Degradation Damage to Components Questions

[ArmoredFist1994]

I've had the following happen over the years to my computers and was wondering what your thoughts were on equipment damage:

1. A USB port on my computer got broken on the inside allowing a digital camera to be plugged in backwards. The computer didn't recognize the camera and I unplugged it. A printer was also later unknowingly plugged in upside down into the USB port and I detected a strange smell. Windows XP reported something like "your USB port is overcharging and will be shut down". About 6 months later the computer stopped booting....Neither the printer nor the camera ever showed any signs of damage. What got damaged? Anything? Is it possible my DSL router got damaged? My HDD, etc. ? I've always wondered if the backwards USB accidents caused the death of my PC....

2. A friend donated a Dell Desktop to me who said it had been hit by lightning. I reinstalled the OS and it works fine....I wonder if it really had been struck......any way to tell? Prime95, Memtest, OEM HDD Tests, etc? I guess if it passes after about 24 hrs with each test, it's safe to assume it hadn't really been hit???

3. I also sprayed Radio Shack Color TV Tuner cleaner into a gameport on my pc years ago. It was later found to be unnecessary as the joystick was water damaged but I didn't know it at the time. Any chance that spray screwed anything up? It was supposed to be "safe" for electronic components.

4. I unplugged a PCI card from a motherboard that was plugged in but not turned on...could any damage be caused by that? The card was unplugged with the board on...not plugged in.

Just stupid crap that's always bugged me if anything was going to be later degraded or not....just wondering. Any replies are welcome!

[jpdoe]

Re: Degradation Damage to Components Questions

Hi. While someone more apt shows up, I will answer some of your questions

1) Strange smells are always a bad sign. The onboard USB ports are feed electrically by the motherboard's southbridge (a electronic chip). Some ports are protected by a sort of fuse, but those in cheaper motherboards aren't. So the short answer is you can kill a cheap motherboard by overloading the usb ports.

2) If it works, it didn't get struck. Lightnings will always destroy electronics.

4) Always disconnect the computer case from the power socket before connecting / disconnecting internal devices. Modern computers are never really off unless totally disconnected. That being said, maybe you got lucky and no important damage was caused. But chances are it was.

[gdement]

Re: Degradation Damage to Components Questions

4) You *should* unplug the PSU before messing with PCI cards, but I've made this mistake many many times and never yet had it ruin anything. So chances are you got away with it.

[stevo1210]

Re: Degradation Damage to Components Questions

I've had the following happen over the years to my computers and was wondering what your thoughts were on equipment damage:

1. A USB port on my computer got broken on the inside allowing a digital camera to be plugged in backwards. The computer didn't recognize the camera and I unplugged it. A printer was also later unknowingly plugged in upside down into the USB port and I detected a strange smell. Windows XP reported something like "your USB port is overcharging and will be shut down". About 6 months later the computer stopped booting....Neither the printer nor the camera ever showed any signs of damage. What got damaged? Anything? Is it possible my DSL router got damaged? My HDD, etc. ? I've always wondered if the backwards USB accidents caused the death of my PC....

I've been there and back. Once I plugged my USb header the other way around, the motherboard smoked but still worked, albeit to the fact that my USB ports were dead as the power line that fed the USB header had fried themselves. Anyway, the board worked until the day it got thrown out.
In your case, I dunno why it took 6 months to die, otherwise it might have been something else that killed it.

Thanks.

[ArmoredFist1994]

Re: Degradation Damage to Components Questions

I'm learning a lot checking out this forum. I did not know that you could wash a circuit board with water, dry it and it still be OK! Cool!


Back in the old days I believe it was recommended to keep the power cord plugged in when removing or adding a card for ESD grounding reasons. I realize that's changed with modern computers. I've pulled and plugged in cards with the cord accidentally in a number of times, also. So far, nothing bad has happened.

Junk I've learned...always check the orientation of USB devices, don't flex any boards, watch ESD, always pull the power.

This is an interesting forum.

[Junk Parts]

Re: Degradation Damage to Components Questions

I killed a 60 Gig HD not to long ago. Cheap made in China PSU had junk plugs on it. That plug went right in up side down with no problem. No smells or smoke but the HD became trash can filler in a few seconds. I returned the burnt drive to WD and they sent me a new one. I put the plug in the right way the next time around.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Degradation Damage to Components Questions

I'm learning a lot checking out this forum. I did not know that you could wash a circuit board with water, dry it and it still be OK! Cool!

Make sure to remove CMOS battery first.