So, I got a gaming pc with a 600 watt PSU but after four or five days of use, an internal extension cable melted. I called the guys who sold the PC and they sent me a replacement. I installed it properly (a guy said it had been connected badly) and went on to use it normally. The burnt part was the extension's head on the end RECEIVING the power, so no damage was done to the mobo. However, after maybe a week or more of using it, I smelled that fould burnt plastic again. This time I thought it was my fault. The day before I had moved the towe around and plugged it directly into the socket. I then reconnected the cable, plugged the power into a multi adapter and the following day, after about four hours of use, I smelled it again. The cable is turning brown, but I have shit to do and can't stop using the PC. Any suggestions?
>>27029
What's your exact topology?
This is a four-pin CPU power connector to four-pin CPU power connector, yes?
Does your motherboard have a four-pin CPU power connector? Or does it have an eight-pin?
>>27038
Topology?
Yes, it's the one on the pic. A 4-pin all around
Everything looks good OP. Seems like a pretty solid build :)
I doubt it's this, but on the back of your PSU there should be a little, possibly red, switch that states 110 or 220, if you're in America make sure that's set to 110. If you're a euro, 220.
>>27153
I'm in europe, the psu is already set at 220. Sometimes it doesn't happen, but when I have the heating on in the apartment after a while it starts to overheat. It's a problem cause i live in Italy and in summer it gets real hot. I don't know if outside heat ia the problem, though. Can't be sure.
>>27029
Part of me thinks it is a bad crimp allowing shorting between the 12V and the ground, but it happened both times with the extension, in the same place?? Can you get a close up picture of the unburned one near the end, in particular the back side of the connector?
Overload tends to heat and damage throughout the length of the cable, but other stuff would fry as well. What are the temperatures your computer is reporting when this happens?
>>27340
I took this as soon as i realized it was happening again. Again on the same spot.
>>27340
also, the temps were normal.
>>27429
what's normal though?
>>27453
ahm, nothing overloading or overheating. I had the CPU Monitor checking it with a 1s refresh and nothing jumped out. Nothing over 70°C.
Since it's on the end, it's a bad connection generating the heat.
Check the board connector, and clean it if necessary. It should be shiny.
If that's not the problem, then it could be a manufacturing defect. The crimped connection is not making good contact (or it doesn't fit the board pin tight enough). If you can get the wire out of the body, solder it or have someone do it for you. (there's a small tab that holds it in), Maybe bend it slightly for better contact.
Extremely highly likely its a bad connector on the motherboard itself. While that can dissipate the heat (since the connector is soldered into it acting as a heat sink with huge surface area), the cable itself cant.
Try cleaning it.
If that does not work, try the following:
The cable itself is the female part which should squeeze onto the pins in the mobo.
http://images1.cableorganizer.com/power-supply/images/5_12V.jpg
The square metal part which makes the connection are actually made out of two parts. Get a thin needle and stick into each ping in the following way:
Do not stick it in the middle, rather between the plastic housing and the metal "header" itself. No further than 3mm because you will disengage the lock fin (which is designed to be used only once), then wiggle it around. The point is to try to make the pin tighter by squeezing it to a smaller size. Its possible, that you will see no change at all, then try on the other sides. If the two parts that its made of are lined up try to missaligne them, then try to squeeze them together again. Do not overdo it, 0.1mm is more than enough.
The cable contains the pin on the left side of this image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/4335785732_a4eb8e667b_o.jpg
>>27573
It is not the mother board. I've tried cleaning the contacts already, to no avail. As soon as i turn on win movie maker, it starts to overheat, but didn't happen on my WAY weaker laptop.
>>27591
Its the motherboard (connector). Trust me. These connectors are designed for like 10 insertions.
You cant do anything with the motherboard to fix it since the pin in the male connector is solid metal. Cleaning it only helps, if its still in mechanical tolerance. You wont see anything with your bare eyes, unless you can spot a 0.05mm difference.
You have to "modify" the female connector (cable) the way I described.
If the pins in the connectors does not make good contact, they will heat up.
Also, why do you use an extension cable?
>win movie maker
not sure if trolling
>>27759
Not trolling. I use movie maker to edit gameplay videos. Anyway, i use the extension because the cable from the PSU is too short and doesn't reach the mother board.
>>27759
Read the goddamn OP properly.
It's going on fire in the middle of the cable; how the fuck is that anything to do with the motherboard socket.
>>27029
OP, if your PSU is modular, get a new four-pin cable for it. If it's not, either clean and squish the connectors then use a new extension, or clip the plug off and crimp a new one on, or clip the wire in the middle and splice an extension in properly.
You may be able to get around your problem if your PSU provides 8-pin and you use an 8-pin to 4-pin extension, as this will half the draw at each pin.
Sounds to me, though, that you bought this PC pre-built and don't know what you're doing, in which case you should send it back and let them fix it.
>>27923
Yeah, it's been a while. I already contacted the supplier, though, cause I don't trust myself to that kind of work. They'll send me a new PSU asap. But I was really wondering how the hell it happens. Why only when I'm using Movie Maker.
>>28118
I guarantee you it'll also happen in Prime95.
>>27029
I've actually extended one of those things before by splicing and soldering it, and my soldering skills aren't that great. Still worked fine though. I think I ended up using that PSU in a PC I built from spare parts and sold when I was strapped for cash.
>>28187
IIRC, I was pretty heavy into overclocking when I used that PSU, and though I did have some instabilities in Prime95, it was still relatively stable overall, and the didn't get hot or come close to catching fire. I can't really say if the Prime95 errors came from the PSU or the mobo, because I had already done some heavy overclocking beforehand with that PSU connected outside of my case. It was an older PSU I used as an emergency replacement when this cheap one I had used for a few years (from the same brand, FSP Group) was starting to bite the dust. Don't quote me on it, but FSP Group's older power supplies seem better than their newer ones.
Whatever, now I feel kind of bad for the person I sold this PSU to. I don't even recall if I warned them about it ahead of time or not, but I threw it into a system with a completely different mobo and CPU so it could be fine for all I know.
>>28194
>and the didn't get hot or come close to catching fire
*the cable
