Is this caused by overheating? [RESOLVED]

[Madboy]

my pc wouldnt start last night, the computer just beeped then restarted itself, wouldnt get to the loading XP image thing at all.

The plug was red hot (my router plug).

The pc is on this morning however (i took all the plugs out overnight).

Would this be caused because of the fans not cooling enough or something?

[penagate]

If the plug was hot it sounds like an electrical fault. Which router plug are you talking about, the network cable?

[Madboy]

just the plug which came with my router, the adapter thing

[sciguyryan]

just the plug which came with my router, the adapter thing

If it isd a normal power conversion cabe it is normal from them to get hot. My laptops adaptor gets hot very fast but it has never made it switch off.

If it gets too hot though it could affect the computer.

Cjeers.

RyaNj

[Madboy]

Its been on for about 5 hours this morning, its working ok now, well so far.

But last night, it was on all day, from 10am to 1am

[sciguyryan]

Its been on for about 5 hours this morning, its working ok now, well so far.

But last night, it was on all day, from 10am to 1am

Yea that would probably do it.

Long periods of time and heat are not a good thing...

I try to limit the time my laptop is on the adaptor, I normally make shre it is charging while I am in bed so its not trying to charge and still use power at the same time

Cheers,

Ryanj

[ALL]

well... as long as your computer is not really old you should have a sensor to detect if it gets too hot, and when it does it will shut your computer down (usually) for example:

i had my laptop sitting on my bed one day and i closed the lid with it on, and i accedently threw a blanket over it (wasnt thinking) well, about an hour later when i wanted back on it, it was shut off! and VERRY VERRY hot!

if it was beeping than it was probably a hardware failure, most common is RAM and Graphix card. i have found that you turn on a computer with no RAM or the wrong RAM it will just sit there and beep at you (possability RAM was not incerted correctly)

i have also found that if the graphix card is not working properly it will take hours to start up (on one computer) or just sit there and beep at you (another computer). the one that just sat there and beeped, all you had to do was unplug it when you turn it off, and leave it set for about 15 seconds then turn it back on. the one that took hours to turn on, well we couldnt turn it off, but eventually we just sent it in to get the graphix card replaced.

just food for thought,
-ALL

[Madboy]

Thanks for the insight, it about a 4 year old machine, but i had it rebuilt from a shop about a month ago, he fitted a 32Mb graphics card in, im only using 128.0Mb ram on XP Pro SP2, he said i should upgrade to 512Mb or i will encounter problems, just havnt got round to doing it.

I do remember though, the day before it shut itself off, the PC was making a buzzing noise, as if it was loading a massive program on the pc or something, maybe theres a clue to that

[penagate]

The last time I had a buzzing noise it was an electrical problem (worn out wire) and the reason the comp shut down was a short. Next time I turned it on the wire went up in smoke, quite a lot of it actually

[ThaRubby]

You should try monitoring the temp. in BIOS. My computer got to 66C in my closet, so when summer came it had to come down stairs. Now its 10C cooler. Is yours in an enclosed space?

[Madboy]

Damn it, just took me over 4 hours to get back on, the pc kept restarting before even reaching boot screen, and it knacked my router settings, so i had to set all that stuff back up.

Anyway im here again, for now

[ALL]

i'm betting on a power problem!

[ThaRubby]

Yup, some kind of wire problem like penagate said. Make sure everything is securely fasted.

[Madboy]

I had the case open, all hardware is securely fit, no loose wires, no nothing.

Today i bought a surge protector plug, so ill see how this works out, im wondering if its a power supply problem, we'l just have to see

[DaveBo]

If your power plug is getting hot it could just be a sign of wire fraying due to abuse at the wire/plug junction.
e.g. if the wire gets a lot of bending or twisting at that point, or if it gets routinely yanked out of the socket by the cord, then the individual strands of copper will break until there's not enough wire to handle the current and it becomes the weak link.

Simply cutting off the plug (unplug it first!) and replacing it might be all you need to do. If you wait it will eventually become a 'fuse' and melt/burn under the strain.

Note, before it becomes a fuse it resembles a resistor and drops voltage across the bad connection, i.e. your voltage at the PC end will deteriorate (get low) and the PC will react accordingly, either act flaky or just not come on at all ... brown out.

[ALL]

If your power plug is getting hot it could just be a sign of wire fraying due to abuse at the wire/plug junction.
e.g. if the wire gets a lot of bending or twisting at that point, or if it gets routinely yanked out of the socket by the cord, then the individual strands of copper will break until there's not enough wire to handle the current and it becomes the weak link.

Simply cutting off the plug (unplug it first!) and replacing it might be all you need to do. If you wait it will eventually become a 'fuse' and melt/burn under the strain.

Note, before it becomes a fuse it resembles a resistor and drops voltage across the bad connection, i.e. your voltage at the PC end will deteriorate (get low) and the PC will react accordingly, either act flaky or just not come on at all ... brown out.

if that is the problem than he should replace it ASAP because it could damage many other components in his computer, like the videocard, or even mother board!

[Madboy]

Just found the problem, my PSU is only a 250Watt

I just bought a 450Watt replacement one, and its ok now. 2 Days ago i couldnt even boot it, but now its replaced, it ok.

So yes, it was the power supply