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[email protected] June 10th 18 01:33 PM

PC with multiple organ failures
 
I was asked to check out a PC that wouldn't boot. It powered itself off
after a second. It looked like mainboard was kaput. Then I checked out
all the bits I removed. Both DIMMs were bad, and one of the two hard disks
also bad.
There was no obvious damage (such as beer spillage).
So what do reckon happened? A lightning strike?

Flasherly[_2_] June 10th 18 04:25 PM

PC with multiple organ failures
 
On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 05:33:04 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I was asked to check out a PC that wouldn't boot. It powered itself off
after a second. It looked like mainboard was kaput. Then I checked out
all the bits I removed. Both DIMMs were bad, and one of the two hard disks
also bad.
There was no obvious damage (such as beer spillage).
So what do reckon happened? A lightning strike?


I don't trust "check it out" broken PCs and dear or good ol' beer
buddies, just between and for a favor among friends. Last one, I'd
also swung a super deal on a Dept. of Defense class, industrial modem.
When I got there, not seeing the modem and asked where it was, he told
me he wasn't sure, possibly that the dog had got ahold to have buried
it in the backyard.

If it did, or if you'd ever seen a lightning strike, it blows the
doors off most electrical services, if not the whole house from off
the face of a map. Just ask anyone in a assessed location with a
lightning or natural disaster clause, what _do_ they pay for that in
an home insurance policy.

Attrition: Lightning is shameful enough where it only strikes once;-
twice in the same spot, then shame on me.

I've also been told by others they've had actual balls of lightning
enter through the door and roll across the room. . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ball_lightning.png

Skeptically, I'd of course first ask the owner if I might look for any
trace residuals, e.g. softball-sized dents deeply impacted into the
side of the computer case. About the same gauge of metal I did once
happen physically to observe, where lightning had struck the side of
an outdoor air-conditioning housing, frying everything inside, along
with half a two-story building's appliances. (So for reason enough
then for them to have sold the house.)

-
Remember: Always with, or never spit directly in to the wind.

GlowingBlueMist[_9_] June 10th 18 05:25 PM

PC with multiple organ failures
 
On 6/10/2018 10:25 AM, Flasherly wrote:
On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 05:33:04 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I was asked to check out a PC that wouldn't boot. It powered itself off
after a second. It looked like mainboard was kaput. Then I checked out
all the bits I removed. Both DIMMs were bad, and one of the two hard disks
also bad.
There was no obvious damage (such as beer spillage).
So what do reckon happened? A lightning strike?


I don't trust "check it out" broken PCs and dear or good ol' beer
buddies, just between and for a favor among friends. Last one, I'd
also swung a super deal on a Dept. of Defense class, industrial modem.
When I got there, not seeing the modem and asked where it was, he told
me he wasn't sure, possibly that the dog had got ahold to have buried
it in the backyard.

If it did, or if you'd ever seen a lightning strike, it blows the
doors off most electrical services, if not the whole house from off
the face of a map. Just ask anyone in a assessed location with a
lightning or natural disaster clause, what _do_ they pay for that in
an home insurance policy.

Attrition: Lightning is shameful enough where it only strikes once;-
twice in the same spot, then shame on me.

I've also been told by others they've had actual balls of lightning
enter through the door and roll across the room. . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ball_lightning.png

Skeptically, I'd of course first ask the owner if I might look for any
trace residuals, e.g. softball-sized dents deeply impacted into the
side of the computer case. About the same gauge of metal I did once
happen physically to observe, where lightning had struck the side of
an outdoor air-conditioning housing, frying everything inside, along
with half a two-story building's appliances. (So for reason enough
then for them to have sold the house.)

-
Remember: Always with, or never spit directly in to the wind.

With that kind of damage I'd be inclined to loose the power supply.
If it was a surge of some kind it most likely had to go through the
power supply, if not then I'd strongly suspect a defective power supply.

At least open it up and verify all the capacitors are not bulging. Also
test the power supply under a load. Some read good voltages with no
load or one of those little plug in LED testers but go bad when an
actual load is applied.

Paul[_28_] June 10th 18 09:16 PM

PC with multiple organ failures
 
GlowingBlueMist wrote:
On 6/10/2018 10:25 AM, Flasherly wrote:
On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 05:33:04 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I was asked to check out a PC that wouldn't boot. It powered itself off
after a second. It looked like mainboard was kaput. Then I checked out
all the bits I removed. Both DIMMs were bad, and one of the two hard
disks
also bad.
There was no obvious damage (such as beer spillage).
So what do reckon happened? A lightning strike?


I don't trust "check it out" broken PCs and dear or good ol' beer
buddies, just between and for a favor among friends. Last one, I'd
also swung a super deal on a Dept. of Defense class, industrial modem.
When I got there, not seeing the modem and asked where it was, he told
me he wasn't sure, possibly that the dog had got ahold to have buried
it in the backyard.

If it did, or if you'd ever seen a lightning strike, it blows the
doors off most electrical services, if not the whole house from off
the face of a map. Just ask anyone in a assessed location with a
lightning or natural disaster clause, what _do_ they pay for that in
an home insurance policy.

Attrition: Lightning is shameful enough where it only strikes once;-
twice in the same spot, then shame on me.

I've also been told by others they've had actual balls of lightning
enter through the door and roll across the room. . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ball_lightning.png

Skeptically, I'd of course first ask the owner if I might look for any
trace residuals, e.g. softball-sized dents deeply impacted into the
side of the computer case. About the same gauge of metal I did once
happen physically to observe, where lightning had struck the side of
an outdoor air-conditioning housing, frying everything inside, along
with half a two-story building's appliances. (So for reason enough
then for them to have sold the house.)

-
Remember: Always with, or never spit directly in to the wind.

With that kind of damage I'd be inclined to loose the power supply.
If it was a surge of some kind it most likely had to go through the
power supply, if not then I'd strongly suspect a defective power supply.

At least open it up and verify all the capacitors are not bulging. Also
test the power supply under a load. Some read good voltages with no
load or one of those little plug in LED testers but go bad when an
actual load is applied.


It's unusual to lose DIMMs like that.

Things connected directly to a PSU, like the hard
drive, those get killed first on a transient event.

The motherboard regulators for CPU and DIMMs provide
a measure of secondary protection. If a DIMM was
blown, that must have been a *pretty big* transient.
Look for holes in the plasterboard, next to the
machine.

I would definitely replace the PSU before
installing new kit. Even if any components
"survived", I would mark them with a
wax pencil, indicating they could die at
any time in the near future. Some running
components might not be far from croaking.

Paul

Flasherly[_2_] June 10th 18 09:20 PM

PC with multiple organ failures
 
On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 11:25:02 -0500, GlowingBlueMist
wrote:

With that kind of damage I'd be inclined to loose the power supply.
If it was a surge of some kind it most likely had to go through the
power supply, if not then I'd strongly suspect a defective power supply.

At least open it up and verify all the capacitors are not bulging. Also
test the power supply under a load. Some read good voltages with no
load or one of those little plug in LED testers but go bad when an
actual load is applied.


Loose power supplies are great for the spare or a project build on
spare parts: I got mine.

This one is, half off and shipped, less but may be still a little
loose...
EVGA 450 BT 100-BT-0450-K1 450W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE
Certified Non-Mod $24.99

Whereas according to Johnny Guru...
totalarkwar 7 points·2 months ago
Excelvan buys surplus or rejected parts from other manufacturers. I
would be very suspicious of the quality of this PSU...
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsal...ly_desktop_pc/

Yep, sounds about right for $12: totally loose, free and easy.

A privately branded PSU, Excelvan 750W, contracted out of New York
City from its California warehouses...
http://www.excelvan.com/about-us/

Storm Stores, can great minds think anymore less in sync?

Arriving Apr 10 - Apr 13
Track package
Excelvan ATX Computer Power Supply Desktop PC for Intel AMD PC SATA
US (750W)
Sold by: Storm Store
$29.99

Order Details
Ordered on April 4, 2018
Order Summary
Item(s) Subtotal:
$29.99
Shipping & Handling:
$11.57
Free Shipping:
-$11.57
Promotion Applied:
-$17.99
Total before tax:
$12.00
Estimated tax to be collected:
$0.00
Grand Total:
$12.00


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