[ale] fried innards

[Beddingfield, Allen]

I would be careful of plugging in a VOM to that plug - unless you have one that has an AC mode, then maybe try that first.
Allen B.


--
Allen Beddingfield
Systems Engineer
The University of Alabama
________________________________
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [ale-bounces at ale.org] on behalf of Greg Clifton [gccfof5 at gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2013 1:40 PM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] fried innards

Sean,

Does it happen often? Not in my 25 years of hardware experience, it is actually quite rare.

The fault could be a short in the DVD, a loose connection ( perhaps from failure to securely plug in the power connector during assembly) or a failed power supply. If the fault is either the device or connection, unplugging that power connection should allow the system to run again. If power supply went over voltage on you then other things are probably fried as well, but I would expect that to be reflected in the circuit boards rather than the power connections.

I'm guessing the problem is with the power plug. If you have a volt meter, you can check for the voltages. I assume this is a 5.25" DVD drive. If so, you have a 4 pin connector with 2 black (ground), 1 yellow (12V) and 1 red (5v)  wires in that plug. Test and see if you have voltages near those after disconnecting the DVD.

Good luck,
Greg Clifton


On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 2:26 PM, Sean Kilpatrick <kilpatms at gmail.com<mailto:kilpatms at gmail.com>> wrote:

I'm working away at the keyboard, minding my own business, when I smell the unmistakeable odor of burning electrics and realize that the room is suddenly hazy -- as in filling up with smoke.

WTF

No flames in sight and the only thing that seems overly warm to the touch is the top of the computer case. So I - - -

Pull the plug

Open the windows

Open up the box

The problem is easy to see: the power plug to the CD/DVD burner has failed, causing a short that has melted the plug.

Questions: Does this kind of thing happen often? Is it a symptom of a deeper problem, such as a flaky power supply?

Sean

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