fried computer

[metalkills]

a friend of mine gave me a computer that was damaged by a lightining storm. he said i was free to do whatever i wanted to with it. of course it wont turn on, but i was wondering if i could still salvage it. since it wont turn on (at all, no lights, nothing), im not sure where the problem lies. does anyone know if there is a common problem associated with lightining damage? ive had a couple experiences but all that occured was a burn out modem. i not sure i know where to start with checking to see what is still good. any suggestions on how to go about figuring out if this thing can be brought back to life? its a decent computer and id hate to see it thrown away if something minor could be replaced to get it running again. thanks.

 

[waynejkruse10]

well, a power supply failure comes to mind, but if it was damaged in a electrical storm, any number of components could be fried, not only the power supply.

 

[Shumway]

For starter's check the power supply then just move on piece by piece,Do you have another computer that has just about the same stuff? if so maybe you can test out the various piece's in it.

 

[beedubaya]

I had a computer get struck by lightning one time. I managed to salvage the hard drive, optical drives, and RAM. The mobo is friend though.

 

[Cappy]

usually blowed capacitors on the motherboard or PS

 

[jono199]

Those are easy to replace though - sort off, and it will work afterwards.

For now though I suggest first sniffing the componants you'll know if they've gone and then taking everything out except the bare essentials and swapping out the PSU.

 

[metalkills]

is there a way i can test the power supply without buying something to test it? at the moment i do not have another computer that i could test the parts in. ive seen online things you can buy to test a PS but i dont know if spending the money would be worth it, especially if it turns out thats not the problem.

 

[MasterJason]

Just use a multi meter and use a 4pin molex to test 5v and 12v lines, Yellow + Black 12v, Red + Black 5v, also test the 3.3v line on the 20pin Motherboard connector, im not sure that pins they are check on the net or your motherboard book.

 

[metalkills]

could you maybe break that down into a couple steps, im not familiar with using a mutimeter, although i know what they are. and im not sure how to use the molex either. from what i know about using a multimeter, i would assume that i remove the power supply, and touch certain points on the PS with the probes on the mutimeter. if anyone could shed some more light on this it would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[waynejkruse10]

multimeters are great for testing psu's