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URGENT I touched the pc case with the fan power cable

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doughtree

Junior Member
I was unplugging my 80mm fan while the pc was on and I accidently touched the metalic case with the power cable for the fan (the three pins) and the whole computer shut off. Well the power light was on for some reason, and the motherboard lights were still on. I am afraid, I turned off the power supply switch from the back. How should I proceed now, what happened, and can I put my pc on again?
 
Turn it on and pray. You shorted the 12 volt bus to ground so there's a good chance that the PSU is toast. HOPEFULLY it didn't take out the mobo as well (been there, done that!).

If it won't start then swap out the PSU and hope for the best.

Oh, and NEVER unplug ANYTHING in a computer with the power turned on (but I guess you know that now).
 
I won't say it's impossible to cause further damage, but the damage (if it's happened) is probably done.

If you want to play safe unplug all drives and remove all cards except the vid card. Remove all memory sticks except one. Turn it on as see if it POSTs. If it does, you're looking good. Power down, put the all the RAM and cards back in and test it again. If it still looks good, power down & connect the drives.

NOTE: By power down I do not mean just turning off the computer. You should turn off the kill switch on the PSU (or pull the plug if there's no kill switch) whenever you work inside the case. Even with the computer off there is voltage in some circuits of the mobo if the kill switch is not off. Just dropping a screw on the mobo in the wrong place can short something out.

Hope this helps...
 
Chances are that you just shorted out the 12V line to ground.

The PSU will respond to that by instantly killing the 12V supply. As parts of the system are powered by 5V - they'll stay energized, so lights and stuff will stay on.

Just turn off the PSU at the mains, and turn your system on again. It's unlikely there's any damage. (Done this myself a couple of times - was measuring voltages and the multimeter probes slipped. Got some nice fat sparks and scorch marks on the probes).

If you'd done something like mixed voltages (e.g. accidentally shorted the 12V line onto the 5V line - then there is a risk of damage. A decent PSU will have a failsafe overvoltage circuit, but cheapies may allow the 12V to persist on the 5V line frying things).
 
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