computer starts for a second and shuts off

[loopylulu]

I have an old computer I am looking to sell for cheap to someone.

very simple system:

pentium 1.7 GHz
768 Megs of ram
130 mb harddrive
19 inch crt monitor
9600xt radeon.
The psu is an antec neo HE 500w which I replaced from an older cheap 30 unit.

Whichever psu I use I get the same result.

The cpu fan starts up for a second and then stops completely.

I tried removing a stick of ram as one stick is 512 and the other is 256. That did nothing.

I tried removing the lithium battery on the motherboard as one person suggested.

That did have a different effect. The psu and cpu fan came on and then about ten seconds later the whole computer came on for about ten seconds and then the whole thing went off again.

any ideas.

thanks

 

[Brando]

If you have spare parts lying around it'll be a lot easier. kind of reminds me of when my hd died.

 

[neonblingbling]

I say unplug your front panel switches from your motherboard, and then short the pins for power. My guess is that your momentary power switch is getting stuck, thus turning your PC off (as if you were holding it).

 

[S_Wilson]

Sounds like there could be a short or a bad cap somewhere. Make sure the board is not contacting the case or something coming in contact with an parts. Make sure the CPU cooler is mounted properly. Look the board over real well looking at the caps, see if any are bulging or burnt looking.

 

[loopylulu]

how do you do that

Sounds like there could be a short or a bad cap somewhere. Make sure the board is not contacting the case or something coming in contact with an parts. Make sure the CPU cooler is mounted properly. Look the board over real well looking at the caps, see if any are bulging or burnt looking.

how do I short the pins, there is a thick layer of dust on the cpu cooler and below, could that cause this problem. I am going to clean it anyways using air.

 

[just dan]

maybe its overheatin and shutin off real fast?

edit: didn't see the part of dust under the pins, maybe its shortin...

 

[Spyguy]

how do I short the pins.

Look for were your power button connects to your motherboard from your front bezel. Make sure you don't confuse it with the HD Leds and Power Leds (Abr. PWR). It should be on the very bottom right corner of your motherboard. Unplug the power switch and the make the two metal pins touch each other (don't bend them together, just touch both of them with a metal object at the same time) for just a quick second. A screwdriver will work.

 

[neonblingbling]

Look for were your power button connects to your motherboard from your front bezel. Make sure you don't confuse it with the HD Leds and Power Leds (Abr. PWR). It should be on the very bottom right corner of your motherboard. Unplug the power switch and the make the two metal pins touch each other for just a quick second. A screwdriver will work.

Great explanation.

And I really hope there is not dust under the CPU, in the socket. I don't know how dust could get under there...

 

[Spyguy]

Great explanation.

And I really hope there is not dust under the CPU, in the socket. I don't know how dust could get under there...

Thanks. I edited it a little bit just in case he take it the wrong way. Look at the parenthetical.