one for the sparkies/I.T. guys on here.

 

* bought a new PC a few weeks ago. nae problems with it except graphics card is a major let down (ATI X550)

* bought a new graphics card (ATI X850) which requires extra power feed from power supply unit. fitted. nae problems. flying (except the occasional beep while playing graphics-intensive game, dont know whether its cos im holding a direction key down for a while or whether its from new card.) otherwise no problems

* try to run new pc from 4-way power point so its mated with new LCD monitor, printer etc. but that tripped the fuse box downstairs.

* run PC from its own power point and its fine. nae problems.

* our area had a power surge a few days ago (not my fault i was at work!)

* used PC. nae problems.

* couple of days ago the PC trips downstairs out again :confused: for no apparent reason.

* reset trip. happens again. :confused: take side of PC off, check all connections/cards etc. everything ok.

* the only thing i can remember installing is a USB cable with a green LED light! unplug that, and it works! plug it in while its running... and it still works...

* reset trip. plug my old PC back in (same socket, same lead). runs fine.

* plug new PC back in. trips out.

* unplug DVD drive and gfx card so ease load off PC PSU. switch on. works fine (except i cant see anything cos gfx card got no power!)

* put OLD graphics card in, plug DVD player back in (this works fine too). TRIPS OUT! :confused: so new gfx card not to blame!

* put NEW graphics card in, but leave couple of other things unplugged. works fine! :confused: :confused:

* swap trip plug downstairs with the one next to it (same rating :D ) to elimiate that (maybe local power surge weakened it or sommat)

* put old harddrive in, in place of DVD player (so i can copy some files across quickly). works fine, but then when i switch on again after a while (made no changes), trips out!

* but now while im typing this, i have new gfx card in, 3 hdd drives plugged in, and it works ok.

 

its so intermittent its bizarre! when its on, it STAYS on, but when it trips, it happens literally when I flick the switch to turn it on. its sure not the gfx card, nor anything else inside the pc (they all work individually). the PC's PSU is rated 350W, 220-240V. ive narrowed it down to the following:

 

* PC PSU is a little faulty and works intermittently (in which case, remove porn and take back to PC World)

* the PC, being quite powerful, is running close to its load limit so that sometimes it will cause a trip, sometimes it wont (upgrade trip to higher load :x: :x: or make do with no hard drive :( )

* the local surge has boogered something up (remember i did have a trip before the surge but that was when i ran it off a 4-way)

* the bloody thing's cursed (take to church and bless with holy water)

 

any ideas whats wrong cos its doin me bone in!

Is it a Lexmark Printer?

 

I know that this sounds like a daft qustion but some lexmark all in one's have some USB problems like PC's not booting up if connected etc...

lol dammit mate its a Hewlett Packard!

think i'll see if i can be bothered to get a fancy PSU from flea-bay and see if that cures the problem

Interesting problem - If the computer trips out the mains in the house intermittently, then I would ask what type of breaker is it ?

 

If you have an RCD - residual current device - then you may have current leaking into the earth path from somewhere - that smacks off a faulty PSU and a potentially dangerous situation !! :shock:

 

If it's an ELCB - then again same sort of issue. The difference is that ELCB senses current in the earth path - and there should not be any - an RCD looks at current difference between Live and Neutral - again what goes in must come out - should be the same amount !!

 

One other possible cause is the inrush current for the PSU - all PC supplies are switchmode devices, and when you first switch them on, there is a large inrush current to charge the capacitor. If the supply is running close to the limit, this could also take it outside its designed operating area giving any number of problems - as others have said - junk it and get something decent. APC are good, as are Antec, but there are others.

 

Depending on how many drives, how much RAM (yep these take a bit of current too) and processor speed you may well need to upgrade the PSU - stock ones are good for 2 drives, and about 512Mb RAM with 2Ghz proc speed - go higher on any of these and you need to go 450 - 650 Watts. Higher than you need wont hurt - you have spare capacity then - good tip is to check the voltages on the Mobo - 5 volts should be close to that - e.g. 4.95 - below 4.7 and the supply is underated. Also look at +12V line - its the other one that gets a large current draw.

 

Hope this helps.

@ Woody:

 

Ah cool. I do work for myself but have recently tried to keep that side of things down, I work 9-5 (more like 6!) for an agency as it is! We mainly specialise in websites for motor manufacturers and such, so names like Toyota, Nissan etc :)

 

I don't like to go around trying to make ppl look stupid, unlike some ppl.

 

point taken hehe ;) wasn't my aim though at all, just for debate more than anything hehe. no offence taken either btw.

Interesting problem - If the computer trips out the mains in the house intermittently, then I would ask what type of breaker is it ?

 

If you have an RCD - residual current device - then you may have current leaking into the earth path from somewhere - that smacks off a faulty PSU and a potentially dangerous situation !! :shock:

 

If it's an ELCB - then again same sort of issue. The difference is that ELCB senses current in the earth path - and there should not be any - an RCD looks at current difference between Live and Neutral - again what goes in must come out - should be the same amount !!

 

One other possible cause is the inrush current for the PSU - all PC supplies are switchmode devices, and when you first switch them on, there is a large inrush current to charge the capacitor. If the supply is running close to the limit, this could also take it outside its designed operating area giving any number of problems - as others have said - junk it and get something decent. APC are good, as are Antec, but there are others.

 

Depending on how many drives, how much RAM (yep these take a bit of current too) and processor speed you may well need to upgrade the PSU - stock ones are good for 2 drives, and about 512Mb RAM with 2Ghz proc speed - go higher on any of these and you need to go 450 - 650 Watts. Higher than you need wont hurt - you have spare capacity then - good tip is to check the voltages on the Mobo - 5 volts should be close to that - e.g. 4.95 - below 4.7 and the supply is underated. Also look at +12V line - its the other one that gets a large current draw.

 

Hope this helps.

 

hmm thanks for that Drift. the PC spec is 3.4ghz, 2gb RAM, 2 HDD drives, ATi X850XT gfx card. sounds like it's worth upgrading the power supply. im pretty confident about the house wiring - ive only ever had this problem with this new PC, everything else has worked fine. This inrush thing sounds good - once the PC is on it stays on no problem, the trip only occurs when switching on at the start. i'll trry and get round to taking the back off and looking over the mobo. thanks again for all that :bow:

Is it the MCB or RCD tripping?

 

If it's the MCB then it would be the inrush thing but you would have to have a crappy PSU.

 

If it's the RCD then I wouldnt worry about the house wiring that much as it's a earth leakage fault and this could be the computer PSU (some coils and motors can cause RCD's to trip on start up).

 

MRS Lets Drift knows HER stuff (welll done that bit o'Fluff (sorry couldnt think of an alt to Fella LOL)) :nelson:

 

I take it the CPU is Intel as you said it's 3.4Ghz (Intel are very power hungry and needs a bigger PSU)

 

Stick your info in here this will give you an idea.

 

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

thanks for that link Woody. ive plugged in the information i know and taken a best guess at the rest and it comes up about 350-ish watts. time for a new PSU!!! :dance:

Is it the MCB or RCD tripping?

 

If it's the MCB then it would be the inrush thing but you would have to have a crappy PSU.

 

If it's the RCD then I wouldnt worry about the house wiring that much as it's a earth leakage fault and this could be the computer PSU (some coils and motors can cause RCD's to trip on start up).

 

MR Lets Drift knows his stuff (welll done that fella)

 

I take it the CPU is Intel as you said it's 3.4Ghz (Intel are very power hungry and needs a bigger PSU)

 

Stick your info in here this will give you an idea.

 

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

Her stuff mate, I haven't suddenly had a sex change. But I did check I was giving you the correct infor first by looking into my books and putting the whole theory past the hubbie first. :D

Her stuff mate, I haven't suddenly had a sex change. But I did check I was giving you the correct infor first by looking into my books and putting the whole theory past the hubbie first. :D

 

OOOPPPPSSSSS

 

Sorry I only thought that blokes where nerds :mac1: (post edit done :x: )

OOOPPPPSSSSS

 

Sorry I only thought that blokes where nerds :mac1: (post edit done :x: )

 

That's okay mate no worries.

 

Some of us try otherwise we'd have no idea what the other half was babbling on about. I knew nothing about the subject before I married a Tech Head.