Here we go again

[Aku]

The continuing misadventures of my new computer. Saturday morning, the monitor started to blink on and off, then went dead. My battery backup stayed on, and the computer turned off about a minute later (I think it shut itself down). My other power strip was out, too. Yes, I blew the outlet. I guess the blown power supply may not have been the computer's fault after all. Yesterday, I went through and labeled the circuit box for every single thing each breaker controls (should have done that yeasr ago). I'm having an electrician put the outlet on a new breaker today, and I'll probably put another outlet in the room on its own breaker. Well, In the last three months I've been down more than in the previous 8 1/2 years combined (back when I bought my first pc).

Aku
Shapeshifting Master of Dobian

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\">The continuing misadventures of my new computer. Saturday morning, the monitor started to blink on and off, then went dead. My battery backup stayed on, and the computer turned off about a minute later (I think it shut itself down). My other power strip was out, too. Yes, I blew the outlet. I guess the blown power supply may not have been the computer's fault after all. Yesterday, I went through and labeled the circuit box for every single thing each breaker controls (should have done that yeasr ago). I'm having an electrician put the outlet on a new breaker today, and I'll probably put another outlet in the room on its own breaker. Well, In the last three months I've been down more than in the previous 8 1/2 years combined (back when I bought my first pc).

Aku
Shapeshifting Master of Dobian</div>

AKU, out of curiosity, does your dwelling have aluminum wiring?
I had a similar experience @ one home [bult in mid 60's] that was wired not with copper, but aluminum wiring]. Recepticles & switches would burn out @ random. In my case, the aluminum wiring expanded/contracted over years causing loose,corroded connections @ the recepticles/switches & would either burn in two [open circuit] or, in the case of wall thermostat, caught on fire!

Your post above indicates the possiblilty of intermittent power supply causing previous [aprox 10 days ago] PSU replacement.

Obvious "Q": have you powered your CPU from another location yet to see if system is OK?

[Aku]

I'm back on my pc now. It has suffered no ill effects from the blown power supply or from the blown line. I had a good local electrician (older guy) who works cheap and knows the old houses (ours was built in 1947). The electrical in our house is a hodge-podge of old and new wiring, jurry-rigged stuff put in by the previous owner, most things done to code but a couple things a little iffy. The wiring to the blown outlet was old. The outlet now has new wiring to its own dedicated breaker. Should be stable now. After going through the whole circuit box, I found that we had three unused circuits, so we used one of those for the blown outlet. The door on the box now lists everything ever circuit services< down to the last outlet in the house.

[DBS]

Another thing to check is for a loose wire or corrosion in the breaker box itself. I had a circuit go dead and found it to be a loose connection that was very well hidden. Seemed like it was a bad breaker but after replacing the bad circuit one I found the ground behind the breaker just a wee bit loose and causing me the headache.

[OahuSilverado]

Funny thing is, I worked as an on-site tech support guru this summer and believe it or no:

POWER SUPPLIES ARE VERY FRAGILE THINGS AND THEY CAN DIE!

I always felt like a liar when I told clients that they needed a new power supply because how often has your PS ever failed?

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Funny thing is, I worked as an on-site tech support guru this summer and believe it or no:

POWER SUPPLIES ARE VERY FRAGILE THINGS AND THEY CAN DIE!

I always felt like a liar when I told clients that they needed a new power supply because how often has your PS ever failed?</div>

I admit to being confused by your reply.[1] Are you saying that YOU do indeed believe PSU's are fragile?

[2] "I always felt like a liar when I told clients they needed a new power supply..".
Maybe you can clarify; were you "directed" to tell customers their PSU was bad, even it wasnt so?

[OahuSilverado]

I admit to being confused by your reply.[1] Are you saying that YOU do indeed believe PSU's are fragile?


No, I was NOT a liar, I was just feeling bad that this thing that DOESN'T BREAK is actually the thing that broke. They just fail, and I don't know if I ever had an experience like that before. Maybe it is because hardware is more shoddily-made these days...

Clients were dead-pleased when all it took was the swapping out out a PS!

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\">No, I was NOT a liar, I was just feeling bad that this thing that DOESN'T BREAK is actually the thing that broke. They just fail, and I don't know if I ever had an experience like that before. Maybe it is because hardware is more shoddily-made these days...

Clients were dead-pleased when all it took was the swapping out out a PS!</div>


Thank you OahuSilverado, now I understand.
Some of the regulars here would agree that quality of hardware can be marginal now days [especially on mass produced systems]. :)

[OahuSilverado]

Some of the regulars here would agree that quality of hardware can be marginal now days [especially on mass produced systems].

No worries! Hey, if you were to build a box by hand, can you point me to some place where I can start working on the BEST frankenbox possible? I want it to be quiet, fast, reliable, and I want it to last a while and dual-boot Ximian/Red Hat Linux and XP Pro... or, point me to someplace to look!

[E.T.]

<div class=\"smallfont\">No worries! Hey, if you were to build a box by hand, can you point me to some place where I can start working on the BEST frankenbox possible? I want it to be quiet, fast, reliable, and I want it to last a while and dual-boot Ximian/Red Hat Linux and XP Pro... or, point me to someplace to look!</div>

Tons available by search, I grabbed this for starters:
http://www.tomshardware.com/
Reliable source, been around a while. Many others should chime in w/their suggestions.

[OahuSilverado]

I grabbed this for starters
Awesome! Thanks for looking out for me!