# Power supply keeps blowing fuses.



## pantherx12 (Jul 16, 2012)

Any ideas why that could be at all?


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (Jul 16, 2012)

Is it the internal fuse or the house fuse? You can try running the system outside the case to make sure there is nothing shorting to the case. If that proves good then go through your hardware to eliminate each piece until you can defiantly prove to psu is at fault. But don't take long doing it as it can burn down the system if it is the psu. You could also just go right to the psu and  replace it with a test unit and see if all is well.


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## pantherx12 (Jul 16, 2012)

ThE_MaD_ShOt said:


> Is it the internal fuse or the house fuse? You can try running the system outside the case to make sure there is nothing shorting to the case. If that proves good then go through your hardware to eliminate each piece until you can defiantly prove to psu is at fault. But don't take long doing it as it can burn down the system if it is the psu. You could also just go right to the psu and  replace it with a test unit and see if all is well.




Internal fuse is fine, house fuse is fine, plug fuse is fubared.

Nothing seems to be shorting out inside the case or anything... I hope it isn't the power supply because I can't get a new one 

Also I'm posting from the rig in question at the moment, it just happens sporadically, this time it happened whilst the PC was asleep.

I think ( not 100% certain) that's when it happened last time.


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## Frick (Jul 19, 2012)

Where is that plug fuse located? I don't understand where it is, it's not internal and not in the house and you shouldn't have more fuses.


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## Black Panther (Jul 19, 2012)

Frick said:


> Where is that plug fuse located? I don't understand where it is, it's not internal and not in the house and you shouldn't have more fuses.



It would be inside the wall plug i.e. the pronged part which goes inside the wall socket.


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## entropy13 (Jul 19, 2012)

Maybe the power cable itself is the problem?


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## SnoopKatt (Jul 20, 2012)

entropy13 said:


> Maybe the power cable itself is the problem?



Definitely switch that out and see if it helps. 

Sometimes different plugs can share the same fuse. The electrician who wired my house totally screwed it up, so almost have the plugs downstairs are on the same fuse. If I run two high powered devices at the same time in those specific plugs, I blow a fuse. Maybe it's happening when you are running a vacuum or something?


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## Frick (Jul 20, 2012)

Black Panther said:


> It would be inside the wall plug i.e. the pronged part which goes inside the wall socket.



Huh. We don't have those here.

But yeah power cable.


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## Jetster (Jul 20, 2012)

Bad wall plug, do you guys have ground-fault circuit interrupters


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

I'll try a different power cable, though as this happens sporadicly we'll just have to wait to see if it works.

"Bad wall plug, do you guys have ground-fault circuit interrupters " 

*shrugs* Not familiar with the term unfortunately. 



"Sometimes different plugs can share the same fuse. The electrician who wired my house totally screwed it up, so almost have the plugs downstairs are on the same fuse. If I run two high powered devices at the same time in those specific plugs, I blow a fuse. Maybe it's happening when you are running a vacuum or something? "

Upstairs gets a fuse, downstairs gets a fuse.

Those fuses are fine.


It's the fuse inside of the plug that dies.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 20, 2012)

Wall fuse? I'm confused. Can you post a pick I might be able to help.


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Wall fuse? I'm confused. Can you post a pick I might be able to help.



In the UK you get fuses here as well


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## Sinzia (Jul 20, 2012)

check the connections, make sure every things tight, check for any signs of tarnish or wear around the fuse.

My guess is its a bad connection inside the plug and thats causing it.


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## JrRacinFan (Jul 20, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> "Bad wall plug, do you guys have ground-fault circuit interrupters "
> 
> *shrugs* Not familiar with the term unfortunately.



Commonly known as GFI. Here in the use they are like a surge protector on a receptacle with test and reset buttons.





Try a different power cable.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 20, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> In the UK you get fuses here as well
> http://physicsnet.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/plug-pic-1.jpg



Ah ok. Sounds like you have a bad ground. Pull the receptacle from the wall and see if its back stabbed or around the screw. If its around the screw it might just be lose (easy fix) if its back stabbed then change out the receptacle. Dunno if you have access to a ground tester but its a good 4 dollar investment. *FYI turn off the breaker first!*



JrRacinFan said:


> Commonly known as GFI. Here in the use they are like a surge protector on a receptacle with test and reset buttons.
> http://www.ehwms.com/images/Electric/GFI Outlet.jpg
> 
> Try a different power cable.



Hes not talking about a GFI and I doubt he has one in his room. Those are for kitchens, bathrooms and garages.


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

Thanks for all the help guys, now to get my FX overclocking working properly again XD


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 20, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> Thanks for all the help guys, now to get my FX overclocking working properly again XD



Let me know if you need any help man. My father was an Electrical contractor for years. If I can't help you Ill ask him. Ive done more electrical work myself then I care to admit.


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## JrRacinFan (Jul 20, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Hes not talking about a GFI and I doubt he has one in his room.



I doubt he does too since he is in the UK. Also unless I was mislead with bad info, what do you mean what I posted is not a GF(C)I, stands for ground fault circuit interrupt no?


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 20, 2012)

JrRacinFan said:


> I doubt he does too since he is in the UK. Also unless I was mislead with bad info, what do you mean what I posted is not a GF(C)I, stands for ground fault circuit interrupt no?



Ah I misunderstood. I thought he had something similar to a GFI in his house. Also it IS a GFI you posted. I was just stating where they are located in a house. They don't put those in bedrooms and such. Only kitchens, bathrooms and garages depending on the code.


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## JrRacinFan (Jul 20, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> They don't put those in bedrooms and such. Only kitchens, bathrooms and garages depending on the code.



Yeah well aware. He was asking what it was, see directly which post I quoted. 



Jetster said:


> Bad wall plug, do you guys have ground-fault circuit interrupters


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 20, 2012)

JrRacinFan said:


> Yeah well aware. He was asking what it was, see directly which post I quoted.



lol I know. I just got confused like a teenage Elton John.


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## JrRacinFan (Jul 20, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> confused like a teenage Elton John.



Who is Elton John and why was he confused?! Oh wait I know who Elton John is wtf ok now Im confused


 J/k bro

Again panther, hit yourself up with a new power cable and MAYBE replace the wall plug if your feeling energetic. (excuse the bad pun, it was intended)


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

JrRacinFan said:


> Who is Elton John and why was he confused?! Oh wait I know who Elton John is wtf ok now Im confused
> 
> 
> J/k bro
> ...



Unfortunately I am not  besides only got a double wallplug spare at the moment and I don't fancy modifying the walls in my house to accommodate it 

Got loads of kettle leads though so that's a real easy thing to replace. Hell I've so many I use them to tie bundles of other cables up


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## INSTG8R (Jul 20, 2012)

Yeah outside of the plug itself being bad I would check the wall socket like Mailman said(if your comfortable doing it of course) and check that the wires are all connected, not touching each other/ grounding out.


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

INSTG8R said:


> Yeah outside of the plug itself being bad I would check the wall socket like Mailman said(if your comfortable doing it of course) and check that the wires are all connected, not touching each other/ grounding out.





Aye it's not really a problem, just need to wait til everyones asleep so I can turn of the circuit for the walllplugs upstairs.

I should note I'm using an obscenely long extension cable that's 30 years old...... ( my multiplug is pluged into that) 

I forgot to mention that before


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## JrRacinFan (Jul 20, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> obscenely long extension cable that's 30 years old



Ouch! You soooooo need to find an alternate way of doing this.


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

JrRacinFan said:


> Ouch! You soooooo need to find an alternate way of doing this.



The people who designed my house were arseholes and put the wallplugs in stupid places 

Only have two wall plugs in my room as well ( The biggest room in the house) 

Cheap houses from the 50s are awful for electronics 

I suppose I could have my desk by my window, but that also puts it by a radiator ( Yeah, they designed the house so your heating is right next to the place where you loose all your heat! ) So temperatures kinda sucky, in the summer I get the sun shining on everything heating it up, in the winter I have hot air being pulled directly into my system.


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## m1dg3t (Jul 20, 2012)

I'd much rather have a 30Ft VGA cable than a 30Ft power cord, especially one that is 30+ years old. I bet you swap that cable and problem disappears


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## INSTG8R (Jul 20, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> Aye it's not really a problem, just need to wait til everyones asleep so I can turn of the circuit for the walllplugs upstairs.
> 
> I should note I'm using an obscenely long extension cable that's 30 years old...... ( my multiplug is pluged into that)
> 
> I forgot to mention that before


  

Well that can't be helping...Could easily just be a break in the wires in that old cord, Being an cord just piss poorly insulated...


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

m1dg3t said:


> I'd much rather have a 30Ft VGA cable than a 30Ft power cord, especially one that is 30+ years old. I bet you swap that cable and problem disappears



I completely forgot then I looked at my router and underneath it saw the cables excess 20 feet in all bundled up and thought "ahhhh"


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## m1dg3t (Jul 20, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> I completely forgot then I looked at my router and underneath it saw the cables excess 20 feet in all bundled up and thought "ahhhh"



Happens to me all the time! 

Where did I put that blasted fone? Oh! It's in m4h hand


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## JrRacinFan (Jul 20, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> my desk by my window, but that also puts it by a radiator



WTF is up with that?! Idiots.


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## scaminatrix (Jul 20, 2012)

My old Hiper PSU would trip the main plug fuse on my fusebox so it could be your PSU. I know UK electrics are strict, but it's scary the amount of times I've had electrical fires and the fusebox hasn't tripped.


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

JrRacinFan said:


> WTF is up with that?! Idiots.



I honestly have no idea, if we owned the house I'd move them, probably upgrade them as well since their the rubbish low surface area types.






( not my radiator)


Unfortunately the house is essentially Government owned so work like that only happens when things stop working.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 20, 2012)

Euro Electricians: Not for the faint hearted.


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## m1dg3t (Jul 20, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Euro Electricians: Not for the faint hearted.



I'll take 220/230 over 110/115 ANYDAY OF THE WEEK


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## pantherx12 (Jul 20, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Euro Electricians: Not for the faint hearted.



The funny thing is, you go over to France and it's all lovely over there!

All the wall plugs are recessed 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 the ground pins are the top and bottom strips of metal.

I think England was just in a rush to get 230v and so we're stuck with a crappy system.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 20, 2012)

m1dg3t said:


> I'll take 220/230 over 110/115 ANYDAY OF THE WEEK



Oh yeah I can see its working out real well for pantherx12 right now.


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## m1dg3t (Jul 20, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Oh yeah I can see its working out real well for pantherx12 right now.



I always enjoy a good troll    

You keep taking that 1 circumstance/incident that fits your preconceived ideas of reality and sharing it with the world 

I'd still take EU voltage over NA voltage, have used both and prefer 220/230. I have even used 600 but that was industrial/commercial


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 20, 2012)

m1dg3t said:


> I always enjoy a good troll
> 
> You keep taking that 1 circumstance/incident that fits your preconceived ideas of reality and sharing it with the world
> 
> I'd still take EU voltage over NA voltage, have used both and prefer 220/230. I have even used 600 but that was industrial/commercial



Ive use both also and came to the conclusion it doesn't matter.


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## m1dg3t (Jul 20, 2012)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Ive use both also and came to the conclusion it doesn't matter.



I like efficiency. Waste not, want not.


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## scaminatrix (Jul 20, 2012)

Should have seen electric here before the national Grid... because each county had different frequencies, wattages and plug types some people had boxes with like 20+ different shaped plugs hanging off of them, in case they wanted to use someone else's supply. These boxes were massive and heavy; I've been googling trying to find a pic of them but can't


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## m1dg3t (Jul 20, 2012)

scaminatrix said:


> Should have seen electric here before the national Grid... because each county had different frequencies, wattages and plug types some people had boxes with like 20+ different shaped plugs hanging off of them, in case they wanted to use someone else's supply. These boxes were massive and heavy; I've been googling trying to find a pic of them but can't



Ya the implementation/execution is lacking in some places but remember Europe is minimum tripple the USs age. Not so easy to implement/upgrade services


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## Frick (Jul 20, 2012)

m1dg3t said:


> I'd much rather have a 30Ft VGA cable than a 30Ft power cord, especially one that is 30+ years old. I bet you swap that cable and problem disappears



Whaaat? Depends entirely on quality. If it's that old, yeah but otherwise no problems.

Speaking of power, I know a guy who has 110V DC. Close to my parents (Sweden). It's an old water power plant that gives it and he's the only one on that grid now.


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## pantherx12 (Jul 21, 2012)

Frick said:


> Whaaat? Depends entirely on quality. If it's that old, yeah but otherwise no problems.
> 
> Speaking of power, I know a guy who has 110V DC. Close to my parents (Sweden). It's an old water power plant that gives it and he's the only one on that grid now.



I didn't realise DC was even still legal to use as a main power supply


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## Norton (Jul 21, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> Aye it's not really a problem, just need to wait til everyones asleep so I can turn of the circuit for the walllplugs upstairs.
> 
> I should note I'm using an obscenely long extension cable that's 30 years old...... ( my multiplug is pluged into that)
> 
> I forgot to mention that before



That extension cord is your likely problem- pickup a new one with heavier gauge wire (like for power tools) and your problem will likely go away. Long cords, old cords, tend to increase the power draw on the socket and can blow fuses..

Quick test- run prime or furmark (or both) and see if the cord gets warm while it's running.


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## pantherx12 (Jul 21, 2012)

Norton said:


> That extension cord is your likely problem- pickup a new one with heavier gauge wire (like for power tools) and your problem will likely go away. Long cords, old cords, tend to increase the power draw on the socket and can blow fuses..
> 
> Quick test- run prime or furmark (or both) and see if the cord gets warm while it's running.



Shall give this a try later.

But to be honest I imagine it is getting warm as the side that actually goes into my wall, the white plastic is a deep dark yellow  almost brown.


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## OneMoar (Jul 21, 2012)

extension cables are EXTREMELY bad for power supply if there over 20ft
what I would do is I would pickup a roll of eltrical wire and a box/outlet and a heavy plug and make a hardwired remote outlet


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## INSTG8R (Jul 21, 2012)

OneMoar said:


> extension cables are EXTREMELY bad for power supply if there over 20ft
> what I would do is I would pickup a roll of eltrical wire and a box/outlet and a heavy plug and make a hardwired remote outlet



Smart idea but he doesn't own the place so he can't really go playing Electrician. Unless your basically talking just making a Heavy Duty Extension Cord:


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## OneMoar (Jul 21, 2012)

INSTG8R said:


> Smart idea but he doesn't own the place so he can't really go playing Electrician. Unless your basically talking just making a Heavy Duty Extension Cord:



yep a Soild Core(hard) wire extension cord easy to make and won't cause teh voltage to drop though the floor by the time it gets to the power supply


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## de.das.dude (Jul 21, 2012)

pantherx12 said:


> Internal fuse is fine, house fuse is fine, plug fuse is fubared.
> 
> Nothing seems to be shorting out inside the case or anything... I hope it isn't the power supply because I can't get a new one
> 
> ...



get a 15Amp fuse if u use a 220V ac line. else, get a higher fuse than what u are already using.


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## Frick (Jul 21, 2012)

de.das.dude said:


> get a 15Amp fuse if u use a 220V ac line. else, get a higher fuse than what u are already using.



Or even better, a nail. 

Your idea depends on how good the wiring in the house is.


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