Power Supply help, making noises?

plowexvii

plowexvii

New Member
Hey Guys,

I connected everything correctly, then plugged in the power supply and it started making noises. Then... sparks flew and ruined it. I just bought another, had my friend double check everything... and when we turn it started to make the noise again. I quickly turned it off, and we are unsure what the problem could be. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance. Any comments are greatly appreciated!!

Phillip
 
umm...just make sure nothing is shorting out, like the mobo touching the case...and make sure that the voltage on the PSU is set rite, usually it comes set at 115volts , so make sure thats set rite for your power outlet..;)
 
If your motherboard is touching your case, you just fried your motherboard instantly. If that is the case then your PSU will make a very high pitched "squeel". Atleast mine did when I built my first computer. :D

it started making noises. Then... sparks flew
Click to expand...

Sparks flew from PSU or motherboard? If from PSU, then I would agree with what everyone else is sayin and its something with the voltage.
 
well the power supply makes the noises. after i blew the first one, i took it out of the case and hooked up another power supply to it, and it worked fine (booted up). Then i put that power supply in the case, and it made the strange high pitched sound again. However, before anything happened again, i turned it off. I take it its the motherboard touching the case then? What should i put in between them? thanks!

Phillip
 
Well if your motherboard is touching the case even the slightest bit, it would be instantly fried, meaning you wouldn't boot up at all. What goes between the motherboard and case are little bronze standoffs. On the bottom end of these is the screw that goes into your case, and on the top end are threads to screw your motherboard to. Bronze doesn't conduct electricity (I guess) and that is why you use these standoffs. Without them, your motherboard is ground itself out on your case... The high pitch "squeel" is all the current flowing through your motherboard and having nowhere to go (I think). This is all just from what I have picked up reading some, so maybe some one could back me up on this or correct me?
 
yeah, thats weird because i was able to boot up after the first power supply went out... outside of the case. the only sparks were those from the power supply, and that was fried. thanks for the advice cbizzle, i'll see what i can do :)

phil
 
Actually bronze is a metal and as such would conduct electricity.

You should normally get a packet of screw & spacers provided with your motherboard. Some of the spacers will be the bronze/metal type and some will be plastic clip-in types.

On the underside of your MB were the fastening holes are, you should see a silver coloured metal surface around some of them....these are grounding points and should not cause a problem if attached to the case using a metal spacer & screw.

If the hole doesnt have that metal area around it then either use a plastic spacer or use none at all.
 
bronze is an alloy of mainly copper and tin, and copper is one of the most conductive metals around, hence its use in all wiring and pcb tracks. (except the fancy gold ones)

The screw holes of most motherboards are self insulting so the screws will not touch the copper tracks. You may even get a plactic washer to place under the screws just for good measure. In that way the standoff are not touching the board. Unless you have something else metal wedged back there
 
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