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Computer Caught On Fire.

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MortalMan

Overclocked a Computer Submerged, In Horse Laxativ
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Ok, to put things in perspective I had my entire pc immersed in mineral oil for well over a year, I'm sure that has something to do with it.
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...orse-Laxative-4-5Ghz?highlight=horse+laxative
The computer only caught on fire when I it was outside of the mineral oil when I was testing it for repairs.

So I had some computer problems earlier.

I had noticed one night when I put my computer into sleep mode, the computer tried to start itself back up again, would kick on and spin fans for 3 to 5 seconds and then restart itself, fan spins for 3-5 seconds again, rinse and repeat...
So I had just unplugged my pc and went to sleep. The next day it started up fine, no problems whatsoever... After roughly 2 hours of gaming I had a hard crash. Couldn't altcntdel, couldn't move my mouse, nothing.. I had to do a hard reset of my pc, and when I did it would get caught in this bootloop again were it would start up and fans would spin and then restart a few seconds latter over and over again. This time, I couldn't get my pc to boot at all.

My first thought was the problem had something to do with ram, because I had just installed some old ddr3 ram sticks in the empty ram slots I had on my motherboard. It had worked fine for a couple days with the new ram. I tried a few things to get my pc to work again, like removing all ramsticks except one, removing my graphic card, plugged in and out the power connections going into my motherboard.

Removing all ram sticks except one seemed to work. The fans would spin, and kept going for several minutes until I shut it down. The only thing odd was the digital display on my motherboard displayed the letters "LP" (Asrock Z77 extreme 6)

I tried installing another ram stick, but had the same boot loop problem.

I then removed that ram stick again.

I then tested to see if my computer would run, or go back into bootloop again.

It caught on fire! I've been messing around with PC's for well over a decade, and have never had one catch on fire before.

First was the smell of melting electronics, then a couple seconds latter I noticed flames. I quickly shut down the pc and unplugged my power supply from the wall.

The fire was located were the powersupply cords plug into the motherboard. (The biggest cable connector on the powersupply)

What do you guys think was the culprit? Bad power supply, or bad motherboard?

There's no noticeable damage to the motherboard that I could see... Do you think I could salvage it and just try a new powersupply?
 
Have you looked up the "LP" code? That LED debug info may be in the ASRock owner's manual. My first thought would be a soldered trace on the board failed. I would not trust the PSU either, however. What's the make and model of the PSU?


By the way, sorry you're computer "pooped out" as it were.
 
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The only thing odd was the digital display on my motherboard displayed the letters "LP" (Asrock Z77 extreme 6)
It's not LP, it's d7. Keyboard and mouse not recognized.

PSU is junk and probably the board as well, which is why your keyboard and mouse are now not recognized.
 
Ok, to put things in perspective I had my entire pc immersed in mineral oil for well over a year, I'm sure that has something to do with it.
Well, yeah. That might have something to do with it. mineral oil degrades rubber and plastics.
 
Well, yeah. That might have something to do with it. mineral oil degrades rubber and plastics.

Yes, I've heard that before to.. But that's probably not the case this time around. The problem was I did absolutely NOTHING to keep the mineral oil clean. I mean I left it in a plastic tub, with no cover. Eventually dust built up inside there, and that was the probable cause of the problem. Dust bunnies when drenched in mineral oil form hair like strains that could probably cause a short.

It's not LP, it's d7. Keyboard and mouse not recognized.



PSU is junk and probably the board as well, which is why your keyboard and mouse are now not recognized.

No, It was flashing LP... I know d7 means mouse and keyboard are not recognized. I actually get that now because I literally have no mouse or keyboard attached because I just want to make sure it doesn't catch fire again before I test it further.

Motherboard looks fried, but I believe I can still salvage the psu.

Have you looked up the "LP" code? That LED debug info may be in the ASRock owner's manual. My first thought would be a soldered trace on the board failed. I would not trust the PSU either, however. What's the make and model of the PSU?


By the way, sorry you're computer "pooped out" as it were.



Never could fine exactly what the "lp" code means, but I'm fairly sure it meant "low power". Google didn't seem to be much help, and the manual is hidden away someplace safe so I can't find it.

PSU is Silencer MK2 750 watt Silver

Here's what the back of my motherboard looks like near were the psu connects into the motherboard.
ehhp4z.jpg

Looks like this motherboard is fried. This isn't a blown capacitor. Correct me if I'm wrong but, I don't think this can be repaired at home.
 
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Never could fine exactly what the "lp" code means, but I'm fairly sure it meant "low power". Google didn't seem to be much help, and the manual is hidden away someplace safe so I can't find it.
There is no LP code in the manual. And a few friends of mine that work for Asrock have never heard of it either. :shrug:
 
What's the other-side of the board look like, that's some nasty melting going on there.

Anything can be repaired at home if your good enough :sn:, but that spot by the memory channel looks like it started to melt a hole in the pcb. :eek:

Was time for a new computer anyways... right :D
 
Since you had this motherboard in the mineral oil for a long time, the power socket's contact resistance probably degraded and was producing a lot of heat that the oil was absorbing. Once you took it out, the heat build up burned the contacts and then any misdirected current from carbonization of the board fried other components.
 
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