PC won't power on after storm

[alan.00000]

About a year ago I was playing a game on my PC that I built in 2016. There was a storm and when lightning struck it knocked out our power and when it came back on my PC wouldn't turn on and I have not been able to get it to power on since. I was unemployed at the time and my PC was a luxury item so I was not able to have it looked at. The wiring at the house I was living in had been redone by a family "friend" and I am not an electrician, but he never got permits so I am pretty sure it was not done properly. Everything was plugged into a surge protector, but obviously there was not enough protection somewhere between the breaker and my PC. Other devices such as a TV, game systems and other various things plugged into the same surge protector still work since the incident. Is there any advice on what component to start checking for damage? This is my power supply- "EVGA Supernova 850 P5", I was hoping that it was the only damaged part but I could not afford to just replace it without knowing. I don't have a lot of technical knowledge, but I was hoping that the power supply would stop an electrical surge from damaging the other components. Or is that just wishful thinking? Is taking it to a PC repair shop the best option? Or maybe just bring in the power supply to check it by itself? My biggest fear is that there are multiple components that are toast, or getting fleeced at a repair shop. I really regret using it during that storm, I want to kick myself every time I think about it. I really enjoyed my PC even if it was primarily for entertainment. I appreciate any help or advice and I can supply any more information or try to answer any questions that may help point me in the right direction, although my PC is in storage so I don't have the full list of hardware components readily available. I can get the list it would just take a little while but if it would help let me know and I'll provide it, I apologize for not having it in the original post. I'm in the Seattle/Tacoma area so if there's a reputable repair shop anyone can suggest that would be great, too. Also, feel free to roast me for being careless with an expensive(for me) PC, I probably deserve it. Although I would prefer help and or advice as well😉 I know it's been a long time since it happened but I am finally back on my feet financially, up until recently I had to focus primarily on the necessary stuff. Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[smokerob79]

surge had nothing to do with it.....BROWN OUTS or power lose will fry things faster then a power surge.....when something goes under its rated voltage the circuit will draw more amps trying to work.....when it draws more amps you over load components and burn them out....

had 2 motherboards die the same day from the same brown out......UPS unit with a surge protection is what i would be buying in a home like yours.....


good odds the motherboard is dead.....

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Brown-outs are scary deadly to the computer - hate them, draining like a vampire of electronics.

[HypersleepyNaputunia]

Ask around neighbors if they have old psu laying around to let you test your motherboard

If psu fixes it then its easy $30 for cheap psu

[BurakZG]

To the topic author: there is no golden advice for you. Especially if you say you don't have much technical knowleedge. Anything and everything could be broken in your PC. All components have to be tested. Basically you would need to ask somebody with similar PC with compatible componets and start replacing them. Power supply can be checked without PC but it requires some basic tools and knowledge.
Repair shop or skilled friend are probably your best options.

Small note: don't blame yourself too much. It has been studied and proven that people perform worse in long stress situations. People make worse decisions because(!) they are in financial troubles, not other way around.

Początkowo opublikowane przez smokerob79:

...when something goes under its rated voltage the circuit will draw more amps trying to work.....when it draws more amps you over load components and burn them out...

That is not electronics that I was studying, but it was 25 years ago and the world goes so fast...

[_I_]

Początkowo opublikowane przez HypersleepyNaputunia:

Ask around neighbors if they have old psu laying around to let you test your motherboard

If psu fixes it then its easy $30 for cheap psu

not sure where you are at, but there are no good $30 psus anymore

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/power-supply/#m=337,11,14,71&e=4&A=600000000000,2200000000000&p=1,3,2&sort=price&page=1

most psus can still work at around 50-60vac
yes they will pull more current than if at 110-240v, but thats only on the primary side, not outputs, it may blow its fuse trying to pull its rated wattage from lower voltage, but its protections should kick in well before that and turn off

but that all depends on the psus quality and configured protections

[alan.00000]

Thank you for the quick replies. If I am understanding correctly, I should at least check the motherboard and PSU for life, then decide what to do with the results? I would like to attempt to fix it myself, not only because it would most likely less expensive but also to learn more about the diagnosis and fixing of my PC. I figured if I was able to research the parts I wanted and then build it without too much trouble, I should at least attempt to do this myself with the help and advice of the community of course. I am not against taking it to a professional if I have to. While my financial situation is better than it was when my PC stopped working, I still have to save money when I am able to.
As a side note, around 2018 my original GPU stopped working for some reason or another, and I found out the hard way that my CPU did not have integrated graphics. This is not something I would have originally thought was necessary, but it would have been very helpful to determine if it was in fact the GPU that was not working. With the research I had done and the symptoms I was experiencing I was pretty sure it was the GPU that was the problem. At the time I still had a lot of extra money so I just bought a new one. I ended up being correct that time. Also, it was an upgrade to a better GPU so it seemed to be a win-win. Now with my current financial situation I am not able to just throw money at a problem without knowing that I am throwing it in the right direction.

Sorry for the wall of text! Thanks again for the advice and help and feel free to offer more of either if you think of anything else. Especially if anyone knows a reputable repair place anywhere in the Seattle/Tacoma area. I'm sure I can find one on my own but I prefer to go to a place that the community can vouch for. If this topic is still open when I either know the problem or have it resolved I will let you know.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Jump the PSU on a bench and see if the fan spins up.

[K0mbO]

First things first, are you sure that the outlet that you are plugging into has power to begin with? Even if your power strip seems to work with other things plugged in, make sure that where you plug your PC's power supply into has power. If so, then keep reading.

If you haven't already tried this yet, you may want to try turning off your power supply at the power supply switch on the back of it.. then unplug it from the back of the power supply.. then press and hold your PC's power button for like 30 seconds.. You might want to try pressing and holding it a few times just to be sure. Then plug your power supply back in, turn the power supply switch back on, then press the PC power button to see if it will turn back on.

I'm not entirely sure of why this trick seems to work for weird power situations, but it can work sometimes. What you are doing is discharging any residual power like stored in caps I'm assuming.

I hope this trick works for you. It might not, but it's worth a try.

Of course if this trick doesn't work,then if you have a spare power supply that is known to work laying around, or a friend can lend you, (or if maybe you can buy one from a store that will let you return one easily), you could try hooking that power supply up to your PC to see if your motherboard is still working or not. If the known working power supply still won't turn your PC on, then your motherboard is most likely fried. Maybe CPU (but I doubt it).

Also be sure to check your power switch and wiring to your motherboard to be sure nothing came loose or broken or some easy fix like that. It probably won't be what your problem is, but just double check that stuff too.

When you are testing your PC, be sure to just have the essentials hooked up like mouse, keyboard, monitor to eliminate any potential problematic external thing plugged in. I doubt that anything would stop your PC from at least powering on like that, but in the past, I had a printer that if I left plugged into my USB port, it would prevent my PC from booting up completely.. Just froze it at the bios boot up screen. Just unplug everything like printers and card readers etc for testing. If you get it to power on, then you can try plugging everything back in again, then power off and on again to be sure it's nothing like that causing a problem.

Good luck fixing it. I hope it's an easy/cheap (or free) fix. Personally, I wouldn't take it to a repair shop because it'll probably end up costing way more than just replacing parts yourself, and/or they might not diagnose the problem right either costing your even more money. That said, I can't blame you if you do take it to a repair shop as I know computer problems can be a headache to troubleshoot.

[K0mbO]

Początkowo opublikowane przez K0mbO:

First things first, are you sure that the outlet that you are plugging into has power to begin with? Even if your power strip seems to work with other things plugged in, make sure that where you plug your PC's power supply into has power. If so, then keep reading.

If you haven't already tried this yet, you may want to try turning off your power supply at the power supply switch on the back of it.. then unplug it from the back of the power supply.. then press and hold your PC's power button for like 30 seconds.. You might want to try pressing and holding it a few times just to be sure. Then plug your power supply back in, turn the power supply switch back on, then press the PC power button to see if it will turn back on.

I'm not entirely sure of why this trick seems to work for weird power situations, but it can work sometimes. What you are doing is discharging any residual power like stored in caps I'm assuming.

I hope this trick works for you. It might not, but it's worth a try.

Of course if this trick doesn't work,then if you have a spare power supply that is known to work laying around, or a friend can lend you, (or if maybe you can buy one from a store that will let you return one easily), you could try hooking that power supply up to your PC to see if your motherboard is still working or not. If the known working power supply still won't turn your PC on, then your motherboard is most likely fried.

Also be sure to check your power switch and wiring to your motherboard to be sure nothing came loose or broken or some easy fix like that. It probably won't be what your problem is, but just double check that stuff too.

When you are testing your PC, be sure to just have the essentials hooked up like mouse, keyboard, monitor to eliminate any potential problematic external thing plugged in. I doubt that anything would stop your PC from at least powering on like that, but in the past, I had a printer that if I left plugged into my USB port, it would prevent my PC from booting up completely.. Just froze it at the bios boot up screen. Just unplug everything like printers and card readers etc for testing. If you get it to power on, then you can try plugging everything back in again, then power off and on again to be sure it's nothing like that causing a problem.

Good luck fixing it. I hope it's an easy/cheap (or free) fix. Personally, I wouldn't take it to a repair shop because it'll probably end up costing way more than just replacing parts yourself, and/or they might not diagnose the problem right either costing your even more money. That said, I can't blame you if you do take it to a repair shop as I know computer problems can be a headache to troubleshoot.

[K0mbO]

woops I hit the wrong thing. Just meant to edit out the part about maybe being the CPU because I don't think that would stop your PC from powering on. Chances are good it's either just your power supply or your motherboard assuming that you have power available to it.

[Tiberius]

Take it to a pc repair shop. Hopefully you'll consider getting a ups or stabilizer for all of your expensive electronics next time

[Set-115689]

Try a psu paper clip test. Can add in a secondary case fan as a redundancy if there's hook ups for it.

Mainboard have any lights on when pc is plugged in?

Cpu model? If the psu passes the paper clip power test and the cpu has graphics can strip pc down to 1 stick of ram, cpu + cpu cooler, pc case, mainboard and psu. Other stuff in the pc might be broken which is why going down to the minimum to test stuff might be ok.

Psu is probably dead. Passing the psu paper clip test isn't a 100% the psu is good thing it just means there should be power. Only failing the test is a real result.

[D. Flame]

Unplug the power cable from the back of the computer for 30 seconds to 5 minutes, then plug it back in.

[Crashed]

Początkowo opublikowane przez smokerob79:

surge had nothing to do with it.....BROWN OUTS or power lose will fry things faster then a power surge.....when something goes under its rated voltage the circuit will draw more amps trying to work.....when it draws more amps you over load components and burn them out....

had 2 motherboards die the same day from the same brown out......UPS unit with a surge protection is what i would be buying in a home like yours.....


good odds the motherboard is dead.....

While diagnosing my PC I was at a moment where my PC was on but the monitor went dead. I didn't realize I was in a brownout situation until the refrigerator tried to turn on but instead gave a very unhealthy noise that prompted me to kill the main breaker.

Turns out there was a fire at a local substation. When the power was fixed properly everything worked fine then.

That said, just because the PSU still turned on doesn't mean it wasn't under stress, struggling to meet the system's power demand while being starved for voltage.