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

krashkart · 06-18-10, 05:26 AM

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 · 06-18-10, 05:39 AM

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

he tested his AMD CPU outside the case without any fans

you can fry one PC , but 2 PC's at the same time?

ow boy did he had to get a extra job to pay up for both PC's

HunterICX

krashkart · 06-18-10, 06:29 AM

Reece · 06-18-10, 06:38 AM

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!!

Can laugh about it now but at the time is was a costly accident!

SteamWake · 06-18-10, 11:07 AM

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

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

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

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

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 · 06-18-10, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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!!

Can laugh about it now but at the time is was a costly accident!

240 ?! wtf !

Sailor Steve · 06-18-10, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

"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 · 06-18-10, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

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

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

krashkart · 06-18-10, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

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.

Reece · 06-20-10, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

240 ?! wtf !

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

SteamWake · 06-20-10, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reece

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

Wow your right I just looked it up.

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

Arclight · 06-20-10, 05:31 PM

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

No, I know that doesn't help.

Reece · 06-20-10, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arclight

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

No, I know that doesn't help.

Yes with MOS devices, but in circuit the 5v line is not static sensitive!

Was sensitive to the mains current! you should have seen the caps!! paper and electrolyte everywhere!!

and you are correct, it doesn't help!

SteamWake · 06-21-10, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arclight

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

No, I know that doesn't help.

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 · 06-21-10, 08:49 AM

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."

06-18-10, 05:26 AM	#1
krashkart Navy Seal Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 5,292 Downloads: 100 Uploads: 0	[Techie Humor] Don't Put The Molex Where The Ribbon Cable Goes 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! __________________ sent from my fingertips using a cheap keyboard

06-18-10, 05:39 AM	#2
HunterICX Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2006 Location: Malaga, España Posts: 10,750 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	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 he tested his AMD CPU outside the case without any fans you can fry one PC , but 2 PC's at the same time? ow boy did he had to get a extra job to pay up for both PC's HunterICX __________________

06-18-10, 06:29 AM	#3
krashkart Navy Seal Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 5,292 Downloads: 100 Uploads: 0	__________________ sent from my fingertips using a cheap keyboard

06-18-10, 06:38 AM	#4
Reece CINC Pacific Fleet Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Down Under Posts: 34,696 Downloads: 171 Uploads: 0	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!! Can laugh about it now but at the time is was a costly accident! __________________ *Sub captains go down with their ship!*

06-18-10, 11:07 AM	#5
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Try plugging in a molex connector upside down... It smells like money 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 Try installing a new mobo into an existing machine and have no back up of the drives My favorite error message is "Keyboard error or keyboard not present, press any key to continue" 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" ! __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

06-20-10, 05:31 PM	#12
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	It's all about Amps; one of those electrostatic discharges from your fingertip to your motherboard can be thousands of volts. No, I know that doesn't help. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

06-21-10, 08:49 AM	#15
krashkart Navy Seal Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 5,292 Downloads: 100 Uploads: 0	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." __________________ sent from my fingertips using a cheap keyboard