Blue Flash

[PGit]

I've been trying to assemble a PC, I decided to test it to see if it would boot up, periphials such as the hd and floppy were disconnected and I plugged it in. Switched on the socket and nothing happened. I tried the same with the ac switch on 230v and got a blue flash, then still nothing (including the power supply fan doesn't spin).

I fear that I may have blown the motherboard (though it was lifted of the case by the supplied spacers).

The video card, cpu and the ram were connected though, would these have been damaged.

[PGit]

I've tested the PSU by shorting the on pin to a ground pin and
it didn't work so it may be the psu that isn`t working and not the motherboard.

[PGit]

I may have to get a new motherboard anyway.
The one I brought off ebay (or thought i had) and the one I was sent are not the same, the seller sent an e-mail stating this nbut I presumed that it meant a different revision, no it's a completly different make with only 4x AGP (whereas the one I thought i was getting had 8x so my graphics card isn't compatible with it) and 333 DDr instead of 400.

[amigaoneproductions]

The only to be sure of what component is at fault,  PSU, motherboard etc,  is to replace each part with known good and see what happens.

I would double check all your connections and make sure that there is no possibility of a short anywhere.
While you are diagnosing,  only have connected what is really necessary for the board to show signs of life,  this will make testing easier.

One thing that caught me out once was an extra screw post on the case and no corisponding hole on the motherboard for a screw,  when I powered on with the post touching the back of the board,  a chip on the motherboard got so hot that when I was dignosing what went wrong and touched the chip,  a layer of skin came away from my finger and attached itself to the chip.  A few expletives later I realised that I had fried both the motherboard and my finger  :-(

Good luck :-)

[Doobrey]

PGit wrote:
Switched on the socket and nothing happened. I tried the same with the ac switch on 230v and got a blue flash

 AC switch? Do you mean the little orange one that selects the PSU input between 230v and 110v ?
 I know this is gonna sound stupid, but did you check the fuse in the mains plug?

[Dr_Righteous]

Was the flash followed by an extremely foul smell? I've lost many a PSU to capacitors crapping out. None of which has ever damaged my systems.