why do computers die

[WA1GFZ]

I had a nice 933 MHz. machine connected to the web. All of a sudden the ram amount was changing at every power up to a point that the system would not boot off an XP CD. Sure I can understand a mechanical hard drive die but why the mother board? Maybe these LSI chips run so hot they live a short life....like Hendrix or Morrison.
My 1975 homebrew frequency counter still works great.
Maybe I should start putting heat sinks on the lsi chips inside my computer.
It sucks having to spend a week reconfiguring a new machine installing all the stuff.
It just ain't right

[W1RKW]

Frank,
Did you try reseating the RAM modules?  I've had that happen too.

[WA1GFZ]

Yea, I did that first thing. I've noticed the problem come and go over the past year but it always recovered. This time it was much worse and the machine only saw 9 meg of ram. I had 2 simms in it, a 128 and 256 so that would be 2 sockets. I suspect the memory controller is shot. There is an LSI device near the ram so it must be shot. I noticed it runs pretty warm. It may have taken a lightning hit at some point before there was a modem ahead of it.
That was a nice machine. 4 years for $200 can't complain too much.
It seems the newer machines crap out easier.

[W1RKW]

My new machine crapped out too.  After 5 months I had to have a new video card.

[W1RKW]

In the development lab at work the fly by wire system we developed for the new Virginia class submarine, the development system, particularly the single board computers, have been exhibiting some strange failures as of late. These computer have been operating straight for over 10 years without a hiccup and up until recently we've been seeing some strange failures outside of some of the common anomolies we've had.  The most recent weird things we have seen have been boot ROM issues but some have been RAM and bus interface issues too. The processors themselves have been pretty tough.  Other than that they've been going full tilt without any trouble.

[John Holotko]

A common cause of problems with computers thatI have found is the power suckply starting to crap out.  Get in their with your multitester and check to make  sure the power supplyis delivering proper voltages.I have had hard drives that have appeared bad, etc. all due to a power supplythat was slowly crapping it''s way out.

[wa2zdy]

Oh yeah, power supplies are garbage.  There are aftermarket companies selling power supplies for over $100.   And there are some that go for $29.  Guess which the case makers are using?

PCs today are designed to last about 3-4 years.  Realistically most folks don't keep them longer than that.   And on top of that, the computer using public has shown a great willingness to continue buying junk and untested hardware and software.  Think about the premium most PC users pay to be beta testers of bloatware.  There is no incentive for the PC industry to improve quality.

[flintstone mop]

There was an interesting post or maybe a "shout" that vacuuuuming the interior of the computer carefully and the fans for the CPU and power suckply might lengthen its life. DO NOT SPRAY compressed air. The static electricity may cause a failure. Smoking around them isn't good either.  

Fred

[Pete, WA2CWA]

There was an interesting post or maybe a "shout" that vacuuuuming the interior of the computer carefully and the fans for the CPU and power suckply might lengthen its life. DO NOT SPRAY compressed air. The static electricity may cause a failure. Smoking around them isn't good either. 

Fred

Dirty Computers:
http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=8007.0

[WA1GFZ]

Well I bought this one used about 4 years ago so maybe I'm just lucky for $200.
It is real clean inside and I unplugged the spare drive hoping it was a loading issue.
It does get warm here in the passive solar room.
Rolled up a 1 gHz. machine and will transplant organs this week.
I think it was a failing component rather than a bad supply. I notice these computer places have no clue handling ESD sesnitive parts. This looks like that sort of a failure.

[W1RKW]

A common cause of problems with computers thatI have found is the power suckply starting to crap out.  Get in their with your multitester and check to make  sure the power supplyis delivering proper voltages.I have had hard drives that have appeared bad, etc. all due to a power supplythat was slowly crapping it''s way out.

Yep, I was sifting through some computer junk at work recently because I needed a power supply to power up a solid state harddrive.  Checking the output voltages showed that the 12V supplies were putting out up to 18vdc.  One supply didn't regulate at all.  It started out at 12v and drifted beyond 15vdc.

[WA1GFZ]

Bob,
Switchers need a load to properly regulate. The 12 was high because there was no load on the output that is in the control loop.
BTW I went to bill gates ville for XP updates and in the middle of things the computer stopped responding with the site and things were so screwed up that I had to reload XP. This happened to me twice now so I will wait until they send them. I guess they are dropping the ball so you have to buy vista. Good thing my hammer doesn't need this much attention.

[KB2WIG]

  dave,   d a v e    ...             daisy   daaissy   dddaaaaiiiiiisssss yyyyyy

[W1ATR]

There was an interesting post or maybe a "shout" that vacuuuuming the interior of the computer carefully and the fans for the CPU and power suckply might lengthen its life. DO NOT SPRAY compressed air. The static electricity may cause a failure. Smoking around them isn't good either.  

Fred

I've been blasting this one out with the air hose and a low pressure blowgun for 4 years now and it's still kicking.

The power supply did die a couple of years ago after a nice t-storm rolled through the area, it was a 300 watt job I think, the one we put in to replace it is a 4 or 500 watt deal I got on the net for 75 bucks. So far, so good. I'm due for a whole new system as it is, I think this one is a 950 or something like that running 98se,(really don't remember), but it does everything I need it to do. I'm not a gamer, or into tunes or videos on the PC, so it seems like a waste of technology to go and buy some ripped up super machine just to surf the message boards, news groups, and eBay.

SK

[W1RKW]

Bob,
Switchers need a load to properly regulate. The 12 was high because there was no load on the output that is in the control loop....

These few PS's had loads on them when tested. Plus most of these PS's won't operate without a load. I guess that's why they ended up in the scrap heap initially. I guess they toasted what ever box they were in.  I don't think the computer techs knew they had flakey PS's and ended up with screwed up MB's and other components and tossed the system.  I happened along in hopes to salvage something for a project. It was fruitless

[KD3CN]

Another common motherboard failure that we've seen at work (IBM PCs) is bad electrolytic caps.  Two year old machines just start locking up, and the caps on the motherboard are actually bulging.  Bad parts(lowest bidder!).  I've heard about it happening on other brands as well, and a friend with an IMAC had it in the shop for the same problem.
Karl

[K3ZS]

One problem with the newer computers is that the power supply is on all of the time if the computer is plugged in.   The computers that have the push button on switch and the windows power off function are just about universal now.   A nearby lighting strike or power surge will take these out.    I fixed one that all the voltages were OK except for the one supplying the on-off push button.    I replaced the supply, not having a schematic of the supply, I just didn't want to mess with it.    Got a free computer out of it, the owner gave it to me thinking that it was "totaled".

[John Holotko]

Oh yeah, power supplies are garbage.  There are aftermarket companies selling power supplies for over $100.   And there are some that go for $29.  Guess which the case makers are using?

PCs today are designed to last about 3-4 years.  Realistically most folks don't keep them longer than that.   And on top of that, the computer using public has shown a great willingness to continue buying junk and untested hardware and software.  Think about the premium most PC users pay to be beta testers of bloatware.  There is no incentive for the PC industry to improve quality.

Several years ago I built a  PC for my  parents so they'dhave something to use to get online with. I had the MB and hardware so I bought an el cheapo case from comp geeks , assembled the whole shebang and viola' it worked. Then one day it crapped and the MB was blown. From the looks of things it seems the power suckply went bad and toasted the MB. Those el cheapo suckplies are notorious for making system failures.  My brother was having intermittant problems with one machine for years and years until one day I finally changed the power supply. It's worked  like a champ ever since.

ize
 

[wa2zdy]

Another common motherboard failure that we've seen at work (IBM PCs) is bad electrolytic caps.  Two year old machines just start locking up, and the caps on the motherboard are actually bulging.  Bad parts(lowest bidder!).  I've heard about it happening on other brands as well, and a friend with an IMAC had it in the shop for the same problem.
Karl

One of the most common PC problems.

http://www.badcaps.net/