Checking parts after power surge

jforth · Post by **jforth** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 10:19 am

My pals pc got zapped,the local shop said the p/s and m/b are fried,which is evident by the melted capacitor on the m/b,and the stuff floating around in the p/s.His keyboard died as well.I have a similar system to his,can I check the cpu ,h/d,ram,etc.. safely without hurting my p/c?I'm told I can check everything but the cpu as it's the most risky part to check(PIII 1000 s370/slotket).Also to check the h/d can I set it to slave and see if works?Thanks.

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 10:31 am

I don't see why not. But if I'm wrong, someone will put me in my place. But I've had friends test parts of mine believed to be dead before. Never caused any problems. eGio

renovation · Post by **renovation** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:16 pm

go for it you will be safe !
just dont test the power supply on your unit !

jforth · Post by **jforth** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:30 pm

Ya,I'll pass on the p/s

.Tried the vid card,it's toast.Didn't smell too good when pc tried to start up,so I turned it off quick.I'm assuming if the vid card is dead,the sound card(sb16)modem(33.6) and nic are toast too.They're inexpensive anyway,but the vid card was a gf2 and alittle more of a loss.$$$ wise.I tried the ram and suprisingly it's ok.I've heard testing the cpu in my system is a little more risky.So I think I'm gonna pass on that.All thats left is the harddrive and floppy.Can I just set it to slave on my main pc and see if it works?Thanks.

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:33 pm

You can set it to slave and that should work fine.. eGo

renovation · Post by **renovation** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:37 pm

your friend i hope had home owners insurance it all maybe covered

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:52 pm

didnt he use a power strip? and if so many of them come with insurance also.

Greg

jforth · Post by **jforth** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 10:54 am

Yup he did have a powerbar,I don't know the story on it.He has insurance,$500.00,deductable.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 11:39 am

While it's not extremely risky, keep in mind there is some risk. If one of the components took a serious hit and it shorted out the power bus on it, installing it in your computer could damage it.

However it's VERY unlikely.

When caps pop on a mobo often the ram is damaged, but CPU usually survives. Other items like drives are least likely to be affected.

The trick to getting honmeowners to cover it - in my experience - is to have a repair tech certify that the damage could only have been caused by a power surge or lightning.

Same thing applies to ANY appliance in the house - TV, washer & dryer, AC.

I've filled one out myself for a customer.

If you ask your insurance agent, he should have a form.

jforth · Post by **jforth** » Sun Mar 16, 2003 12:00 am

well it seems only the ram survived,I have yet to test the cpu,I'll do that next.H/d is toast.Thought it might have survived but it would'nt work as a slave,so I set it as primary and disconnected my h/d to see if it would work as master,bios didn't even see it on boot,so I guess it's fried too.If the ram survived maybe the cpu did too.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sun Mar 16, 2003 8:11 am

I'd try to RMA the drive.

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Checking parts after power surge

Checking parts after power surge

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