How to repair this POS?

[backseatjuan]

I had a comp come to repair, static damage + power damage, I replaced mobo, processor, and then power supply. Comp works awesome at my work place. I bring it home to client, connect it, it works fine, but then later on it just doesn't start up.

I bring it to my place, connect it, reset BIOS, and it starts up just fine. Resetting BIOS and connecting it at client's site did nothing.

Client has EURO power plug, 3 contacts, but the ground is not connected, thus through filter in PSU there is half of voltage on the case, 110 volts. As I read if there is no ground that's what happens. Don't know if absence of ground is the problem.

Could also be power fluctuations at client's site.

Basically I don't know what the **** is going on, it just not working at client's site, and working at my site. WTF?

I'm pretty much ready to give up, actually I already gave up and they just keep on calling me, ignoring don't work, they use different numbers. Tomorrow I'm just thinking of telling them I'm done guys, call someone else, I can't fix it for you.

 

[backbreaker]

Your client needs a top of the line UPS. Until he gets one there is nothing you can do.

You can also downgrade the power supply to see if that works, to something with less juice, but then the pc might not work. but its worth a shot

 

[backseatjuan]

You can also downgrade the power supply to see if that works, to something with less juice, but then the pc might not work. but its worth a shot

Why would this help?

 

[Epimanes]

I would try reseating the ram. If ya get no beep and it worked previously or its intermittent. 90% of the time its something to do with the ram.

Reseat the ram

Try one stick at a time in each ram slot.

Make sure fans are turning when it is on.

Edit to add: check all the screws on the MB. Had an incident once where one screw was intermittently touching the case and creating a ground.

 

[Epimanes]

Client has EURO power plug, 3 contacts, but the ground is not connected, thus through filter in PSU there is half of voltage on the case, 110 volts. As I read if there is no ground that's what happens. Don't know if absence of ground is the problem.

Euro power plug? Why?

No ground? Highly likely especially since euro power plug is soo... Abnormal. You wouldn't want it missing any component.

When you plug it in at your place do you "euro" plug it? Or normal 3 prong? If its otherwise normal for being plugged in I would check the Euro adapter.

Epi

 

[backseatjuan]

The darn thing does nothing when you press the button, nothing turns on. Then I bring it home, reset BIOS, and press the button, and it turns on just fine. Do stress test it, works flawlessly. Bring it to client, works when I am there, then when I leave they call me, it's not turning on.

EURO plug is 3 pong, 220 Volts, theirs just don't have the ground connected.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I would look at the wiring at your client's place. How old is it? Look for the service entrance; fuses are the old style, circuit breakers usually mean new wiring. Do they have other problems like lights dimming? Is it a house or an apartment building? If it is a multi-unit building, someone else is probably having the same problem. If the building does not have a grounded electrical system, you know it's old.

Maybe you can run a ground wire from the the computer case to a metal water pipe inside the client's home to see if that helps. I agree that a UPS is a good idea too, but the UPS alone may not fix the problem entirely.

 

[backbreaker]

I was thinking maybe if the computer required less voltage it would work there. Just a thought. probably a bad one lol. You got to try different **** lol

 

[Epimanes]

Check the power supply. Did u switch the psu to 220? Sometimes there is a little switch to change voltage from 115 to 220

 

[Married Buried]

Maybe you can run a ground wire from the the computer case to a metal water pipe inside the client's home to see if that helps. I agree that a UPS is a good idea too, but the UPS alone may not fix the problem entirely.

If it's a problem with the wiring in the house the UPS won't work right. But it will light up red telling you the wiring is faulty.

 

[Eph]

Get a multimeter and check the voltages coming out of the client's wall sockets. If there's nothing turning on at all, I'd suspect the PSU isn't getting enough power. Also, like someone else said (Epimines(?) I think), check the voltage selector switch on the back (if there is one on the PSU you installed and its not an automatic one). It should be set to 115.

Even though you say the client has a European style outlet, the voltages coming from it should still be 115. If its not, then set the voltage selector switch to 220.

If all else fails, you've probably got intermittent problems.

 

[Mike32ct]

I agree with Eph. Check the outlet with a multimeter. Then check whether the switch is set for 120 or 220 volts.