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My pc smells...
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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by reaper47 on Mon Mar 27th at 5:58pm 2006

First I thought it's something else but since a few days I could swear my PC smells like something burning. I need that PC for work, reading mails and all the less important but fun things. I can't put it into repair right now.

So I disconnected it from power and opened the case. I think it's the power unit where the smell comes from. Should I just buy a new PSU and hope it goes away? I'm scared.



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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by Orpheus on Mon Mar 27th at 6:06pm 2006

To my knowledge, other than power surges, "Heat" is the #1 killer of machines.

Blow out the dust, make sure that its clean and be certain that all your colling fans are blowing properly.

Another thing to take note of is, be sure that not all your fans are blowing in the same direction. My PC has 5 cooling fans counting the power supplies. All were blowing "from" the inside to the "outside"

The force of them all pulling against each other was causing my power supply fan to not work as efficiently. My power supply ran hot.

I turned 1/2 of my fans around and its been cool since.

Blow the dust out, then worry if the problem remains.





The best things in life, aren't things.



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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by Nickelplate on Mon Mar 27th at 7:01pm 2006

you've got a bad power supply. change it. it's very easy.


I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com



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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by Crono on Mon Mar 27th at 7:02pm 2006

There's a chance the powersupply burnt something out. If the computer is still running, then you can be fairly confident that none of the hardware is damaged.

Does anything get overtly hot? Can you feel the powersupply heat from outside the machine, for example. (Like on top)

Is the fan on the powersupply spinning? Have you ever taken it out and put it in backwards on accident (maybe)? etc.


Blame it on Microsoft, God does.



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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by Orpheus on Mon Mar 27th at 8:55pm 2006

You know, I seem to be the only one being conservative. He never mentions "Burning what?"

Dust smells oddly when its hot. Even warm wires give off an odor. If the machine is still functioning properly, clean it. If the power supply is bad, it more than likely won't take anything with it when it quits. You could look in a few shops to find a power supply thats handy to cut down on time loss.

Course, I could be wrong yet again.





The best things in life, aren't things.



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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by FatStrings on Tue Mar 28th at 1:41am 2006

i was gonna say power supply
but you all beat me to it
oops, guess i did anyway




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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by Nickelplate on Tue Mar 28th at 1:56am 2006

? quoting FatStrings
i was gonna say power supply
but you all beat me to it
oops, guess i did anyway

But you knew what you were talking about! and for that, you get a surprise in class tomorrow. And it's not a kick in the ball.




I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com



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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by FatStrings on Tue Mar 28th at 2:03am 2006

um...woot



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 Re: My pc smells...
Posted by reaper47 on Tue Mar 28th at 3:57pm 2006

I cleaned the inside, parts were rather dusty. It all runs nicely now but I still plan to buy a new PSU, I think this one is to weak anyway (I was surprised it worked so well with my new system... until now). I found it intersting that hot dust smells oddly. Maybe it wasn't a melting wire after all. Thanks for all the info.




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