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john_dennis wrote on 3/7/2014, 1:48 PM

My old system blue-screened, powered off and stunk up the place. Here is what I found when I opened it up.



The offending connector:



It’s ironic that the device in the machine that uses the least power does this much damage to the system.

Comments

Steve Mann wrote on 3/7/2014, 2:09 PM
None of your images are viewable. Try posting them using the [img= tag.
Tim L wrote on 3/7/2014, 2:38 PM
The actual links -- not the visible part of the link -- have an extra "%20http//" near the beginning. In I.E. I can click on the link, which doesn't work, then just go up and fix it in the url by the tool bar.
NormanPCN wrote on 3/7/2014, 2:55 PM
Looks like something failed to a short and that certainly will cause overheating then melting then fire.
ChristoC wrote on 3/7/2014, 2:57 PM
Edit: I see you sorted your pictures to display now so I removed them here...

videoITguy wrote on 3/7/2014, 3:01 PM
This is fairly petty problem - conductor short. If you have not experienced it before - try a failing capacitor the size of a pencil eraser on your motherboard.

When it blows its cap, you have the equivalent of half-a-stick of dynamite going-off inside your little computer case - ohh' I hope you had the case cover on when that happens to you!
JohnnyRoy wrote on 3/7/2014, 3:34 PM
Wow, that gives a whole new meaning to the term: "Smokin' PC"! ;-)

Good that the whole thing didn't catch fire.

~jr
john_dennis wrote on 3/7/2014, 3:38 PM
"This is fairly petty problem"

My experience runs the continuum from petty to very meaningful.



Actually, I had a few Dell workstations at work with "the capacitor problem". They replaced three motherboards because of it.
john_dennis wrote on 3/7/2014, 3:44 PM
I called down the stairs and asked the wife if she smelled it. I thought the house next door was on fire.

I policy replaced the eight year old power supply (though it may still be OK), tested the motherboard and the drive that received most of the burned PVC vapor and it's OK. Still haven't tested the SATA port that went to the burned SSD. I'll do that over the weekend. No problem with data. It's backed up on another machine.
riredale wrote on 3/7/2014, 4:36 PM
Wow, that is the cleanest PC case I've seen in a long time!
john_dennis wrote on 3/7/2014, 5:05 PM
The case has been in service in one form or another since 2002. I have a Filter Queen vacuum cleaner that sucks and blows. I blow it out fairly frequently.
ushere wrote on 3/7/2014, 5:25 PM
and there i was thnking the kitchen was a dangerous place....

talking of caps - nothing worse than one going bang next to your ear - beta sp400, and the smell they leave behind, ugh.....
paul_w wrote on 3/7/2014, 5:32 PM
omg, as they say... Could have been rather nasty that.

Seems to be closer to the 12v rail end of the power cable but hard to tell with all that blackness.
A sudden component failure perhaps, leading to a short circuit
or
long term over heating of the connector slowly warping the pins to eventually short circuit and burn out.

Paul.
Stringer wrote on 3/7/2014, 6:04 PM
"It’s ironic that the device in the machine that uses the least power does this much damage to the system. "


What damage was done to your "system " besides the burnt connectors, the HDD and the SSD ?

john_dennis wrote on 3/7/2014, 6:23 PM
Don't know for sure yet about all the functions of the motherboard, The choice of replacing the power supply was on me. Past a certain tipping point for cost and motherboard availability, the "system" might be moved to a different hardware platform which will involve motherboard, cpu selection, assembly and reloading of O/S and applications.

Maybe I'll get off with just replacing the SSD.
Rob Franks wrote on 3/7/2014, 10:11 PM
"When it blows its cap, you have the equivalent of half-a-stick of dynamite going-off inside your little computer case - ohh' I hope you had the case cover on when that happens to you!"

I've seen quite a few caps blow. It's nothing quite that dramatic. In fact most electrolytic caps include scoring on their tops to act as sort of a 'burst disk' scenario. They can make a loud popping sound but that's about it. Now the bigger 1 and 1.5 F caps which you use for car stereos and such.... they can be messy.

I would also suggest the above issue not to be a "conductor short", but rather a loose or dirty connector. A short would cause a fuse in the power supply to go.

A loose connector would instead cause resistance which in turn causes heat and arcing
videoITguy wrote on 3/8/2014, 5:26 AM
Does anyone recall what is the insertion /re-insertion spec of SATA connectors - less than fifty times? This spec is to guard against the described happening of this OP's topic.
john_dennis wrote on 3/8/2014, 10:36 AM

From Western Digital web site:

"... eSATA cables and connectors are designed for 5000 insertion and removal cycles while internal SATA cables and connectors are designed for only 50 insertion and removal cycles."

Though the 50 insertion / removal cycle seems a low number, I would be very surprised if I went over 50 for this SSD and connector. I think I bought both at the same time and haven't been back into the machine since I installed the SSD.

I have a couple Molex to SATA adapters that I use at work that are easily over the 50 number. It wouldn't break my heart to throw them away after a few years and replace them with new ones. I wouldn't want to use them on the bench then put them into a system that I expected to run for years unattended.

The system is up and running with the new power supply and an old laptop drive that I had on my desk. I'll put the image on an SSD later today.