View Full Version : PC won't turn on after lightning strike
A couple days ago a lightning strike knocked out half of my house's lighting. When the light's back on, I saw that my PC which was normally on 24/7 was off. The monitor, modem, printer, and speaker, all conected to the same power strip, was still on. The only thing that died was the PC. Nothing happens when I pushed the power button. One thing I noticed was that the LED indicator light on the mobo (an Abit IS-7) was still on (green light).
Suspecting that the PSU was dead, I bought a new Antec PSU (the old one was 1 380W True Power). Plugged everything to the new PSU, but still, nothing happens when I pushed the button.
Can anyone help me with this? Is there any possibility that the mobo is damaged?
IronBits
05-14-2005, 10:11 AM
Unplug the PS and clear CMOS. Power button might be bad.
just shorted the CMOS, but nothing happens.
How do I know if my power button's bad? Is it caused by the strike?
IronBits
05-14-2005, 09:44 PM
It was a suggestion...
Try shorting the two pins where the button wires connect to the mobo.
Look it up in the mobo manual to see which two pins it is...
If that don't work, the cpu might be bad :(
QIbHom
05-14-2005, 10:27 PM
I second Ironbit's suggestion. For ages, I had to turn my computer on by using a screwdriver to randomly short pins until I got the right ones. Finally decided that was really, really stupid, and bought a new case.
And, if that doesn't work, it is time to start swapping bits out. When my case switch went bad, I ended up with enough parts for a second computer. Minus a case. If you don't have a second computer, maybe a buddy can help you out.
How do your caps look?
So I gotta unplug the wires coming from the power switch and short it instead with a screwdriver?
Yes, swapping parts has came through my mind, after looking up various lightning strike cases. I have planned swapping my parts with a friend's PC.
How can a lightning strike damage a power switch? The PSU has to be dead because of the strike right? I don't wanna end up buying a brand new PSU only to realize that the old one's still working.
Guess I'll try shorting the pins........
Found the pin, shorted it. Still no power flowing to the PC. Everything, including the fans, didn't turn on.
As far as I can see, all the caps on the motherboard looks alright. No sight of blown/burnt caps.
Does the psu fan start to spin even for a second... when the motherboard is at fault the PSU will often try to start, then realise it cant and stop - causing the fan to move a little...
Probably best to borrow a PSU from another system and test the mobo/cpu out with that. Or there is a way to short two pins on the PSU ATX power connector to turn it on without it being attached to a motherboard.
IronBits
05-15-2005, 10:36 AM
It really sounds like the cpu at this point...
Now you have to do the whole enchilada..
remove all usb/hdd/floppy/ram/video card
You can probably put the wires back on and use the power buttion at this point.
If your mobo doesn't give you any beep codes, it's more than likely the cpu :(
I don't think that you guys got what I meant here.
My PSU doesn't even try to start. The fans doesn't turn on. Nothing happens, as if my PC is unplugged. No indication of fans running, HDD spinning up, LED light, nothing.
And yes, I've replaced my PSU with a brand new one, and my PC still won't power up.
Should I just take my system to a PC shop ?
QIbHom
05-15-2005, 11:41 PM
Still could be the CPU. Or the actual power cable, or the plug. It may sound silly, but could you swap out the power cord from the PSU to whever you plug it it, and try plugging it in to a different outlet (preferably one tested with a lamp)?
LAURENU2
05-15-2005, 11:46 PM
Originally posted by -Xp-
I don't think that you guys got what I meant here.
My PSU doesn't even try to start. The fans doesn't turn on. Nothing happens, as if my PC is unplugged. No indication of fans running, HDD spinning up, LED light, nothing.
And yes, I've replaced my PSU with a brand new one, and my PC still won't power up.
Should I just take my system to a PC shop ?
Do you have home owners/renter insurance If so give them a call you might get a new pc out of it.
It does sound like your MB and or CPU got fried and Unless you have extras of them to swap them out with it is hard to tell witch one is bad
The MB only cost 50 bucks I would try to replace that first
Here is a link to buy a new MB
http://www.buycyberpc.com/abisp4mo.html
French Fry
05-16-2005, 12:11 AM
XP heres what I want You to do, disconnect all CD,DVD and floppies from the Mobo. Also remove all cards on the Mobo, Try to start your system then. BTW lightning has never been known to just destroy a switch, with that kind of hit your system would be burnt badly all over the place.
rsbriggs
05-16-2005, 12:24 AM
What isn't being made clear here is that the switch (the turn-on, turn-off one) is software controlled on modern boards. If the CMOS gets confused or scrambled, the on-off switch isn't going to do anything. That's why the recommendations to reset the CMOS.
The CMOS action-on-power-up setting can be set to "stay in last mode" - (being turned off), and the power switch can be set to ""suspend" or "take no action", resulting in a board that won't power up until the CMOS is cleared, because the power switch doesn't do anything that allows you to power it up. Very strange, but I've had to do this to two boards after some recent power outages....
French Fry
05-16-2005, 12:27 AM
Originally posted by rsbriggs
What isn't being made clear here is that the switch (the turn-on, turn-off one) is software controlled on modern boards. If the CMOS gets confused or scrambled, the on-off switch isn't going to do anything. That's why the recommendations to reset the CMOS.
The CMOS action-on-power-up setting can be set to "stay in last mode" - (being turned off), and the power switch can be set to ""suspend" or "take no action", resulting in a board that won't power up until the CMOS is cleared, because the power switch doesn't do anything that allows you to power it up. Very strange, but I've had to do this to two boards after some recent power outages.... He has already done that and not all systems start that way but you made a good point:)
What I'm doing is taking him step by step to absolutely exclude everything but the MOBO as the problem.
XP if the system still will not restart, then completely disconnect the Hard Drive. What I'm looking for is a shorted component that stops a power up.
Ok I'm about to take my PC to a computer store and hopefully they can help me point out the problem.
Thanks for the suggestions guys, really appreciate it:thumbs:
I'll report back once my system's up and running.
I got it tested, and I found out that the mobo was damaged. I have it replaced, and my system's up and running:) .
I don't know why, with this new mobo and PSU, plus a case fan which I added, the CPU temp decreased by 5-6C, and case temp dropped 2C:cool: .
IronBits
05-17-2005, 01:30 AM
:thumbs:
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