PC Help!

[Bishop149]

I just finished cleaning out an upgrading my PC

And now it won't turn on.
And I mean nada, absolutely no sign of life what so ever!

I've checked the power supply using the "Paperclip trick" to short circuit pins 16 and 17 and it seems fine.
Next suspect was the power switch, I check as much of the wiring as I could without complete disassembly and then rewired the switch header on the mobo triple checking it was correct. No Joy!

I dunno what to try now.
So websites say change the CMOS battery, so I guess that might be a starting point.

Any other ideas?

Its a water cooled system so any major disassembly is a HUGE job, just spent two and a half days to drain and rebuild!

[burger1]

Is the mainboard shorting out on the case screws supporting it?

Are all the cables connected?

power switch turned on

power supply set to right area setting

ram seated

[Alan Phipps]

Most times you get a dead case after reassembly is because a cable plug or socket somewhere is not properly seated or is in the wrong place. Recheck every internal cable systematically.

A common issue is pushing off a mobo connection while trying to connect up a drive casing with data or power. Same for when connecting up fans.

[Bishop149]

Is the mainboard shorting out on the case screws supporting it?

Hmmm dunno how to go about checking that one

Are all the cables connected?

Most times you get a dead case after reassembly is because a cable plug or socket somewhere is not properly seated or is in the wrong place. Recheck every internal cable systematically.

A common issue is pushing off a mobo connection while trying to connect up a drive casing with data or power. Same for when connecting up fans.

I'll check but I'm pretty sure its all plugged in.

power switch turned on

power supply set to right area setting

ram seated

Yeah all that.'s fine, I didn't touch the RAM at all

[burger1]

Is the mainboard shorting out on the case screws supporting it?

Pull out the mainboard and put it on the cardboard box it came in and hook up all the stuff and see if it runs outside the case.

[Rnett]

Any LED's light up on the MOBO?

What was upgraded?

[Rapier]

I didn't touch the RAM at all

Are yu sure, or do you mean you din't touch it with purpose? It's still possible you've dislodged it, so worth checking (though problem with RAM should at least give some kind of POST beep code)

absolutly no sign of life what so ever

Not even the PSU fan? That sounds pretty fundamental - usually something silly like forgetting to turn it back on at the PSU switch! The only other time I've had that was a dead PSU. If the PSU fan is working, what about the cooling pump? Basically, work it through from the start and see where things start to go wrong; Wall socket, PSU, anything connected direct to PSU (such as case cooling, drives), motherboard (read the manual about POST), the things connected to the motherboard (RAM, processor, cards).

[burger1]

Does the ram need to be put in certain slots for the mainboard to run? Like slots 1+3?

[Aken_Bosch]

Is the mainboard shorting out on the case screws supporting it?

Pull out the mainboard and put it on the cardboard box it came in and hook up all the stuff and see if it runs outside the case.

A very common cause for problems of this kind, and the most direct way to test it, burger1's advice is a sound one.

Another thing to do just to be sure, in case the motherboard is in a state of overload current protection, is to leave it completely unplugged from the wall outlet and without cmos battery for several minutes, an hour or so is even better...I had countless customers who went to the Moon and back to find why their machine was electrically dead, when the only thing they had to do was just to stop feeding it electrons for some time

[Chips]

2.5 days to drain and rebuild - how much water was in it?

I'd agree with the "can you see an LED on the motherboard" - all have one. Is it illuminated? if not, check the seating of the connector to the motherboard from the PSU. They usually have a clip that holds them in place, but if you were poking about maybe you unseated it.

If you have a motherboard LED lighting up, then thar be power. At which point, check the connector from the MOBO to your chassis power switch. If that's disconnected or loose then the switch on the front simply isn't going to work

I don't like the sound of "shorting it between two pins" - would never ever suggest anything that cowboy.

[Sir Crashalot]

Try giving it a thump.

[Bishop149]

Update

It's still dead, I have

- Double checked all the mobo connections, they're fine.
- Changed the CMOS battery.
- Completely rewired the power switch.
- Checked the RAM was seated properly.
- Unplugged the newest component (the GFX card)
- Removed all but one of the screws attaching the mobo to the case, complete removal is simply impractical due to the water. I could do it but it would be a big job; I'd have to drain everything again then somehow reassemble the water loop outside the case. Probably way more effort that simply starting again from scratch!

Remaining options:
- Dead Motherboard
- A short I'll probably never track down
- Damaged CPU

I think I'm just gonna buy a Mobo / CPU and start again.

[e1team]

I still don't get it: is it dead like dead, no sign of power coursing through the system?
I'd suggest replacing something less expensive than mobo or CPU, like PSU maybe?
And I'm no electronics expert, but in my experience if something is shorted it makes a distinctive sound...

[mrbadger]

Update
Remaining options:
- Dead Motherboard
- A short I'll probably never track down
- Damaged CPU

I think I'm just gonna buy a Mobo / CPU and start again.

If the motherboard does nothing at all (no lights or beeps) it might be that. I doubt it can be the chip, those are solid state, anything likely to damage them would damage other things first.

[burger1]

One way to do it is to get a second computer and swap out parts. Not sure how much a computer company would charge if you brought in your mainboard, ram, power supply and video card for testing. They could probably figure it out in less than 15 min just swapping parts. I would try running the computer on a cardboard box first though with all the water cooling stuff off it and regular stuff on it.


I guess you could try clearing the cmos with the jumper?

[pjknibbs]

I'd suggest replacing something less expensive than mobo or CPU, like PSU maybe?

He already said he tested the PSU by shorting a couple of the pins together and thus turning it on.