D is still not there. I think it died. How long is the standard Maxtor manufacturer's warantee? Hopefully a year...

at least a year, if it's retail, maybe 3 years.

Another Maxtor HD bites the dust, bummer man...but working out of a Fry's Electronics they have a 60% return rate on Maxtors...I would never buy one personally