Is there such a thing as a fluke spark?

indojabijin

I recently decided to change my heatsink from the Hyper 212+ to a Corsair H80 because I wanted something that provided a cleaner look and less clutter inside my system. I've had the cooler for about 3 days now and all is well.

 

Today I decided I wanted to test whether intake or exhaust would provide better temperatures. Upon setting everything up and basically just switching the fans I powered on my computer.

 

Instantly I heard  an audible POP, a small spark and a small amount of white smoke. I immediately turned off my computer and got to investigating. I have an Asus P67 Sabertooth, so I do know that in the event of a short or PSU failure my parts will remain safe while my mobo will take the full blow.

 

The pop and smoke originated from the upper left hand side of my case where my cooler is. I looked and saw no traces of liquid and the capacitators on that upper left side of the mobo were fine. I took out my mobo and looked at the bottom -- nothing. My PSU -- Corsair GS 700 -- is at the bottom of my rig and I smelled it and nothing unsual.

 

I then decided to sniff 8pin connector slot that resides at that same location (top left). That was the cause. I smelled the PSU 8 pin connector and it smelled burned as well. No visual signs of anything damaged, just the smell. I was hesitant but I decided to plug in my computer again and viola, everything worked. No unsual noises, no led lights on the mobo indicating anything, boot started up perfectly, voltages fine, etc. Like it never even happened.

 

Of course, I still want to take some action to prevent this from happening again. I'm not sure if I should switch out my PSU for something of higher quality or RMA my board with Asus. Or it wasn't securely connected or I hadn't grounded myself enough. Any advice? :

Ridelynn

First off -

Just because your motherboard is an Asus Sabertooth, that doesn't mean that if something explodes that all the rest of your parts will be just fine. Electrical transients can cause very strange things, and nothing short of it being completely disconnected and insulated can guarantee that a problem in one part of the computer won't affect another part or component.

Secondly - no, there are no fluke sparks, but there are places and ways to cause sparks that wouldn't actually harm anything. I would guess that one of the voltage lines your 8-pin shorted to ground - it would make a loud noise and spark, but as long as it went right to ground (such as via the case or a mounting screw or something), and the power supply shut down fast enough to protect itself from overcurrent, then theoretically nothing would be damaged.

Just to verify, this is the 8-pin CPU Power connector that goes to the motherboard near the CPU, correct? I would take that connector off and really look at the pins inside and the wires going into the pins - make sure there isn't something stray there, or something hasn't come loose or anything. And check the header on the motherboard. I've also seen it where something stray (usually a screw) gets underneath the motherboard and shorts/grounds it out from underneath.

jdnewell

Can metal shavings cause a short? I am asking because when I installed my Corsair H60 there were very small metal shavings from the screws / radiator that came from securing the screws into the radiator.

I cleaned all of them out of mine and have had no problems. But I am wondering if a metal shaving somehow got into your connector.

Just a thought.

Aelfinn

Originally posted by jdnewell

Can metal shavings cause a short? I am asking because when I installed my Corsair H60 there were very small metal shavings from the screws / radiator that came from securing the screws into the radiator.

I cleaned all of them out of mine and have had no problems. But I am wondering if a metal shaving somehow got into your connector.

Just a thought.

Anything that would create a path of low resistance (at least compared to the circuits normal level of resistance) from a hot wire to another portion of the circuitry can cause a short, small pieces of metal included. Perhaps one was wedged in between pins close enough to allow a spark to jump the distance, which would explain the pop and the ozone smell.