Power supply fan not spinning, popping sounds inside computer - Hardware & Software

Such an unneccesary and expensive mistake to keep it on...

[QUOTE=Adius Shadow;27726103]Just kidding that was mean. I just backed some shit up and now I am waiting for some new parts (motherboard, cpu, ram and psu) to come. Safe to say I am no longer using that computer for the time being.[/QUOTE] You are a bad person. A dog was the only friend I had until a computer caused electrical fire killed her. By making a joke like this you are spitting on Shasta's name even if you don't know it. You disgust me.

[QUOTE=MacTrekkie;27726337]You are a bad person. A dog was the only friend I had until a computer caused electrical fire killed her. By making a joke like this you are spitting on Shasta's name even if you don't know it. You disgust me.[/QUOTE] Chill out [editline]29th January 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=thf;27726318]Such an unneccesary and expensive mistake to keep it on...[/QUOTE] Not keeping it on anymore. Rather not risk losing any components, I think judging from the posts here my power supply capacitors are going out.

You got any corn in there?

[QUOTE=B!N4RY;27721776]I thought he meant the capacitor will generate enough heat itself to destroy itself, not by ambient temperature. I wasn't thinking straight[/QUOTE] This is also indeed possible. That's what is basically happening with the "capacitor plague". Some company committed industrial espionage against another company that was making capacitors and stole a flawed and incomplete electrolyte formula and started mass producing bad capacitors using said formula. When the capacitor has a charge applied to it, the electrolyte starts to heat up and break down, creating hydrogen gas. This eventually causes the capacitor to either break the vent on the top and start leaking electrolyte, or blow out the rubber plug on the bottom, or in which case both are too strong for the gas to "push" out, the capacitor will just explode. Failing capacitors in that situation indeed get VERY hot since the electrolyte is more or less boiling inside the aluminum case that surrounds it.

[QUOTE=bohb;27727116]This is also indeed possible. That's what is basically happening with the "capacitor plague". Some company committed industrial espionage against another company that was making capacitors and stole a flawed and incomplete electrolyte formula and started mass producing bad capacitors using said formula. When the capacitor has a charge applied to it, the electrolyte starts to heat up and break down, creating hydrogen gas. This eventually causes the capacitor to either break the vent on the top and start leaking electrolyte, or blow out the rubber plug on the bottom, or in which case both are too strong for the gas to "push" out, the capacitor will just explode. Failing capacitors in that situation indeed get VERY hot since the electrolyte is more or less boiling inside the aluminum case that surrounds it.[/QUOTE] Except that the capacitor plague caused by industrial espionage was over 10 years ago, and faulty capacitors made by the incomplete formula was placed to a halt long ago.

[QUOTE=B!N4RY;27731450]Except that the capacitor plague caused by industrial espionage was over 10 years ago, and faulty capacitors made by the incomplete formula was placed to a halt long ago.[/QUOTE] It didn't end a decade ago, it started a decade ago. The worst times were between 2004 and 2007, and have fallen off since then, but there are still many reports of people buying new electronics with bad capacitors with new 2009+ year date codes on them. I still get new equipment in with blown caps to replace.

That wasn't my point, but w/e Capacitor plagues are less likely to be seen nowadays because of solid state capacitors.

[QUOTE=B!N4RY;27731978]That wasn't my point, but w/e Capacitor plagues are less likely to be seen nowadays because of solid state capacitors.[/QUOTE] Solid state capacitors are much more expensive than electrolytic capacitors (electrolytic $0.10-$1.50, polymer $2.00+) and have a much more limited range of farad and voltage ratings so many companies still make use of electrolytic capacitors over polymer. And in a market where margins are razor thin, companies will make use of whatever cost cutting measures they can, which includes using cheaper and more problem prone electrolytic capacitors over polymer.

And that is exactly why one shouldn't skim back on money when it comes to buying computer parts, especially power supplies. Then again, mots electrolytic capacitors I've worked with are quite stable, with little to no histories of failure.

My 550 watt Rosewill is still going strong, powering my 8800 GTS, E6600 C2D, 3 7200 hdds, and 2 optical drives just fine. Voltages are still stable, and I open it up and remove the dust every 3 months to reduce failure. Paid $80 on newegg, and it's heavy as FUCK. Very nice build quality inside too, I'm impressed and satisfied with my purchase. :) ...and as B!N4RY mentioned above, it's worth it not to skimp on a good PSU.

[QUOTE=Adius Shadow;27726394]Not keeping it on anymore. Rather not risk losing any components, I think judging from the posts here my power supply capacitors are going out.[/QUOTE] Oh, I thought you meant that it fried the mobo and CPU, and you were ordering new ones :v:

[QUOTE=Marnetmar;27717002]Take the PSU out before it dies completely, get camera, plug it in and throw it in a water-filled bathtub.[/QUOTE]

My relative knows first hand the consequences of a bad power supply. He came home from work on day, and smelled something burning. He went to his computer and say the power supply had gone and destroyed everything in his computer except for the hd and cd/dvd drive. He checked it out later it turns out the fan died, every capacitor went in the power supply, and half of the mobo was fried.

PSUs should never make funny noises. I remember I had an old Apevia PSU that I bought back in 2006, and suddenly and mysteriously (with no fan failure) it started making a sort of chirping noise if the GPU was ever under heavy load. Didn't keep that bitch for long, at least I got a "free" set of fans out of it.

Say you can i have the specs of the old computer parts that your not gonna use any more? I'll buy some off you if it will work in mine...

[QUOTE=bohb;27732962]Solid state capacitors are much more expensive than electrolytic capacitors (electrolytic $0.10-$1.50, polymer $2.00+) and have a much more limited range of farad and voltage ratings so many companies still make use of electrolytic capacitors over polymer. And in a market where margins are razor thin, companies will make use of whatever cost cutting measures they can, which includes using cheaper and more problem prone electrolytic capacitors over polymer.[/QUOTE] i like it when people finish my arguments for me. i mean it's like i have 25% knowledge of something i am talking about and then i just throw it out there and watch people finish it. it would be comparable to throwing a raw steak in a lion's den and watch the two fight over it.

[QUOTE=ineedateam1;27756044]Say you can i have the specs of the old computer parts that your not gonna use any more? I'll buy some off you if it will work in mine...[/QUOTE] 2GB DDR2 800 RAM AMD Athlon FX-62 @ 2.8 GIGABYTE Motherboard (no shield on back, some broken USB ports)