Member Avatar for Dilly man 2

here is my computer specs:
Antec Neo He 550w
Seagate SATA ll 160gig
AMD 4200 Duel Core
Nvidia xfx 7800gt 256mb
ABIT AN8-ULTRA Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra
OCZ Performance 2GB
Windows XP


i had just built it.
when i turned it on, it was fine. after about 10minutes of running, my ceiling lights started to blink and i could here my psu make a spark noise about every second.
i went to log off and shutdown and it went whopppfff and started smoking. went for the powerswitch but before i could, it all turned off :mad:

now, i figured i had a faulty psu and i am going to replace my antec for a new one "free, switch up trade from newegg"

the manual says "Also included are a variety of industrial-grade protective circuitries: OCP (over current protection), OPP (over power protection), OVP (over voltage protection), SCP (Short circuit protection), and UVP (under voltage protection)."

so am i safe? is my mobo OK?
how do i use a dmm to check for continuity in the mobo?


-Joe

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Dani AI

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Given the sparks, smoke and burnt-transistor smell reported, treat the power supply as the primary failure and do not power the machine with it again. A smoking PSU can take other parts with it, but you can narrow things down safely with a methodical approach.

Start with inspection and isolation. Remove the PSU and look for burnt marks, blown or bulging capacitors and scorched traces on the motherboard, video card and around the CPU power area. Keep the suspect PSU aside for RMA — do not attempt to repair or reuse it. A new, known-good PSU is the first tool for diagnosis.

Safe multimeter checks (power disconnected, battery removed):

  • Set the meter to continuity/ohms. Check between ground (black wires) and the supply pins on the main ATX and 4/8-pin CPU power plugs. A near-zero reading (meter beeps, tenths of an ohm) indicates a direct short — stop and document. Readings of several ohms are normal because regulators/components tie to the rails.
  • After installing a known-good PSU, measure live voltages on the 24-pin: +12V ≈ 11.4–12.6 V, +5V ≈ 4.75–5.25 V, +3.3V ≈ 3.135–3.465 V. Use DC volts and avoid touching the board while powered.

Bench-test procedure with the new PSU:

  • Minimal boot: motherboard + CPU + one RAM stick + GPU or onboard video + speaker. Power and watch for POST/beeps, fans, smoke or error LEDs.
  • Swap RAM sticks and slots, try a spare GPU or test the suspect GPU in another PC, and test the drive externally if needed. CPU failure is rarer but possible — only confirm by swapping into a known-good board.

Document everything with photos for RMA and warranty. As mentioned, mains issues can matter, but internal PSU arcing plus smell points to an internal PSU fault first.

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Member Avatar for Dilly man 2

my dad came home, he said it smelt like a transistre burnt.
so i dunno...

Member Avatar for nizzy1115

Sounds to me like you have poor wireing in your home. That maybe a lot of wattage for an older home especially if you run a lot of other things on near by outlets. I think the only way to tell if you had anything else die is to plug in the new psu once you get a new one...This is sad too cuz your computer sounded nice ;)

Member Avatar for Dilly man 2

my house is actually new..
and he said a bad transister in the psu, i didnt spesify the psu or mobo.

this makes me sad

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