Problem powering up new system...please help!

morph166955 · 4th April 2007, 07:29

ok so im about ready to smash something right now. ive been working on this thing for the past 5 hours and im borderline insane from it. the motherboard works perfectly when its sitting out on its static bag. it works perfectly when its just sitting in the case not screwed down. Normally i can add 1 screw before it starts to fail but sometimes 1 is enough for it to fail. all it does is twitch at that point. the fans twitch every few seconds as if they get an instant burst of power and then loose it. ive tried to insullate the hell outa the thing and thats just not working (i even stuck the static bag under the board incase it was grounding to the chassis and that didnt work either!). my next step is plastic standoffs although i despise them. anyone got any suggestions I havent thought of? just to be clear, the setup WORKS when its not screwed down to the chassis...otherwise it doesnt work.

smok3 · 4th April 2007, 07:40

there is a shortcut on the screws area i guess, replace the mobo if it is new.

Gerard V · 4th April 2007, 08:59

Check that the insulating washer and the brass mounting stud are in the correct place for each mounting screw, and that they are not short circuiting your mobo on the top or underside.

Also check that everything that plugs in is plugged in tight. As you tighten the screws the board may be flexing slightly and if there is a not quite plugged in chip, or a broken track, that may cause the board to fail.

But a short, possibly from something wedged under the board would be the first place to look. The board should be clear of the case with none of its tracks touching anything metal.

morph166955 · 4th April 2007, 14:52

problem fixed. i had to insulate the screws both top and bottom. thanks for the input guys was much appreciated

morph166955 · 5th April 2007, 17:45

ok evadentally not solved...kinda just bypassed it seems

for some reason, i can boot up once and the thing is perfectly fine. after that the fans just kick for a minute. ive had the entire machine insullated to hell and back and nothing has fixed it. unfortunately since this is an eps12v power supply, i dont have another one to test with but since once its on it works flawlessly i dont think that this is defective hardware but something more along the lines of a grounding problem. ive tested the case with an ohm meter and all of the posts look like they are fine in terms of resistance (everything had <<1 ohm when testing, normally close to .1 if it registered at all).

HELP!!!

HookedOnTV · 5th April 2007, 18:49

It's got to be something shorting on the bottom if it works fine out of the case. I would strip things down to the bare minimum. One cpu, one stick of ram, no cards etc. Remove all of the standoffs and put only a bare minimum back in. If everything works start adding things back in one at a time. If the processor fans use a plate mounted from underneath make sure they actually clear when in the case.

morph166955 · 5th April 2007, 21:04

it seems its the power supply actually causing the problem. after playing around and being 100000% sure it wasnt grounding out i ripped the whole thing outa the case only to find that it still did it but i had to run the computer for atleast 5 minutes before the problem would rear its ugly head. i went to the local computer store and got some adapters to convert my atx12v 2.2 power supply to an eps12v (for testing only, if it turns out to be the problem ill still get an eps power supply so no one kill me for this pls). i just ran it for ~15 mins, powered down, and it came right back up no questions asked just with everything out of the case. im going to run it for a good half hour now out of the case doing work (installing emacs actually) and then power down to see if it has any more issues. if that works, ill put it all in the case and try that.

4th April 2007, 07:29	#1 \| Link
morph166955 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 443	Problem powering up new system...please help! ok so im about ready to smash something right now. ive been working on this thing for the past 5 hours and im borderline insane from it. the motherboard works perfectly when its sitting out on its static bag. it works perfectly when its just sitting in the case not screwed down. Normally i can add 1 screw before it starts to fail but sometimes 1 is enough for it to fail. all it does is twitch at that point. the fans twitch every few seconds as if they get an instant burst of power and then loose it. ive tried to insullate the hell outa the thing and thats just not working (i even stuck the static bag under the board incase it was grounding to the chassis and that didnt work either!). my next step is plastic standoffs although i despise them. anyone got any suggestions I havent thought of? just to be clear, the setup WORKS when its not screwed down to the chassis...otherwise it doesnt work. Last edited by morph166955; 5th April 2007 at 17:58.

4th April 2007, 08:59	#3 \| Link
Gerard V Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 112	Check that the insulating washer and the brass mounting stud are in the correct place for each mounting screw, and that they are not short circuiting your mobo on the top or underside. Also check that everything that plugs in is plugged in tight. As you tighten the screws the board may be flexing slightly and if there is a not quite plugged in chip, or a broken track, that may cause the board to fail. But a short, possibly from something wedged under the board would be the first place to look. The board should be clear of the case with none of its tracks touching anything metal. __________________ Gerard V - Comedy Hypnotist The World's 16th fastest Hypnotist http://www.thathypnoshow.com and http://www.gerardv.com Inventor of the Pink Panther hypno gag

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4th April 2007, 07:40	#2 \| Link
smok3 brontosaurusrex Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,392	there is a shortcut on the screws area i guess, replace the mobo if it is new.

4th April 2007, 14:52	#4 \| Link
morph166955 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 443	problem fixed. i had to insulate the screws both top and bottom. thanks for the input guys was much appreciated

5th April 2007, 17:45	#5 \| Link
morph166955 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 443	ok evadentally not solved...kinda just bypassed it seems for some reason, i can boot up once and the thing is perfectly fine. after that the fans just kick for a minute. ive had the entire machine insullated to hell and back and nothing has fixed it. unfortunately since this is an eps12v power supply, i dont have another one to test with but since once its on it works flawlessly i dont think that this is defective hardware but something more along the lines of a grounding problem. ive tested the case with an ohm meter and all of the posts look like they are fine in terms of resistance (everything had <<1 ohm when testing, normally close to .1 if it registered at all). HELP!!!

5th April 2007, 18:49	#6 \| Link
HookedOnTV Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 122	It's got to be something shorting on the bottom if it works fine out of the case. I would strip things down to the bare minimum. One cpu, one stick of ram, no cards etc. Remove all of the standoffs and put only a bare minimum back in. If everything works start adding things back in one at a time. If the processor fans use a plate mounted from underneath make sure they actually clear when in the case.

5th April 2007, 21:04	#7 \| Link
morph166955 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 443	it seems its the power supply actually causing the problem. after playing around and being 100000% sure it wasnt grounding out i ripped the whole thing outa the case only to find that it still did it but i had to run the computer for atleast 5 minutes before the problem would rear its ugly head. i went to the local computer store and got some adapters to convert my atx12v 2.2 power supply to an eps12v (for testing only, if it turns out to be the problem ill still get an eps power supply so no one kill me for this pls). i just ran it for ~15 mins, powered down, and it came right back up no questions asked just with everything out of the case. im going to run it for a good half hour now out of the case doing work (installing emacs actually) and then power down to see if it has any more issues. if that works, ill put it all in the case and try that.