I just experienced a scary situation where my power supply, which is around 10 years old, started making a strange buzzing noise. I panicked and quickly unplugged everything from the multi-outlet, but when I tried to plug it back in, there was a loud bang, a bright spark, and a horrible smell. I've since turned everything off and disconnected the power supply completely. Now I'm wondering if I should be worried about potential damage to my PC components, especially since the computer was off when this happened. I also have a replacement power supply arriving tomorrow, but I can't shake the concern. What should I do?
3 Answers
That sounds rough! Can you share the model number of your old power supply so we can roast it a bit? 🤣
Definitely check the capacitors on your motherboard for any bulging or damage. Also, look for scorch marks on the traces. If everything looks clear and you can't smell anything burnt (besides the PSU), you *should* be okay. I’ve had power supplies die dramatically and my motherboard was just fine afterwards!
The motherboard looks good; no bulging capacitors or signs of damage. Fingers crossed the SSDs and HDDs survived too! Thanks for your help—I'll keep you posted after the new PSU arrives.
The main risk when a power supply fails is that it might send mains power to the PC’s low voltage rails. If you don’t see any damage, you won’t know for sure until you try the new power supply. If you’re really worried, consider removing your SSD, GPU, and any pricey components before testing it with the bare minimum. I had a similar issue before, and my main PC parts survived surprisingly well! Good luck!
Great advice! I’ll definitely try that. Luckily, I still have my original components since I upgraded a couple of years ago, so I can swap them back in if needed. Just hoping the SSD and HDD are still intact!
Sure, it was an InWin Power Rebel RB-S450, 450W. But honestly, it’s probably my fault for waiting so long to replace it—over 10 years isn't exactly cutting-edge!