Fortunately, the main computer is just fine. But the second one is…troubled.
A couple of days ago, it would not start up, shut itself off, and then followed up with a nasty, burning smell of plastic and metal (?) which I thought was coming from the back of the monitor. I pulled the plug.
Today, I walked by the tower and noticed the lingering nasty smell coming from the back of it at the top, where the round thing is (fan inside?). So now I don’t know if it was the monitor or the tower that has the problem.
Not being skilled at computer hardware, I have not opened the tower to take a look; someone else can do it.
Anybody out there have experience with this particular problem?
If the smell is coming from the top of the tower, as you describe, there’s a pretty decent chance that your power supply has burned out.
If this has happened, then it could be easy to fix, or hard depending on exactly what happened. If the problem is nothing more than a dead power supply, it’s pretty easy and not terribly expensive to replace. The only caveat is that some computer manufacturers (e.g., Dell) use proprietary power supplies, so you have to buy a (more expensive) replacement from them. If it’s not a proprietary power supply, you should be able to get your local geek shop to supply and fit a new one for not too much money.
The possible bad scenario is if your power supply actually surged or somehow sent an excessive amount of power into the computer before it died. If this is the case, it’s possible that, in addition to a dead power supply, you might also have a fried motherboard, RAM, even hard drive.
If you’re not able to open up the computer and check this out for yourself, basically the only thing to do is take it to a computer place and ask them to see what’s wrong.
Good luck.
First guess, based on available data I second mhendo.
Are you able to power on at all? A bad cooling fan will usually allow you to run for a short period, long enough to get the smell.
A lingering smell several days later on a non-running unit, something is fried instead of just overheating. If the machine won’t power up (no LED blinks, no spinning cooling fans even for a second, etc) probably power supply.
But the power supply needs a draw to start, so a sufficiently fried motherboard could result in the above symptoms.
Power supplies can be fairly cheap (can be darn pricey too) and aren’t all that hard to replace if you pay attention to how you took the old one out. I’d hate to buy one just to find out that it’s something else, know anyone with a spare?
As everyone posted, chances are it’s your power supply. It’s quite easy to diagnose, and fairly cheap partswise (if it’s a standard type, and not a weird one invented by your PC manufacturer). It’s relatively simple to replace also, but since your description includes “where the round thing is”, I might find a friend who knows how to do it.
My only alternate theory involves bad capacitors, of which a huge bad batch were used in motherboard construction a few years back. In my limited experience they’re more likely to pop suddenly than smoke or anything, but you never know. I’d still lay money on the PS.
Oh, and make sure to unplug it completely, not just turn it off. My friend and I were working late at the office when I detected the odour of short-circuiting electronics. It took us perhaps 3 minutes to narrow it down to a co-worker’s PC (which was turned off at the time), a decision that was confirmed seconds later as a resistor (and perhaps some other stuff) in the power supply exploded, sending acrid smoke and little bits of burnt plastic floating through the office.
An autopsy determined that when it blew, it took out everything on the motherboard, video card, CDROM and hard drive (actually melted a chip on the controller).
I had an MB with a whole bunch of those. No smell or smoke, just normal computer problems that got worse and worse. Opened the cover hoping it just needed a good cleaning (it’s in a very dusty enviroment) and saw them leaking all over the board.
I’m gonna put another vote on Power Supply.
Once electronics overheat, the smell lingers on the overheated components. You can likely determine the component by smell, so long as you don’t have a bad nose. Look for brown coloration of the components too.
I can almost guarantee it’s the power supply. I’ve had a few go on me and it’s always the same; they overheat (possibly burning out) and depending on the severity of the problem you’ll get the unmistakable scent of barbecued electronics. If it burned out, you’ll get that lovely smell of acrid smoke, too. I’d get that power supply replaced ASAP.
My brother, who diagnosed it only by telephone, thinks it’s the CPU fan.
However, someone who lives a lot closer is going to come over and see what’s up. Hope it’s nothing more serious.
Thank you very much for your insights.
Yes, it is all unplugged. There is definitely a lingering smell, though only if you’re right next to the tower.
P.S., yes, I can still power up. I just get that message telling me to pick a start mode from the list since Windows did not start up properly before. But that odor is enough to drive anyone away.
The regular fan, whose blades can be seen from the back of the tower, still works.
Well, it was indeed the CPU fan.
And, unfortunately, it was also the motherboard.
Your remote diagnoses were spot-on, folks.