Burnt Mobos Prevention Guide

[Del UK]

Hi,

I hope this of help, as I have done alot of testing and finally....

Please check that the 20 or 24 pin atx connection, is properly LOCKED and in place.

I did a test of NOT locking it, (As I have tried to acheive a no Boot.....). After 30 mins of use, the system crashed. Rebooted and fine for another 10mins... After trying to restart, all 4 d-bracket lights were GREEN..... power off and power up nothing just no:2led very bright green and no:4 led dim green.

I was lucky, I was testing..... cost me a modem but could have cost me everything.

Del

[NovJoe]

Well... even a bent CPU golden pin can burn the whole system down already, so the PSU direct power is even more dangerous .

[Del UK]

Hi Joe,

No extremely dangerous.......

But I had tried lower PSU's and not fitting card properly.....etc etc.....

I would just advise users to CHECK that the atx connections are properly LOCKED onto the motherboard.....

Del

[Maesus]

A good PSU should be able to detect and protect from overcurrent. But a good motherboard should also be able to detect the loss of power rails. It's not OK to accept a motherboard that can burn itself if the ATX cable is not plugged in properly.

[Danny]

Unfortunately, arcing can cause quite a bit of damage at low current levels.

[NovJoe]

At least now we are providing a thread to warn users on the hazards within their systems if they are not careful on certain things .


P4 Mods,

I intend to stick this up but since too many stickies up there so... Do you guys agree?

Forum Members,

Please feel free to point out what could be a hazard to burn or fried a system up in smoke if not being careful with and post them up. Only sourceful and accurate ones will stay so don't try to bluff up the facts like "Faulty Keyboard/Mouse could burn the system up..." and the "bluffs" will be removed unless proven in-order not to confuse the rest of the members .

[REILLY875]

I'm not a MOD. so fell Free to tell me To Shut Up Joe , But I happen to think It's a great Idea to Start a sticky with Good "Do NOT do's" and the  "Make sure this is Like Such".....Great Idea in Fact, as anything to Prevent a Problem Thread is Customers $ and Time, And Stress, Saved ........Sean

[NovJoe]

[STRIKEOUT]Shut Up[/STRIKEOUT]... Nah... Everyone is free to post their point of view here... just no bluffs allowed only...

1 more advice: Heat problems especially overheating which is one of the easiest ways to get a system up in smoke, so take note of the airflow, fans and temps within a system.

[Del UK]

Not a Bluff.......

Lost a good hardware modem, but expanded my knowledge....

It's another "MAKE SURE.....for DEF"


Del

[cnotemd]

Shorted out a 386 with a screw driver when I was trying to replace a sound card with the computer on and running...... so uhhmm..... don't do that.

Couldn't resist - lesson here - do not modify computer while it is on or while it is plugged in.

I was only 11 at the time - but Pops was ticked sure 'nuf.

[NovJoe]

Hi Guys, I've got positive agreement from P4 Mods and users on sticking this topic up and now it's "stick/stuck" on top .

I and the P4 Mods will be monitoring this thread to ensure the clarity of info provided, which I have to stress on again... "bluffs" contents will be removed in order not to confused new/ other members

Btw, the Topic will be changed from "Motherboards NOT booting!" to "Burnt Mobos Prevention Guide".

Please note that I'll not make any changes to the info and posts as I want it to remain original, which is to say that "The contributors/members earns the respects from the accurate source provide as it's an knowledge assets of the original contributors/members" .

Note: All are welcome to post if you have come across or having sourceful findings with grounds on ways to Prevent Mobos from Burning or fried.

[NovJoe]

Update:

Make sure that the CPU is fully in contact with the CPU's heatsink thermal paste and make sure that the bracket holding the heatsink is fully locked in else you'll see smokes within your system within 5 mins after booting up because of overheating due to bad contact.

[Del UK]

:shocking:IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!!!!

USE CORRECT POWER CABLE WITH 5AMP FUSE

I lent a friend an Enermax 365 PSU, as his PSU wasn't working......I supplied with power cable.........he then said, nope your PSU doesn't work either, it started too and then system went blank........... which cable did he use? The old cable, which was a 13AMP rated......

So there you go......FUSE rating is just as important.......

Del

PS

Maybe this would be useful to AMD based MSI mainboards?

[daffy the red]

avoid hand contact on cpu gold pins and be careful where you smear the grease.
or pop goes the cpu.

[Del UK]

Originally posted by daffy the red
avoid hand contact on cpu gold pins and be careful where you smear the grease.
or pop goes the cpu.

Hi,

Errrrrr.......

Touching pins and grease??

Never come across, this problem........

Which grease though? I use Titan Silver Grease which is conductive, so I know that would BLOW CPU, mainboard and PSU.....

Just asking, because:
1) I repair bent pins
2) Clean CPU's (AMD &INTEL) of excessive thermal cooler

I really am interested......

Del  

[daffy the red]

this mainly leans towards the intel HTT processors. i lost two cpu's due to shoddy installation. the pc would run quite happily without HTT enabled, but as soon as i enabled HTT i would get inundated with 0x7e errors and the likes of.
thank's to intel and many months of scratching my head we got to the bottom of it.
bent pins due to handling by the pc's creator.(first time not me.. 2nd time me).
as this section was only aimed at what to be wary of i kept it simple. grease on the pins will dampen conductivety and create a load imbalance, unless you use arctic silver. arctic silver will not be a good thing to get in the wrong place due to the fact that 1, it is conductive and 2. it sets rock hard. as for grease on a cpu pin. try straining tea through a rubber glove.

[sharmane]

Once I as usual I replaced a RAM and checked if the two clips were secure. To my surprise the RAM got fried.

The cause was that the clip had partially come out and as a result the ram was only partially inserted into the slot. That cost me a fortune as I had to replace the RAM at my expense.

So now I always check if the RAM is clipped correctly and if the clips are in place before I poweron the machine.

[NovJoe]

New LGA775 CPU Clip for better, safer and easy CPU installation only by MSI .

http://www.msi.com.tw/html/newsrelease/MSI_news/2004_0629_socket775cpuclip.htm

[Dasbooter]

After finishing a long school year I stayed up late building a system from spare parts I had kicking around.I had just lucked into a new (snicker,snicker) blazing fast 1GHZ Slot 1 processor for a p3v4x MoBo that my friend who is vendor had in the back in the dust, I guess some idiot had ordered it with a custom fan and than stiffed him on it.I built the system and started her up at 0400 hours or so and she posted fine etc.Started to install the OS and she completely shuts down.

Sigh, I had forgotten to plug in the Cpu fan  
One toasted CPU = One stupid stupid mistake = waste of money.

Dont work,fiddle, or mess with your sytems to the early morning hours you will do something stupid and caffeine makes it worse.   I know you guys will still do this but hopefully you will remember this post.

[nsarpolis]

well, one day i was fiddling around in my computer, and i had unplugged the cpu fan, and (you can tell where this is going) never plugged it back again.  Thank god i have a copper based alluminum cooler master hs/f and good case airflow, and that i had my cpu warning temp at 65ºC, lol.  i had been in windows on AIM only for about an hour, and i started multitasking a bit...... and there we go, BEEP   beep BEEP beep BEEP, scared the crap out of me, so i turned my comp off and went to investigate, touched my cpu heatsink and almost burned my hand off.  saying to myself as im looking around in my case, OMG ....and i noticed my fan was un plugged.  Plugged it in and fired up my pc, and all was good, but the cpu temp was still 54ºc and lowering.  scared the crap outta myself.  Remember peoples!! PLUG IN THE FAN!


   :hypecrite:    

[Minor Edit by Moderator for language used.]

[kt6user]

well I managed to run an Athlon XP 1700+ once with nothing but the heatsink which I was pretty proud of. It was only 45 degrees idle in Windows. Heatsink was just a CoolMaster aluminium and about a year old.

[SCOOTER_2004]

kinda off topic, but when i switched mobo's i bent four of the cpu pins and spent 2 hours bending them back with a steak knife and needlenose pliers....

SCOOT

(runnin'ike a crackhead chasing a rock theif since 1987)

[NovJoe]

Hey SCOOTER_2004,

No. You are right in the topic . It's true that bent pins can lead to CPU overheating and burning everything to hell with it. This is what actually happens to one of clients when he insists on fixing up the system himself just because he wants to give it a try, being a newb, he didn't placed the CPU into the socket properly and the worst thing was the HSF wasn't locked down. Combo that and the bent pins, the whole system fried within 5 mins of usage .

Guess what... He burnt not only his CPU & mobo but everything, I really mean everything which includes two 73GB Raptors, 1 DVD Dual, 1 DVD drive, 1 MSI FX5950Ultra, 2 x 512MB Corsair XMS PC4000 HSR, 1 Highpoint RAID 5 Compatiable card, 1 x Hauppauge Win TV DV card & 2 x Hot swaps which in total costs him around USD 3K... What's worst is Intel refused to R.M.A both his mobo and CPU due to personal damage... The rest are still able to be refund... which is pretty lucky for him... Now he leaves everything for me to handle .

[SCOOTER_2004]

I'm just glad I caught the bent pins before i tried start up the pc, would have been a real bummer.  Learn from the mistakes you make and let others learn also, everyone wins in the end unless u think you know everything and want to be a jackass and not listen to anyone.  I'm now much wiser on hadware so no worries.  It all works out in the end, just don't want to see bent cpu pins again.....or hear of them from anyone else because i know how much of a pain in the rear it can be.

SCOOT

[thefreeone]

When you are playing with mobo's and cards dust can be your worsed enemy..

i once fried a mobo cos there was dust in ram slots ... i put in all the things i wanted and was moving a ram to a new bank it was an old computer with a bit of dust inside .. i turned it on and there was afunny sound in my cpu fan so i bent down to check and one of the little chips right next to my ram slot was on fire ...it was like somebody had a lighter in there .. i turned of the system and it never came back to life ....

i have had boards smoking a bit but still working fine but this one was burning open fire ...

so be carfull dust can kill your puter ...

[nsarpolis]

Whoa that would be scarry lol.  Turn on your pc (*muffled poof sound*) as your ram goes up in flames!  I would have like thrown my pc out the window, first removing the HDD's, lol (antec removable bays *click* and they come right out!) and lunge the thing out the window (41lbs total, steel antec soho file server case  , 27lbs empty  )  lol, it would survive the fall from the second floor window, i think....

[NovJoe]

Luckily I just vaccumed my system chassis and pheriperals 4 hours ago .

Actually after thinking for some time, the burnt may be due to something else as it was the chip somewhere near the RAMs that's burning and not the RAMs but worth an effort to find out the actual caused .

[Zeni]

Hi!

Do not!!! place your computer at a location where the are no or little air flow...i did that, and a hot day this summer the PSU blow up luckly for me no other parts were damaged.

Make sure you have fans, and lots and lost of air around your case!!

[balewolf]

i just blew my msi 865pe -pfs 2 days ago from a power supply surgeing i thk kept dropin power like the electric was goin out.  then it would only power for like 2 secs unless i take cpu out then it powers but no use tested another cpu in the board same thing and tested mine in a friends board its good.  burnt out the cpu voltage regulaters im guessing when ps was surgeing.

[NovJoe]

Having a PSU that's running bad is always dangerous especially when there's some PSU which takes some of your hardwares with it when it freaks out.

Have a regular check on your PSU's rails fluctation to make sure that the powers are clean and healthy.

[PhoenixGTR]

How do you do that, Joe?  Check your  PSU's rails?

[NovJoe]

You can use a Multimeter and either jump start the PSU or start the system normally and test the free molex connectors to make sure that the load is at what it is meant to be, for example red + black wire(next to each other) is for +5v and yellow + black wire(next to each other) is for +12v, place the Muiltmeter pins in and see if the flactuation is within +/- 3 to 5% of the regulation.

It is best to jump start the PSU so that you can test every molex from the PSU.

[danj]

Years ago I had a desktop computer (as opposed to a tower), One day I
came home and nothing on it worked so i poped open the case and lo and behold there was about $2.00 in coins scattered all over the MB. Seems my 2 year old daughter thought that the little slot between the empty bay cover and the case was the perfect place to store loose change.Burnt everything in sight. Another time my cd drive would not eject so I pulled out my trusty paper clip and opened it manualy and found about 6 magcards that I use at work stuffed in there --trashed drive.. So the point to the story is if you have children  buy a case they cant fiddle with or lock it up in a cabinet.

[Bob the Fish]

I let the smoke out of a old Msi p1 board by hitting a random set of jumpers with a flashlight well i was looking at the fans to see if they were spinning. I just bumped the jumbers and there was a spark and well lost the board, and everything on it. I also ones shorted a antec psu on my old neo2-ls when i put a 3.3 volt agp card in the 8x slot. this time i only lost a psu, scared the  out of me. True story running 6 volts dc into a 486dx2 is both funny and very smokey.

[NovJoe]

Lately, one of my clients accidentally adjusted his PSU Voltage transformer steppings from 230v to 110v which is to high watting for the PSU to handle and when he switched on the system... Kabboooom!!! The whole circuit tripped in his house... and ending up with a dead mobo, PSU and wall socket... all up in smoke and sparks...

Best to know what voltage your region is using before trying to play around with the transformer...

[NovJoe]

Update:

Exposed molex cables with wires sticking can sparked off and cause short-circuiting and fried anything within the system if your PSU don't have a breaker system. Therefore, be verey careful with old and worn off cables!

    

Joe Chow.

[ant3202]

My Friend try this before and here gone the motherboard,
When assembling the PC the Stuts for screwing the motherboard is IMPORTANT,
Failure to do so, will short the whole motherboard as it was a metal casing.... alot of cybercafe did that, without casing and be careful of metal pieces that can lead to short circuit.

[Taran]

Sorry to all if this does not belong in this post.
Just restently up graded from 2.66 P4, 4 x 256 DDR 333 to 3.2 P4 prescott, 2 x 512 DDR 400.
Started rip DVD, had control centre on to moniter load, temps and fan speeds all was good, sent them to spaned monitor the fired up dig tv all was good CPU aprox 60 to 61 deg C, 100% load, MB controled fans just running.
The with no warning or hot smell flash out back of case, little bang, dead box.
Open up check MB and connectors OK. Pulled 400 watt PSU and trigged, no go. Opened PSU, ruptured fuse, change fuse, trigger, burning resistors,both primary side transistors short base to collector.
Pulled old 300 watt psu off peltier cooler, powered up MB still alive
 Replace trans and resistors still no go.PSU in BIN.
Sprung for 550 Watt Codgen (hope is good) So far so good
So take care with up grades and max loads not just Vid cards.

Regards to all Taran

[NovJoe]

Yes Taran, you are giving the right info .

Bad PSUs can die at any point of time and worse still if it brings along the rest of the system with it to the bin... Be very careful with the PSUs bought.

Recommended Top of line quality PSUs are :

1) Enermax > x 5 = 50 points

2) OCZ > x 4 + +   x 3 = 48 points

3) Antec > x 4 + +   x 3 = 48 points

4) PC Power and Cooling > x 4 + = 45 points

5) Tagan > x 4 + x 2 = 42 points

6) FSP >   x 4 = 40 points

And the known unstable PSUs are:

1) Q-TEC > x 5 = -50 points

2) CompUSA > x 4 + + x 2 = -47 points

3) Generic PSUs that rates with "Peak Output" or with +12v less than 18A and rate themselves 450watts and above > x 4 + +   = -46 points

All members are welcome to update the listings in my post. Please note that I'll monitor the thread and wrong info will be removed without second thoughts.
Glossary:    = 10 points,  = 5 points,  = 1 point,  = -10 points,  = -5 points, = -1 point.

[bassmadrigal]

Surprised no one has mentioned static discharge. Although I have not personally had this issue I ran into the problem a couple of times while I was doing work for a small computer repair shop.

Always make sure you are grounded. Best way I have found is keep the PSU plugged in but switched off. This way the chassis is fully grounded and you just need to hold onto the chassis. But at least touch the chassis to remove any static. Some like an Anti-static bracelet (there is an actual name for it but it eludes me today), but I just opt for keeping a hand on the case.

Make sure you don't work on the computer in a carpeted area in your socks.

Always handle computer components carefully. Use anti-static bags.

Good Luck and Don't Fry
Jeremy