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Desktop will not post

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by gone4pepsi, 2009/02/12.

  1. 2009/02/12
    gone4pepsi

    gone4pepsi Inactive Thread Starter

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    We had a storm here the other day and my desktop, in the shop, got wet.. I set it aside to dry out, before trying to power it up. Today, I tried to power it up and nothing. I did see that the light on the motherboard is lit up along with the one on the power supply, however the fan on the power supply, nor the one on the mother board comes on.
    Please, any suggestions of what might be ruined here.
    Thanks in advance
    Mark
     
    gone4pepsi,
    #1
  2. 2009/02/12
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    You have to try replacing the parts one at a time till you find the culprit.

    Was it on at the time it got wet?
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #2


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  4. 2009/02/12
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Steve's question is vitaly important ....
    and how wet is wet -$64,000 question :)

    Clearly a problem with the PSU if the fan is not spinning ....

    With the computer unplugged from the wall see if the fan spins if you give it a touch with a non-conducting object - it may have stuck.

    Depending on whether or not it was powered up at the time and the degree and area of wettness I would remove all cards, memory modules and connectors one at a time and ensure that they are absolutely dry before refitting. Then and only then power up the computer again.

    If it remains dead there's not real alternative to Steve's first statement .....
    starting with the PSU.
     
    PeteC,
    #3
  5. 2009/02/12
    gone4pepsi

    gone4pepsi Inactive Thread Starter

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    Would the psu light still be on if it was bad? The fan in the psu does spin freely. This pc was really wet, water ran out of the case. The power down there was off at the time.
     
    gone4pepsi,
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  6. 2009/02/12
    gone4pepsi

    gone4pepsi Inactive Thread Starter

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    Steve there was no power on anywhere when it got wet. I have a habit of turning off all the breakers when i'm not in my shop.
     
    Last edited: 2009/02/12
    gone4pepsi,
    #5
  7. 2009/02/12
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    If there is no reaction at all, it might be possible that there is a problem with the power button/switch. The usual method of testing that is to take the PWR connector off at the motherboard and shorting the pins momentarily with the tip of a screwdriver.
     
    mattman,
    #6
  8. 2009/02/12
    gone4pepsi

    gone4pepsi Inactive Thread Starter

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    I thought about that, but didn't try it. What i did try was disconnecting everything and attaching a small fan to the power supply. The small fan didn't do anything.
     
    gone4pepsi,
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  9. 2009/02/12
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    The power supply will only start feeding "full" power (start the system up) if it gets a signal from the motherboard. The motherboard needs to get the start up signal from the power switch. Those are the three possible areas.

    Can you borrow another power supply to try?

    Matt
     
    mattman,
    #8
  10. 2009/02/12
    gone4pepsi

    gone4pepsi Inactive Thread Starter

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    I found another power supply, I disconnected just about everything, with the exception of the motherboard. I tried disconnecting the switch and crossing the terminals.
    Pretty amazing that water could do this with the power off. I have had no results with the exception of the same lights on, but no joy.
    So now where do we look, the motherbaord, processor?
    Thanks
    Mark
     
    Last edited: 2009/02/12
    gone4pepsi,
    #9
  11. 2009/02/12
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Logic says, to me at least :), that you start with the motherboard.

    Does the hard drive spin up? - you will need to listen to it rather than rely on the case light.
     
    PeteC,
    #10
  12. 2009/02/12
    gone4pepsi

    gone4pepsi Inactive Thread Starter

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    No , hardrive does not spin.
     
    gone4pepsi,
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  13. 2009/02/12
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Just a maybe. If you have got your motherboard manual, read how to Clear the CMOS. If not, disconnect any power and take the button battery (CMOS battery) out for 30 minutes or so (and press the power switch to dissipate any residual power).
     
    mattman,
    #12
  14. 2009/02/12
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Mmmm, I wonder if water got to the pins on the CPU and maybe it is still damp?

    Edit: If you remove the heatsink from over the CPU, you will need to replace the thermal compound between them.
     
    mattman,
    #13
  15. 2009/02/13
    gone4pepsi

    gone4pepsi Inactive Thread Starter

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    I did see a little bit of water at the base of the cooling fan bracket. I took the processor out last night and let it dry, but it still didn't work in the old board. My guess is that there may still be some water at the base of the ziff socket. I'll invert the board and see if it drys out.

    I had an identical board from another system that was parted out long ago. I installed this motherboard in about 10 minutes and plugged in just a hard drive and the power supply. Bingo we have joy! I did use the same processor, eventhough I had another to replace it with.
    Thanks to everyone for all the help!
    mark
     
    gone4pepsi,
    #14
  16. 2009/02/13
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Splendid :) Would be interesting to dry the wet board out in an airing cupboard for a couple of days - might prove to be it's salvation!
     
    PeteC,
    #15
  17. 2009/02/13
    gone4pepsi

    gone4pepsi Inactive Thread Starter

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    I'm thinking the same thing. interesting enough, this other board boots up to everything, with the exception of the video. I'm wondering if memory goes bad when it gets wet. I changed out the video card with one that i know works, and there is power to the agp slot because the fan turns on the card, but it won't boot, which leaves to to point to the memory. I really don't have any extra pc 133 to experiment with.
    i hear everything else, including the hard drive.
     
    gone4pepsi,
    #16
  18. 2009/02/14
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I doubt it's the memory - if that was faulty you would expect a series of BIOS beeps on startup.

    Are you saying that the system is actually booting - prolonged hard drive activity? I wonder if that mobo is also faulty - do you remember why it was abandoned?
     
    PeteC,
    #17

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