Electric arc from case to power connector! How to assess damage; recover?

[Wonsungi]

:Q So while monkeying with the fans inside my Addtronics 6896, electricity arced from the case to a power connector. The whole system just powered down. Of course, won't start again, either...
So how much damage was possible here? Everything connected to the PSU, or just the components attached to the line coming from the PSU?(there are three sets of connectors)

Also, even if the components work, how reliable will they be after such a jolt? What's the best way to test the components?

I have... err had a Enermax ATX PSU. I'm most interested in the Maxtor DiamondMax 60 G hard drive.

 

[smp]

WOWZA!

what do you mean "from the case?".. like... explain more fully.. if your motherboard was hammered by it though, uh.. bad news and uh.. just sounds like bad news all over the board.. toss that maxtor in another pooter and see if it works.

 

[sohcrates]

Most of the times i've seen arcs in computers, they've been recoverable

1) unplug power from the wall and let the computer sit and think about what it's done for awhile

2) if, after plugging back in, still doesn't work.....unplug again, and take the mobo battery out for about 30 minutes to clear the cmos

3) hard drive data should still be fine...but if it's still not booting up than any number of subsystems or cards could be shot

4) if everything IS working, it's possible that there is long-term damage, but no real way to test for it...you'll just have to see how stable everything is

 

[Wonsungi]

There was a blue electric arc from a bolt on the case to a 4 pin power connector lead.

I am over at Jim's (of coolcases.com fame.) The nice guy is basically lending me all sorts of spare computer parts.

I tried plugging my HDD into one of his PC's. It spins up, but it isn't detected. I am hoping this is a mobo bios prob. (60 gig HDD and old award bios 2a69ka1e.)

I am taking some spare parts home with me, and I will try on my PC...

 

[Jerboy]

<< There was a blue electric arc from a bolt on the case to a 4 pin power connector lead.

I am over at Jim's (of coolcases.com fame.) The nice guy is basically lending me all sorts of spare computer parts.

I tried plugging my HDD into one of his PC's. It spins up, but it isn't detected. I am hoping this is a mobo bios prob. (60 gig HDD and old award bios 2a69ka1e.)

I am taking some spare parts home with me, and I will try on my PC... >>



Its happened to me when I was too lazy to power off my computer before plugging in a CD-ROM drive thats laying around in order to take out the disc in it. You just have to pull the cord, wait a minute or two and everything should be fine.

 

[Wonsungi]

I got it fixed! Not sure if the old PSU would have still worked or not, but the new PSU works fine (and it happens to be a little better, anyways.) All my data was intact, and a software problem I was having (stupid windows registry) just disappeared! One fan not working anymore, though. Probably the one that got the arc.