Member Avatar for Tanuki

Hi,

I recently had my PC shipped from abroad. When I went to plug it in, I 'may' have left the voltage setting on the PSU at 230V instead of the 115V of my new locale.

At some point I switched the voltage to 115V and plugged it in, as soon as I did so the following happened:

*PSU fan starts to spin
*Leds near the USB ports all light up
*The Case fan for the CPU (enclosed by a plastic hood) started to spin faster and faster until it was iterally sounding like a vacuum cleaner.

There were no other indications that anything was going on, no disks spun, the Gfx card didnt spin, no leds came on on any peripheral or elsewhere on the MB.


Does it sound like my PSU and or MB (at least) are dead? Can putting 115V through a PSU set to 230V kill the entire PC? I think that the case fan may be powered from the PSU, so I am hoping that is all that died...

I noticed that the box that the PC was shipped in had a few small but deep dents on it, that look like they were either caused by it being hit hard or by it falling against something whilst full, consequently there may be more than one thing wrong with the PC in the first place. If the voltage mixup is unlikely to have damaged the MB, I wonder if some accident in transport may have killed it, what should I check for to tell?

Also, can anyone tell me if Dell actually provide useful tech support for PCs damaged in a way that isnt covered by Warranty? I would rather replace any broken parts with the originals if a third party performs the repairs.

Lastly...

The PC is a Dell Dimension 8400, Intel 925X chipset MB, 3.4GHz p4 with HT and 2Mb Cache, Dual Channel DDR2 400MHz, twin SATA Raid0 HDD, ATI X850T PCI Express 16 gfx card (taking two slots).

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by dcc

Dani AI

Generated

A concise diagnostic checklist and explanation to follow after the symptoms reported by (and the sensible shipping-claim point raised by ). These steps are ordered so the quickest, safest checks come first and escalate only if needed.

  • Safety first: unplug the PC and work on a nonconductive surface. Do not open the PSU; capacitors can hold lethal charge.
  • Visual and sensory inspection: with the case open look for loose connectors, crushed components, blown or bulging capacitors, scorch marks or a burnt smell — photograph everything and keep the original packing for a shipper/insurance claim.
  • Confirm basic wiring: ensure the main ATX 20/24-pin and the CPU 4-pin/8-pin power leads are seated. Dell sometimes uses harnesses; verify connectors are fully engaged.
  • Isolate and minimal-boot: remove nonessential cards and drives; leave CPU, one stick RAM and GPU only if required to POST. Try powering with that minimal set — note any fan behaviour, LEDs, or beep codes (verify there is a system speaker connected).
  • PSU sanity check before swapping parts: use a commercial PSU tester or a multimeter (only if comfortable) to measure the +12V, +5V and +3.3V rails on the ATX connector while the supply is running. If you lack tools, try a known-good PSU to eliminate the supply as the culprit.
  • Fan-specific checks: a fan that runs at full speed usually means it is getting direct 12V (molex) or the motherboard header is not providing control — unplug the fan and try it on a separate molex to check bearings and noise. Manually spinning the fan can reveal mechanical binding.
  • If the motherboard shows no POST activity after the above, suspect board/CPU/RAM damage; swapping in a known-good PSU and a single known-good RAM stick is the quickest isolation route.

For repair/parts: file a shipping claim if physical damage is evident and keep all evidence. If preferring original replacements, contact Dell support with the service tag — they can quote parts or out-of-warranty repair options, but compare cost against reliable third-party replacement parts and labor.

Member Avatar for dcc

If the PSU was set at 230V and you plugged it into 115V it shouldn't have harmed it, if it had been the reverse...that would have been bad news!

I would get in touch with the company that shipped your computer and file a claim for the damages it received in transit. If it was hit hard enough to dent it something could have been dislodged.

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