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Antec Power Supply Wires FRIED!?!

C

Cirrus38

Member
Let's start with specs.

Antec 400W SmartPower
Asus A8V Deluxe
WD 80GB 10,000 RPM Raptor
AMD 3200+ (939-90nm)
512x2 Corsair ValueRam
BFG 6800 OC
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS
Generic DVD burner
Generic floppy drive

Ok, so I just today got a new hard drive, since my previous one was defective. I booted up with everything else connected, no problems at all, except that I didn't hear my old Raptor spinning up and the BIOS couldn't find it.

I disconnected my floppy drive's power connector to install my HD. I screwed my HD into the cage, connected it, then reconnected my floppy power supply cable. Mind you, the floppy drive had worked previously without problem. While I attempted to diagnose my first, defective HD, I used the floppy drive to successfully and uneventfully update the SATA drivers.

I plug everything in, and hit the power button. A poof of smoke comes from the side of my PC's open case. I look inside, and I see the power supply cable leading to my floppy drive glowing orange and MELTING! I immediately turn the PC off, disconnect from the outlet and then I disconnected the floppy power supply. One of the four wires leading to my small power connector has burned completely through, and the heat melted all the way into the next connector over. The central Legacy connector appears ok, but the offshoot for the floppy is, well, toasted. Did I somehow connect the floppy power connector upside down? Or did my floppy suddenly just interally short out and self destruct? Or was this just a bum wire? I'd really, REALLY appreciate any help.
 
looks like you did not connect your floppy wire correctly or as you suggested maybe even upside down,sucks but i think you learned a valuable lesson here.

Never rush it & always double check your wires before you power up. 🙁

the floppy is probably dead but the rest of the system might be just fine.
 
I just took another look, and it is impossible for me to have connected the floppy upside down. The connector is set so that upside down, it doesnt I guess "lock" into place. The way I slid it in, the power supply cable to the floppy fits snugly. I am now absolutely positive I DID NOT plug the floppy's power supply cable upside down.
 
Originally posted by: Cirrus38
I just took another look, and it is impossible for me to have connected the floppy upside down. The connector is set so that upside down, it doesnt I guess "lock" into place. The way I slid it in, the power supply cable to the floppy fits snugly. I am now absolutely positive I DID NOT plug the floppy's power supply cable upside down.
Click to expand...

maybe it was just 1 pin off to the side,that would do the same melting effect you describe too.
 
None of the pins are bent, as if they were not connected properly. The pins on the floppy drive still look completely normal, straight as an arrow except of course for the one that was burned and it looks black.
 
Definitely put the connector on upside down or one pin off to make it appear okay. One pin off for example would line a 5V line with a 3.3V input. I have placed the connector on upside down in the past by accident when working on my first system about 8 yrs. ago. I had the same results, turns out I blew the PSU and the floppy was toast. Everything else was ok though.
 
Originally posted by: Cirrus38
None of the pins are bent, as if they were not connected properly. The pins on the floppy drive still look completely normal, straight as an arrow except of course for the one that was burned and it looks black.
Click to expand...
The 4pin floppy connector is a very poorly designed connector, it's very easy to get it to be on the wrong pins while still fitting. If you had it on the wrong pins, you'd never know unless you were paying close attention visually, or until it blew up(which it did).
 
Hi, Upside down would put the +5 to the +12 pin and visa versa. Would probably burn both Yellow and Red. One pin off one way would put the +12 to ground and would burn the Yellow wire. Other way would put the +5 to ground and burn the Red wire. Jim
 
Originally posted by: Cirrus38
How could I have missed a pin when all the pins are still in the right places?
Click to expand...

There's enough space on either side of the connector that it can fit in there like that. I've done it already, though I didn't power on the PC, and the pins were not bent.

The 4pin floppy connector is a very poorly designed connector, it's very easy to get it to be on the wrong pins while still fitting.
Click to expand...
I'll agree with that - the floppy data cable is also often done wrong. Many drives I've gotten were keyed backwards. :roll: At least no one's ever keyed the floppy power connector backwards - yet.
 
Thanks for all the help all. Yeah, I screwed the pooch, but Antec came through and gave me a free replacement. Makes me glad I didn't buy generic.
 
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