Thermal Event

[Arkan]

I've got a friend whose computer keeps shutting down when windows is trying to boot up. When it is restarted a message is displayed along the lines of "The computer was shut down due to a previous thermal event..." I did a little research and I found it could be bad capacitors in the motherboard or bad chassis fans. I checked the fans, and they are working. No idea how to check the former, though. The weird thing is, it boots just fine to safe mode. It even worked a couple times regularly after going into safe mode, but then it started having the same problem... Any ideas?

[SamuraiGaijin]

It would help to know the mobo, cpu, cpu cooler, power supply, vga card, any overclocking, and any changes made to hardware config recently.

 

It's possible that:

- the CPU cooler was not installed correctly (bad contact with the CPU),

- the fans are not installed correctly (i.e. all blowing in or out instead of circulating air) - typically, the ones in the front and side should blow in, the ones in the back and top should blow out.

- the power supply is either not sufficient for the system or not stable

 

If the mobo model or manufacturer has a history of bad capacitors (some of the cheaper ones do), your friend might be have to replace the mobo - but that's really a last resort.

 

It might be worth the effort to strip everything down, clean everything up, and rebuild the system.

[Arkan]

It would help to know the mobo, cpu, cpu cooler, power supply, vga card, any overclocking, and any changes made to hardware config recently.

 

It's possible that:

- the CPU cooler was not installed correctly (bad contact with the CPU),

- the fans are not installed correctly (i.e. all blowing in or out instead of circulating air) - typically, the ones in the front and side should blow in, the ones in the back and top should blow out.

- the power supply is either not sufficient for the system or not stable

 

If the mobo model or manufacturer has a history of bad capacitors (some of the cheaper ones do), your friend might be have to replace the mobo - but that's really a last resort.

 

It might be worth the effort to strip everything down, clean everything up, and rebuild the system.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well, it's a Dell (I forget the model, atm), so I would hope that stuff would have been done properly (you never know). Of course, the computer is about 4 years old, so that may have something to do with it as well.

[SamuraiGaijin]

Hmm ... at four years it just might be reaching the end of it's life, and replacing the mobo or power supply are no longer options (not cheap ones, at least ... probably more cost-effective to build or buy new than to send it in to Dell for repairs after the warranty has expired, and Dell uses proprietary mobo's and psu's in order to keep their customer service department busy).

 

Is everything still stock? (Any add-ins, especially recent upgrades, may be overwhelming the power supply)

 

Has the computer been moved around recently (i.e. shipped from one place to another)? (Something not readily apparent may have been shaken just loose enough to cause problems.)

 

It may be as simple as cleaning the dust off the fans and heatsinks, but I'd bet that a complete tear down and rebuild will be required to solve the problem, and even then, it might not (but it will eliminate a litany of possible issues associated with loose or dirty connections).

 

You don't have to pull everything out of the box, just disconnect everything (except the front-panel connections) and remove the fans and everything plugged into the mobo. (Leave the PSU, mobo, and drives installed - not much to be gained by removing them.)

 

Clean card and memory contacts with denatured alcohol if they look dull (but just removing them and reseating them is normally enough to break through a layer of tarnish that could be inhibiting conductivity).

 

Clean fan blades (both sides) and heatsinks.

 

Clean the mating surface of the CPU heatsink. (If it's a stock heatsink/fan with a themal pad, remove the remains of old pad)

 

Clean the CPU, reinstall, and apply new thermal goo to the CPU.

 

Check all the power connections to make sure they're good.

 

Carefully reassemble everything.

 

Don't forget to power up before you close the case - almost everyone forgets to connect something.

[Ummi]

I did a little research and I found it could be bad capacitors in the motherboard or bad chassis fans. I checked the fans, and they are working. No idea how to check the former, though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Checking capacitors is very easy. Just take off the sidepanel and inspect all capacitors on the motherboard. If the caps are bloated or there's even goo coming out of them then the capacitors are bad and a new motherboard is likely needed. Bad capacitors usually means that the computer might crash, not boot or do other weird stuff.

 

Here's a picture of capacitors gone bad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bad_Capacitor_01.jpg

 

I've never seen that white powedery stuff on a capacitor but i've seen many motherboards and PSUs with bloated caps and goo all over the place.

[Arkan]

I did a little research and I found it could be bad capacitors in the motherboard or bad chassis fans. I checked the fans, and they are working. No idea how to check the former, though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Checking capacitors is very easy. Just take off the sidepanel and inspect all capacitors on the motherboard. If the caps are bloated or there's even goo coming out of them then the capacitors are bad and a new motherboard is likely needed. Bad capacitors usually means that the computer might crash, not boot or do other weird stuff.

 

Here's a picture of capacitors gone bad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bad_Capacitor_01.jpg

 

I've never seen that white powedery stuff on a capacitor but i've seen many motherboards and PSUs with bloated caps and goo all over the place.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ah, it's probably the capacitors then. That seems to be what some of them look like. But why would it work "perfectly" in safe mode but not normal?

[SamuraiGaijin]

Ah, it's probably the capacitors then. That seems to be what some of them look like. But why would it work "perfectly" in safe mode but not normal?

My best guess is that in safe mode, less gear is using power, and some gear requires less power (memory, for example) to run in a stable condition, putting less strain on the capacitors.

 

That's too bad ... you're friend's computer is almost certainly out of warranty, but I'd be interested to hear what terms Dell offers to repair or replace it.

[taks]

Well, it's a Dell (I forget the model, atm), so I would hope that stuff would have been done properly (you never know). Of course, the computer is about 4 years old, so that may have something to do with it as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i just replaced a dell mobo for the exact same reason. i have a gx270 for my linux box, which started flaking out and, eventually, wouldn't boot except into safe mode (safe mode turns a lot of things off, which reduces noise and power requirements). if you open your box, some of the rather large capacitors will be sort of "bubbled up." i.e. the tops will look like they are bulging out.

 

this is a common problem with dell mobos.

 

taks

[Gfted1]

^I had two of my GX270's here at work flake out on me. In my situation the units would not turn on unless you unplugged it, discharged the capacitors by holding the power button down untill the power light stops blinking and then pluging it back in and turning it on. This model is known by Dell to have capacitor and power supply problems. In my case, both PC's had power supply issues which Dell replaced for free even though they were WELL out of warranty. Its worth a call to them.

[taks]

my 270 just went down again. the mobo looks good, so i'm blaming the power supply. i swapped it out for a 280 we had lying around (we have several dozen PCs that are getting shipped back to our home offices while they shut us down, so spares are easy to find...)

 

taks