Yikes!! (Help!) Power supply just made a crunching noise?!

[Littleodie914]

Hey guys, I recently (a week ago) built my own PC from parts I ordered on newegg, and everything has been running great. Just a few minutes ago though, I heard this really weird "crunching" noise coming from the back of the PC for no longer than a second, near the power supply. It's sitting on my desk, so fortunately I was able to pinpoint pretty well where it was coming from. It sounded a lot like this:

http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/soundfx/electric_sounds/electric_e-spark_wav.shtml

Nothing in our room shut off, but the lights dimmed for a second, and then came back on. Also, a few seconds later I smelled something "hot", but there was no smoke or any noticeable signs of damage.

Next step? The PC is still running fine.

 

[cuestakid]

SHUT IT OFF NOW! Your Power Supply is about to go out. Backup everything you can and get a new on immediately. That sounds like something frying and does not sound good at all. If it is running don' t expect it to run for long-if it gets too hot it will automatically shut off. I understand there may be not noticeable damage; but the damage could be inside the PSU itself. I would not play with fire (pardon the pun) when it comes to failing PSUs.

 

[laughingperson5]

Backup everything you can and get a new on immediately.

Can't he just take out his hard drive(s)? Or will that do damage?

 

[Littleodie914]

Thanks for the advice so far. I am still using the computer, all my data is backed up, and it's now plugged into a good surge protector. (Just incase?)

I have sent an email to Corsair, it's strange that it would go so soon, it's a 650W power supply that isn't even a week old:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Should I ask them for a refund, a replacement, or should I try to persuade them into replacing it for a different (higher wattage?) model? Is Corsair a trusted brand to begin with? Their packaging/features were really impressive, and the PSU appeared to be of very good quality when I was installing it.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Thanks for the advice so far. I am still using the computer, all my data is backed up, and it's now plugged into a good surge protector. (Just incase?)

I have sent an email to Corsair, it's strange that it would go so soon, it's a 650W power supply that isn't even a week old:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Should I ask them for a refund, a replacement, or should I try to persuade them into replacing it for a different (higher wattage?) model? Is Corsair a trusted brand to begin with? Their packaging/features were really impressive, and the PSU appeared to be of very good quality when I was installing it.

Your cable could of simply of been loose. I going into the technical steps that made me go for Apple... well one of the reasons. Go into the BIOS and use the utilities in it to check the PSU voltages and make sure theyre within .5v otherwise you have an instable PSU.

 

[Littleodie914]

Your cable could of simply of been loose. I going into the technical steps that made me go for Apple... well one of the reasons. Go into the BIOS and use the utilities in it to check the PSU voltages and make sure theyre within .5v otherwise you have an instable PSU.

I will turn everything off in a few minutes and double-check all the cables, as well as the voltages. Thanks.

I actually have been using Macs for a long long time, I still have a Macbook. I sold my white Intel iMac, and instead purchased a Core i7 machine with a GTX 260 (216 core), with only the budget from the sale.

 

[cuestakid]

Can't he just take out his hard drive(s)? Or will that do damage?

I would not-I cannot say for sure that it would or would not cause damage so I was being conservative and saying backup with the machine on while you can

MorphingDragon-thats a good idea; hopefully the BIOS can report that kind of information but if not checking them by hand is just as good

TO OP-
Can you update us?

 

[Littleodie914]

TO OP-
Can you update us?

It's still running fine!

I'm just assuming it was a little glitch. We have a wall outlet at waist level right next to my desk at the bottom of a staircase (6 of us in a strangely-arranged college house), and I accidentally bumped the power plug in the wall yesterday. All our electronic stuff in the room turned off, and my computer made the same noise. So I'm going to say it wasn't a power supply thing. And to be fair, our surge protector (and a few other plugs) are right next to the computer, so it's tough to say the hot smell was from the PC also. I've been folding CPU + GPU for a few days on and off, so I figured if there were any problems they would have shown themselves by now.

Keep your fingers crossed!