Why did my computer spark and smoke? What should I do?

Question

When I went away for a couple of days, I turned off the power bar. When I turned it back on, the computer sparked where the power cord of the tower plugs in at the tower. I quickly switched off the power bar, unplugged the computer. All the other electricals (including another computer that was on the same power bar) are fine.

I'm just staring at the fiery computer in fear. What could it be, please?

Answer 1

A failed power supply is the most likely cause. It could be the power cord; if so a careful visual inspection should clear things up.

Answer 2

That place where the power plugs in is called the Power Supply. It sounds like it may have fried... when you turned off the power bar, did you also flip the little on/off toggle switch on the back of your power supply (near where the cord plugs in?) If not, then what may have happened was that the PS was still set to the ON position so when you turned on the bar it may have done something then.

You didn't mention to us if your PC was still able to power on after that, or if its dead now? If its dead, a new power supply may be in order. If its still working, then you are lucky and just keep an eye on it whenever you turn it on or off in the future to see if it starts to smoke or spark.

Answer 3

Your PC's power supply unit (PSU)nhas either shorted out or been set to the wrong voltage, either way it's toast.

It could just be that a fuse has blown in the PSU, but it will cost as much to get the fuse replaced as to buy a new PSU.

Dont try any repairs on the PSU yourself - there are nasty voltages lurking inside even when it's unplugged and toast.

Buy a new PSU and fit it, if it still doesnt work, you'll probably have fried the motherboard so are probably going to have to buy a new PC.

If you have another computer, you can always install parts in there to see which ones still work.