Why won't the computer I built work in my friends house after working in mine?

I built a computer for a firend and worked it over at my house before giving it to him. He ran it for about a year and then said he was having trouble with the CD rom (not the problem) and told me that he still had it plugged in and didn't turn it on. I plugged it in at my house and it started to smoke. I found out that everything was gone and would not work. What would cause this I figured a surge might be the reason. So, After replacing Everthing but the case and running the new computer at my house and giving it to him, he said that he turned it on and it started to smoke. So, he turned it off and unplugged it. What would cause this. And no he doesn't have a surge protector. Should I as a safe rule tell all my customers to get a good surge protector? I would hate to see it look like it was my fault.

Another question I have another friend that has a 2.2 gig AMD and it's in a full tower. He was saying that it was over heating and took off the side panels thinking it would cool it off and blew a fan on it. I believe this is why the motherboard coil cracked as what he told me. I beleve that him blowing a fan on it and taking the covers off made it worse. I want him to read your answer to this question. I don't think I can get a replacement because of the reason. He says the motherboard is bad, I think it was his own fault. What do you think?

Also, why would at boot up the motherboard say unknowned flash?

Thanks for the help... I'm so confused...

Joseph Pierce

This question was answered on May 5, 2003. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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You are correct, everyone should use a surge protector However the computer should not smoke from just being plugged in the wall socket Your friend must check the voltages of his wall sockets and make sure they are 220 volts or 115 volts His sockets might be letting out too much "juice" and frying the board Also check the power supply it self, there is a little red switch in the back that will alow you to adjust your PC power accordingly between 220 and 115vots.

To answer your other question, how would your friend know the PC was over heating, did he smell something burning If so, you should never remove any panels on a computer, believe it or not with the panels on that will keep the PC cooler it promotes better air circulation, they are designed that way The fan might have caused the crack, when things are very hot and are cooled suddenly and quickly cracking can happen The best bet is to keep the PC in an air conditioned room if possible Hope I helped

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Posted by Student of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on May 5, 2003

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