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Smoke is coming out of my PC and it won't turn on anymore.

Trameur -  
dabigben Posted messages 2110 Status Member -
Hello,

I have a big problem:

I left my laptop on for a long time and after a while I realized it was very hot underneath, so I propped it up between two tissue boxes to let it cool down a bit. However, while doing this, the power cable moved a bit and then there was a big spark, a little flame on the side (well, I think it might have been the spark) and everything shut off! So I looked at the laptop, turned it over to have a look and it kept smoking, so I unplugged the power cable and it stopped smoking. Now my laptop smells burnt and it won't turn on. When I plug in the power cable, I hear some small noises in the laptop and after a few seconds it starts smoking again. I hope it's not too serious; I had important things on the hard drive :/

Circumstances: the power cable doesn't work very well sometimes; it doesn't power my laptop anymore so my battery kicks in, and when you adjust the cable a bit, it starts working again. Maybe that's the cause, but in that case, something else must have been affected because the battery was fully charged before.
A few days ago I also had a little issue; I turned on the laptop and everything shut off suddenly, but I was able to turn it back on without too much trouble.

PS: nothing lights up at all, no indicator, nothing happens when I try to turn it on (except for the smoke ^^)

Thank you for your future replies :)

7 answers

  1.
    dabigben Posted messages 2110 Status Member 188
     
    aie aie aie, it smells like a charger short-circuiting! There's a chance you might have fried your motherboard... But the hard drive remains recoverable with a bit of luck...
    3
  2. Trameur
     
    But there is a protection, right? It's not possible to leave a PC unprotected like that. I don't know, maybe a circuit breaker?
    0
  3. dabigben Posted messages 2110 Status Member 188
     
    Often, the protection is a component called a diode that blows in the event of a short circuit (not really a protection, in fact, that's not its primary function!). The problem is that on a motherboard, it's so small that it can't really be repaired, unless maybe you know a good electronics technician... Sorry, there is no fuse or circuit breaker in a laptop to my knowledge...
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  4. Trameur
     
    I forgot to mention, but it's really smoking at the power supply level, and even with all the holes in the middle, nothing comes out, only in the corner of the power supply.

    Is the motherboard replaceable? Are we at risk of data loss? How much does it cost approximately if it is replaceable? ^^
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  6. dabigben Posted messages 2110 Status Member 188
     
    Let's say that with a short circuit in the power supply, normally the first thing that fails is this diode and so, with a bit of luck, your hard drive won't be affected. So, in principle, if you replace the motherboard and the charger, your PC should restart like before. But finding a motherboard for the exact model of your laptop might be a long quest and it could end up being too expensive compared to the price of a new laptop! So it's not really worth it unless you find a good deal on a used one where the guy has a broken screen, and he's selling the rest, for example. Note the brand and exact model of your PC and do a little search online, you'll see...
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    1. Trameur
       
      I'm a bit disappointed but oh well, I couldn't do anything about it (my dad is going to freak out :o)
      I hope not too much though, I’ll have to explain it to him before he scolds me ^^
      Anyway, thanks for your replies and for taking the time... to respond to me! =D
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  7. Trameur
     
    In addition, it's my father's work PC :/
    Usually, they have lots of PCs from the same brand, we just have to hope that they have one dead but not the motherboard ^^

    I looked a bit on the net but I can't find much :/ There are all the PC parts except the motherboard ^^
    It's a NEC QUA_KW3DC2
    There's also KW32D so I don't really know as they look similar it should be the same.
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  8. kyoshiro56380 Posted messages 554 Status Member 204
     
    Don't really hope for anything. If there was overheating, everything is dead.
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    1. pafdantafass Posted messages 3015 Status Contributor 434
       
      It’s not true.
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    2. kyoshiro56380 Posted messages 554 Status Member 204
       
      Everything is dead in the sense that if the motherboard has burned out, the PC has kicked the bucket.

      It is indeed possible to recover a few components.
      0
    3. dabigben Posted messages 2110 Status Member 188
       
      No worries... but it's better to be precise for those who aren't used to it.
      0