To -spark- the occasion

Y

yeahyouknow

New Member
More than a month ago, I suspected that my fan wasn't spinning quite as it should, so I had been operating with one side of my computer exposed and an external little fan blowing into the computer. Great solution, I know. Then the fan in the computer seemed to be doing fine again, so I stopped using the external fan but left the computer panel open for more "breathing" room. It had been working great since then.

I installed my new DVD+-RW DL four or five days ago, which was a momentous occasion for me. I needed bigger backup storage for my GB sized projects. Didn't have any DVD-R discs yet, though, so no such backups had yet occured.

Then I wake up three days ago walk to my computer to find it was off (I had left it on overnight as I do normally). The weird thing is that the green power light in the front was still on, but it was obvious NOTHING else on the computer was on, including the green light in the back (power supply). I disconnected and reconnected the power cord. No light. Still a green light in the front though. I then held down the power button in the front, which turned off the green light. I then pressed the power button in the front to turn it back on and SPARKS come flying from the power supply/fan area (which I had a clear view of with the side panel off). I quickly unplugged the power cord in the back, took out the HD and put it into an older computer and luckily no damage was done to my data. I've been working from the older computer since then.

My question is - if the fan really did go out, or was interrupted by extra dust since the side panel was off, do I just replace the fan? It's the one that goes on top of the processor (P4). Or do I need to replace the entire processor+fan as well as the power supply? Or should I just clean out all the dust and try turning it on??? I'm lost.

If I do need replacement parts, do any of you have suggestions on where to get them? (Price over quality, please)
 
That seems a little out of my league. I'm not going to look for something metal and stick it in my power supply and plug it in - not my cup of tea.

What I want to know is if it's safe to just clean off all the dust and try turning it on. Could that do further damage if in fact the power supply is messed up? I don't want to damage anything else, especially the hard drive. Could I turn it on without the hard drive just to see if the battery and power supply are okay?

I saw the sparks come from that general area, where the processor's fan is and where the power supply is. Maybe the processor's fan is just fine and just needs to be cleaned? If not, where could I go to get a replacement processor fan, without replacing the processor, too (it's a pentium 4 processor and fan that came together in a box)?

Any suggestions?
 
Yeah you can replace the fan without much trouble.....you have to find the socket for your CPU. Exactly what model is it?
 
 
The label on the power supply has these specs:
maxpower (looks like a logo, so I'm guessing that's the brand)
ATX 12V
PL-300

The fan on top of the p4 processor says:
(holographic intel logo)
AB0856-002
# 33150-D2
F08G-12B2S1 05AC1
DC12V 0.28A
NIDEC CORP
(some "8"'s may be B's and some zeros may be O's or Q's. It's very small)
 
The docs I have don't mention the socket type. Is there an easy way for me to find that out? All the p4 fans I see on newegg say socket 478. Do p4's come in any other socket types?
 
Awesome. Thanks for your help, guys. That takes care of the CPU Fan, but what about the PSU? Like I said, the one I had was ATX 12V, 300 Watts. I think I'd like to up it to 350 Watts if you think that'd be wise. Does this one look like a good candidate?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-986&depa=0

PS - I cleaned the dust out of everything and tried turning it on, but nothing happened so now I'm pretty confident the PSU is (also?) out.
 
Was the light on the PSU on? If not, it is either broken, or you have a faulty power cord. If you have an extra power cord, you might want to try that before you replace the psu
 
My question is - if the fan really did go out, or was interrupted by extra dust since the side panel was off, do I just replace the fan? It's the one that goes on top of the processor (P4). Or do I need to replace the entire processor+fan as well as the power supply? Or should I just clean out all the dust and try turning it on??? I'm lost.
Click to expand...
Trial and error will help you determine exactly what was fried ... it could potentially extend to anything directly connected to the motherboard.

Seems odd to me that the light was on but the PSU was not working!?
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A (potential) sign of at least one major component failure

The docs I have don't mention the socket type. Is there an easy way for me to find that out? All the p4 fans I see on newegg say socket 478. Do p4's come in any other socket types?
Click to expand...
They come in Socket423 and Socket775 but yours is Socket478

they(P4Cs) are all socket 478
Click to expand...
Arent the P4EE-775s also Northwood based? ;)
 
CPU Fan

Well, I bought one of the CPU fans at newegg that Bobo linked to:
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=22&data=1&disc=
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-185-111&depa=0

And my socket type is definitely 478 (says so right by the processor) but it says "478B" and the fan I just bought obviously is looking for a different kind of fan mount or "retention module". The tabs that lock in are on the opposite side as on my retention module, and the width of the fan itself at the top is so wide that it wants to take up space that six little thingies on the motherboard take up (they're little cylindrical things right next to the fan) that can bend a bit (but that's probably not the best idea).

So there's 13 bucks down the drain, but more frustrating is the time spent without my Pentium 4 computer.

I think I might try and plug in the old fan and use the new PSU unit to see if that was the only problem anyway (I upgraded to a 350 PSU - it does fit. Thanks for the help)

So, if I still end up needing a new CPU fan, would anyone know for sure one that would fit my retention module and not mess with those cylindrical things next to the processor?
 
yeahyouknow said:
Well, I bought one of the CPU fans at newegg that Bobo linked to:
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=22&data=1&disc=
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-185-111&depa=0

And my socket type is definitely 478 (says so right by the processor) but it says "478B" and the fan I just bought obviously is looking for a different kind of fan mount or "retention module". The tabs that lock in are on the opposite side as on my retention module, and the width of the fan itself at the top is so wide that it wants to take up space that six little thingies on the motherboard take up (they're little cylindrical things right next to the fan) that can bend a bit (but that's probably not the best idea).

So there's 13 bucks down the drain, but more frustrating is the time spent without my Pentium 4 computer.

I think I might try and plug in the old fan and use the new PSU unit to see if that was the only problem anyway (I upgraded to a 350 PSU - it does fit. Thanks for the help)

So, if I still end up needing a new CPU fan, would anyone know for sure one that would fit my retention module and not mess with those cylindrical things next to the processor?
Click to expand...


Told you to find the EXACT socket #, you said 478, I gave you 478 links
 
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