PC Cuts out randomly

[Pictman]

I have two Lenovo 97027MG ThinkCenter A57. One of these has started cutting out randomly and unexpectedly. It then seems to try to restart; the fans blow for about a second, there is an audible click then it tries again. This is repeated sometimes for hours without success. Sometimes it eventually restarts and at other times will restart after a period of being disconnected from power. While it is 'trying' to restart the power button has no effect.



Anyone have any ideas? Thanks for reading this.
....

 

[BadBigBen]

sounds like a thermal issue or the PSU is on its way out...

I would unhook the PC from the mains and then clean it out. Take a look at the CPU heat sink, while cleaning it hold the fan so that it does not turn.

as for the PSU, hook up another known working one, if the problem is gone then you know it is the PSU which acted up...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[rclarke250]

There is a known issue, check the system boards for blown,leaking,or bulging capacitors. System brd. is most likely made by Foxcon, some older ones were made by MSI, If the caps are bad, contact Lenovo for replacement, they will either send you the board, or send IBM to repair it.

 

[Nate808]

I would clean off the CPU and reapply some thermal grease, you can find some from Radio Shack.

I have a Dell Optiplex 745 here on the bench and at first I thought it was the power supply, but after shorting some power pins and connecting everything back together it powers up...

Though I need to re grease the CPU before I start to run it again! I guess it was something shorting out and the power supply was turning off to protect too much current pulled on it?! I am not sure but I am booted up!

So yea unplug everything, I would even go so far as to unmount the mobo from the PC case and check everything visually...Then just plug in the power supply to the mobo and try to power on....Does your mobo have an LED indicator light for power? Does it turn on?

If so its getting power try and short pins 15 -16 on 24 pin connector....see if it powers up...

I know when I was troubleshooting I would only plug in the 4 pin auc power connector and that would fire my cpu fan right but but as soon as i plugged in the 24 pin connector, everything would stop....not sure where the short was but after taking of the other side of the case and moving hte mobo around inside, it works! ODD stuff to be sure!

 

[BadBigBen]

Some PSU's go into a protective mode, meaning they will not power on at all, until you unplug them from the mains and then hold the power button down for a minute or more...

the protective mode is entered, when the PSU detects a high current draw or sometimes during brown-outs (fluctuating power) or even some finicky ones that when they operate at the limit of their capacity... I had a PSU that went into protective mode every-time the lights flickered during a thunderstorm...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[Pictman]

Thanks to you all for the above. By swapping processors I am fairly sure the processor is going down. It is an Intel E2200. I want to locate a replacement as the E2200 is obsolete. Is there a direct replacement processor available? Thanks for reading this.
....

 

[tf1]

If you look on eBay, there are loads of E2200 processors for sale at a budget cost.

But please be sure that the top of the processor (and bottom of the heatsinks) are clean and smeared with a thin layer of thermal paste and making really intimate contact with each other.


Regards: Terry

 

[kjv1611]

Pictman, if you're wanting to find what other CPUs you can install in place of yours to get better performance while you're at it, then search on the desktop model number or motherboard model number, and you should be able to find out.