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PC turned off smoking.


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#1
krunkles

krunkles

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Hello, my PC turned off and emitted smoke, after opening up the case and looking inside there are visible scorch marks on the back of the DVD drive by the power supply connector.

Would it be safe to attempt to boot the computer after unplugging the DVD drive or could this have been caused by a faulty power supply, in which case I'd assume it would not be safe to attempt to turn on the system at all.

The PC is several years old.

Thank you for your time.
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#2
PhrantiQ

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First and foremost, welcome to Geeks To Go's forums! I hope you stick around after we've assisted you in resolving this issue, as there is a lot of great members and information available on Geeks To Go's site. Now that the pleasantries have been said, let's take a look at your issue and see what we can do to resolve it!   The power supply could be faulty here, however you should be alright if you remove that drive and your hard drive, then turn it on. See if the BIOS comes up, if it does and no more smoke/issues then try plugging your hard drive back. See if it boots and post back with the results.
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#3
krunkles

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Went to remove the DVD drive and realized that the power connector had melted, after a bit of effort managed to remove the melted connector and turned the pc on after disconnecting the hard drive. Smells faintly whilst on but seems to be okay, asking for boot media, so I'll connect the hard drive up and see how it goes.
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#4
krunkles

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Upon further research it would appear that the component that's melted is a molex to sata connector and that it's a fairly common thing for these connectors to melt.

It's a little concerning that there's no fail-safe on these connectors to prevent them destroying whatever they're connected to, the DVD drive now has a load of melted plastic in the power socket.
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#5
phillpower2

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The computer is several years old - is the PSU the original one?
If yes then it is most likely the cause of the recent issue but even if not it should be replaced in any event.

What is the brand and model name or number of the present PSU - no name brands will not offer a warranty longer than a couple of years and so should be avoided.
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