[Techie Humor] Don't Put The Molex Where The Ribbon Cable Goes

[krashkart]

Guilty as charged. Even with the power off there is still enough juice left in the system to frazzle a hard drive.


Here's another one:

I was helping a friend build his system one day. We had just finished plugging in all of the various power adapters, and after double checking the build we turned it on. Within a split second a wisp of white smoke wafted up from the case, and we looked at each other with wide eyes. The stench of melted insulation hung in the air like a bad omen. After switching off the power we discovered that some of the insulation on the wires supplying power to the floppy drive had bubbled and melted away. It turned out that he had plugged the Berg adapter in upside down. As his instructor, I was at fault for not properly double checking his double checking and pointing out the mistake. Anyway, that little misadventure fried the floppy drive and pretty much everything on the motherboard. Whoopsie!


Got more funny stories to add? Post away!

[HunterICX]

a friend of mine once did a nice test.

he bought a brand spanking new AMD athlon for his gaming rig back in the days.
he was eager to try out the CPU so he connected it with some components to his fathers pc which was also new.
within seconds of turning on he fried his CPU, his fathers motherboard and every component on it :haha: he tested his AMD CPU outside the case without any fans :har: you can fry one PC , but 2 PC's at the same time? :haha: ow boy did he had to get a extra job to pay up for both PC's

HunterICX

[krashkart]

:rotfl2:

[Reece]

Back in the early 80's I had an "Exidy Sorcerer Computer" Mk II, these for the bare motherboard were about $1000, took awhile to pay it off, anyway I was doing a mod and had some fly wires connected to the 5v rail and ground, the damned thing sprung out of the "bread board" (a test board with pins 1mm apart for inserting components, IC's etc), anyway of all places the wire sprung over and touched the active on the transformers 240v AC line! yep! blew every IC!!:wah: Can laugh about it now but at the time is was a costly accident!:yep:

[SteamWake]

Try plugging in a molex connector upside down... It smells like money :haha:

Try installing a new bigger better video card and neglect the power supply capacity.. Poof goes the psu (system survived somehow).

Try dropping the metal clad flashlight into a powered up motherboard.

Try to clean the pins of a socket 775 cpu socket :nope:

Try installing a new mobo into an existing machine and have no back up of the drives :o

My favorite error message is "Keyboard error or keyboard not present, press any key to continue" :haha:

and lastly a few allegedly 'true' service calls.

"Customer - I was working on the pc when the screen suddenly went black !"

"Tech - Could you please check sir if the monitor is plugged in?"

"Customer - I'm sorry I cant do that right now we lost power to the building and I cant see"

another

"I cant get the cupholder to open !" (the cd tray)

Finally...

"It said insert disk 3 but only two would fit" !

[SteamWake]

Back in the early 80's I had an "Exidy Sorcerer Computer" Mk II, these for the bare motherboard were about $1000, took awhile to pay it off, anyway I was doing a mod and had some fly wires connected to the 5v rail and ground, the damned thing sprung out of the "bread board" (a test board with pins 1mm apart for inserting components, IC's etc), anyway of all places the wire sprung over and touched the active on the transformers 240v AC line! yep! blew every IC!!:wah: Can laugh about it now but at the time is was a costly accident!:yep:

240 ?! wtf !

[Sailor Steve]

"Customer - I was working on the pc when the screen suddenly went black !"

"Tech - Could you please check sir if the monitor is plugged in?"

"Customer - I'm sorry I cant do that right now we lost power to the building and I cant see"
Many's the time the power went out during a storm and I found myself thinking "I can't use the computer for awhile...I wonder what's on TV?"

[SteamWake]

Many's the time the power went out during a storm and I found myself thinking "I can't use the computer for awhile...I wonder what's on TV?"

Nah thats why they invented the laptop :salute:

But yea done the same thing or vice versa TV quits so I go to the computer :haha:

[krashkart]

Many's the time the power went out during a storm and I found myself thinking "I can't use the computer for awhile...I wonder what's on TV?"

Ha! Guilty. :har:

[Reece]

240 ?! wtf !The mains power here in Australia is 240volts, the 5volt line accidently touched the active line! poof!!:dead::oops::doh:

[SteamWake]

The mains power here in Australia is 240volts, the 5volt line accidently touched the active line! poof!!:dead::oops::doh:

Wow your right I just looked it up.

I wonder if you have a higher per capita electrocution deaths than the US ?

[Arclight]

It's all about Amps; one of those electrostatic discharges from your fingertip to your motherboard can be thousands of volts. :know:

No, I know that doesn't help. :O:

[Reece]

It's all about Amps; one of those electrostatic discharges from your fingertip to your motherboard can be thousands of volts. :know:

No, I know that doesn't help. :O: Yes with MOS devices, but in circuit the 5v line is not static sensitive!:yep: Was sensitive to the mains current! you should have seen the caps!! paper and electrolyte everywhere!!:yep: and you are correct, it doesn't help!:har:

[SteamWake]

It's all about Amps; one of those electrostatic discharges from your fingertip to your motherboard can be thousands of volts. :know:

No, I know that doesn't help. :O:

Yea.. that discharge from your finger tips is in the micro amps range because the source is not really substantial.

But the fact is that .001 amps at 120V will give you a little tickle. .001 amps at 480V will drop you on the floor dead.

Furthermore the electrical system in your home is capable of delivering 10's of thousands of amps (for a split second or so before everything blows up).

[krashkart]

:har: Reminds me of the talk my grampa had with me when I was much younger...

"Although I admire your intelligence, what you did wrong was plug a 12v DC motor into a 120v AC outlet."

[HunterICX]

Furthermore the electrical system in your home is capable of delivering 10's of thousands of amps (for a split second or so before everything blows up).

Having a wooden floor saved my stupid butt,

as a kid once I was poking a electrical socket with a steel wire when I put both ends of the wire in each socket *BLAZZZAP!* blew up the main fuse of the house and left me with a ghostly white face on the couch for a couple of hours :88)

HunterICX

[SteamWake]

Having a wooden floor saved my stupid butt,

as a kid once I was poking a electrical socket with a steel wire when I put both ends of the wire in each socket *BLAZZZAP!* blew up the main fuse of the house and left me with a ghostly white face on the couch for a couple of hours :88)

HunterICX

Heh Ive busted contractors doing exactly this to save themselves a trip to the circuit breaker. Just short phase to neutal and pop the breaker goes. Your reasonably save assuming the wire is insulated and the breaker is in good operating conditions.

I have to bust their chops about it because its not fool proof safe and its not good for the breakers :salute:

[MrYenko]

Heh Ive busted contractors doing exactly this to save themselves a trip to the circuit breaker. Just short phase to neutal and pop the breaker goes. Your reasonably save assuming the wire is insulated and the breaker is in good operating conditions.

I have to bust their chops about it because its not fool proof safe and its not good for the breakers :salute:

They'd have to go retrieve their tools from the bottom of the nearest body of water, if I was in your position. That's just idiotically hazardous.