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Hi, wondering if anyone could possible point out my problem. At first I thought what anyone would think and turned it off and let it cool down. I was in a ladder game when it happend so I didn't know if my fans were working or not.
Having turn off the PC and let it cool down (it wouldn't work at first obv) it fired back up and seems to be working without any issues.
What I did when it was off was cleaned it competely it (it was stupidly dusty) and it seemd like the 5 fans might not be getting enough air. So having done this it seems to be working fine again. Should I just be happy and continue to clean it out more often or should I be worried about the Power supply/effectiveness of the fans.
Nathan
NINJA Edit: it seems to be been smelling funny again I'm going to turn it off and leave it until Ive resolved the issue and look at replys on my Laptop. I suspect this smell may be residue from the overheating issue earlier but I'm not sure.
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Try opening the cover and vacuuming it thoroughly, also check the fan functionality.
Eww you've done that already, how did I miss that >_<
Another thing is, is the air good enough? Is the computer in a place where it can't get enough fresh air? The removal of dust should help quite a bit, though, and that's usually what's going to be smelling, unless your hardware is frying
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I know its strange isn't it that its smelling and still functioning. Thats why I paniced and turned it all off.
Thats a point about the air being good enough it was in a small space which it only had about 1inch in any direction. I normally leave the door to this area open but what you mentioned might be a factor.
I've taken the panels off the desk which were surrounding it so its literly just on the floor now and should be getting plenty of air. Still stinks even though its not on. Maybe the smell was just the dust heating up =/ God im a scruffy bastard when it comes to cleaning that can't be seen.
What I'll do is leave it off into the smell has gone away then I'll turn it back on and see if it start smelling again and then if thats the cause I'll start looking into fixing it. Although I still wouldn't mind some ideas on whats causing the smell cause my actual hard knowledge is rather limited.
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You should fire up the computer and watch your fans (mostly the CPU fan) to see if its shorting out.. if you have a fan controller, some of them are really cheap and will stop the fan from working in general.. Mine used to do that.
Edit: Also if you can get your hands on Afterburner and CPU Temp, it will help your diagnostics out a lot.. If neither of them are getting hot, but you can smell burning, You should probably take out your power supply and give it a good look. Dust can reallllllllly clog up an old power supply.
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Just fired it up after its been off for like 2hours and it seems that the smell is still coming out of it. This is strange as that must mean that the smell isn't a burning one as it must have cooled down during that time. Maybe its simply residue smell. I really don't know. The CPU fan and all other Fans seem to be working fine.
I'm starting to think this whole episode was simply caused by the fact I hadn't cleaned it out in such a long time (like 2 months)
Edit: Smell still coming out of the computer even though its only been on a couple mins. What could it be if its not over heating?
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That's really weird then... I couldn't even begin to help you with this. Hopefully someone else can.
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I'd put money on you needing a new power supply.
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That is odd. If something burned out it should not function at all. Usually when it smells means that part is ruined and won't function, so I guess the smell may be coming from a naked wire touching something.
Open the case and inspect it for a naked wire. Also if you mind posting your full system specifications, this would help a lot in determining your problem!
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Check to see if theirs a powdery acidic substance on the mother board anywhere.. between the air flow and the heat I wouldn't be surprised if maybe that is what you are smelling.
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Yeah, i have had that happen before. Any time something seems to smell funny like burnt plastic that is mostly the power supply IMO. They power supply will continue to work but shut off sporadically exp. once a week then goes down to every couple of days then to every day then to every couple of hours then to 50/50 if it will power it up at all. when it gets to every couple hours. (I do it once it happens once a day or every couple of days to save my hardware) thats when you know you have to do something.
If you have any extra parts swap them out one at a time starting with power supply.(if it continues)
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You should maybe check your wires, maybe its touching a gfx card or a heatsink or something and its burning up. Or you should check if all your fans are working. Get a fan/cpu temperature monitor program because if your fans are turning off or cpu is too hot your computer will turn off.
Oh its a laptop.... mm.. make sure you got good ventilation and that its not lying on something plastic/rubber. Check your fans still.. could be the problem.
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On January 14 2011 01:51 DamnCats wrote:
I'd put money on you needing a new power supply.
I wouldn't put money on it, but that would be my guess. I had this problem with the first PC I built, I had tried to save money on the PSU (bad idea) and smelled something I thought was burning, turns out it was the PSU about ready to blow up.
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Exploded and/or leaking capacitors would smell bad. It's somewhat likely that your PSU is busted but still operational in the sense that your computer will turn on. Bad capacitors and other components on the secondary side can mean that voltages are "mostly" right but may exhibit dangerously out-of-spec ripple (unwanted variations in what's supposed to be DC voltages) that will damage your motherboard, hard drives, GPU, etc. over time.
You might as well inspect the motherboard and other components for burn marks, bulging or leaking capacitors, etc. If you don't see anything and it's not just the residue, it's probably a problem inside the PSU.
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On January 14 2011 04:21 Myrmidon wrote:
Exploded and/or leaking capacitors would smell bad. It's somewhat likely that your PSU is busted but still operational in the sense that your computer will turn on. Bad capacitors and other components on the secondary side can mean that voltages are "mostly" right but may exhibit dangerously out-of-spec ripple (unwanted variations in what's supposed to be DC voltages) that will damage your motherboard, hard drives, GPU, etc. over time.
You might as well inspect the motherboard and other components for burn marks, bulging or leaking capacitors, etc. If you don't see anything and it's not just the residue, it's probably a problem inside the PSU.
I was just about to say that, just check for buldging capacitors, these actually release a burning type smell into the air, if you do have a couple of buldging ones, you can either contact the manufactor or if you have a warranty send them in to be replaced.
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I'm sorry I realize this is not helpfully at all, but I jsut want to give the op props for the literally best tech support threat name ever 
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Lol I guess I was rather direct with it. But yeah I htink you guys are right, I think its the Power Supply. I fired it up a second time and it worked for about 15mins perfectly until the burning smell came back and Smoke started coming out of the Power Supply.
Ive got a spare power supply and will try install it tomorrow, although I'm not too confident in putting new parts in a computer. Though from what I here power supplies are one of the easier things to change.
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I guess when smoke comes out of something it's usually a problem. And yes, PSUs are sort of easy to change. Make a note of how the cables on the broke one are connected if you are unsure.
Happened to me once but my PSU died completely right away. I had warranty and RMAd it which worked pretty easily.
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Smoke smell (i assume a plastic'y smell) comes from a burnt power supply. So replace it.
What other problems can also arise? Check the capacitors on your board (usually look like little batteries sticking out) and see if they are leaking or slightly bulged, main suspect ones are near the CPU and RAM areas as they are most prone to voltage problems from a psu thats not doing too great. You can tell if capacitors are leaking from a orange foamy material coming on top.
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EPT
