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Questions about GIGABYTE products => Thermal cooling solution & chassis => Topic started by: idahobill on August 12, 2011, 06:02:37 am

Title: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: idahobill on August 12, 2011, 06:02:37 am
Hello,

 I have one of the 3d mercury cases that I had used for a while but I ran into some trouble with it and set it on the rack for a while. I am putting a new PC together and thought I would try this case again but when I use the regular power button to power the system up it only runs for a few seconds then shuts down.  If I use the reset button as a power button the system comes on and works without shutting down.  I have seen this issue mentions in some other forums but I have not been able to determine what the fix is...  HELP!

THANKS!
Bill
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on August 12, 2011, 08:04:06 am
Hi Bill and welcome to the Gigabyte forum.

I don't know what the case has to do with it exactly but if there is a problem with the motherboard then I suggest that you double check the cables coming from the front panel to the board. Firstly make sure that they are indeed going to the correct connection on the board.  If they are then make sure that the switches are not faulty. Quite often this is the case as they only use cheap switches on most chassis.
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: idahobill on August 12, 2011, 04:59:41 pm
 The line to the power connector on the motherboard is also connected to the pump control board, I believe that there is something that is causing that board to trigger the shutdown. If i connect everything in the regular configuration (the PC will shut down after a few seconds) and turn the computer on then unplug the power switch line the PC will keep running so there is something coming from the case that is turning it off.

 I just confirmed that the shutdown is coming from the pump controler,  i unplugged the controler from the power switch line and with it unplugged the system keeps running, now I just need to figure out how to fix it.

THANKS!
Bill
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on August 12, 2011, 08:11:32 pm
Can you please just list your hardware make and models so we can have a better idea of what you are running.
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: idahobill on August 12, 2011, 08:19:27 pm
Sorry,

 This is a new build, I am at the point that I have the mother board installed in the case, I have the memory and video card installed and am booting into the bios to verify everything is working, havent installed OS or anything yet.

It is a 3D Mercury case (has the built in water colling system)
AMD T1090
PNY memory
ATI 4870
a couple 1Tb hitachi drives

Thanks!
Bill
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: idahobill on August 12, 2011, 08:21:02 pm
GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 R  system board.
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on August 12, 2011, 08:22:35 pm
My first thoughts would be that there is an extra motherboard post left in from the last build in that case. It is causing a short to earth via the chassis. It is possible that something else could be causing the short but that is most likely.
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: stopgraph on September 10, 2011, 08:10:58 pm
My 3d mercury which has been running fine for 4 years just started doing this as well, if I remove power to the pump everything stays on, soon as I re-add power, shuts back off within 2 seconds of coming on.


Also swapping the reset button for the power button...works.  Temp fix perm fix.. dunno well see.

Any ideas on how to fix this?
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on September 10, 2011, 08:19:21 pm
Yes my guess would be that your power supply is failing. Can you list your main components including make and model of PSU ?
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: stopgraph on September 10, 2011, 08:28:12 pm
I've had a power supply fail before, the burning smells, the crackling, none of that is occurring.


Mobo is asus p5k3 deluxe

CPU is intel extreme x6800 dual core.

The PSU is an Antec 1000W True power quattro/ model TPQ 1000.
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on September 10, 2011, 08:39:11 pm
It doesn't have to burn out it can fail in many different ways. Your PSU is a good quality one but that doesn't stop it from being faulty. How old is it ?

The other thing that would fit the bill is if the pump was drawing too much power , maybe going to earth or something, and so was overloading the PSU.
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: stopgraph on September 10, 2011, 08:49:25 pm
I find it hard to fault the PSU :

1. Remove the pump and the pc runs fine.  No shutdown.

2. Also connect the reset switch as the power switch on the mb and the pump is working here... everything stays on no shutdown.

3. Connect the main power switch to the MB power switch and adding the power back to the pump.  Shutdown in 2 seconds without fail.

Seems like something is wrong with the power switch on the cases circuit board/wiring?

As you suggest if the PSU was being overloaded then #2 would also cause a shutdown, all components are original so 4 years.

Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on September 10, 2011, 09:13:07 pm
As you say it seems to point to  a switch problem. It is possible though that it would have to be the switch and the pump otherwise why would it fail just when you uncouple the pump?
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: stopgraph on September 10, 2011, 09:39:11 pm
Well this is interesting:

I let it run using the reset switch to power it on, after 30 minutes it rebooted, the BIOs reset, I reconfigured the bios, it booted back into the os for about 3 minutes then rebooted again without resetting the bios however now its chain rebooting every 6 seconds.

The motherboard light stays solid green.

However I hear a faint continuous beeping coming from the case circuit board.

Turned it back on just now and BOOM power supply explosion, my ears are still ringing.

Solved that problem, wonder if my cpu is still any good :P

You were right... you were right (pops ears).
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Aussie Allan on September 11, 2011, 12:31:04 am


  Priceless post .... Maybe your PSU was what the FBI have been waiting on all day ... The CPU.........Very carefully dig it out of the wall opposite.....it should be fine!

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on September 11, 2011, 08:55:25 am
So it does seem that the PSU was faulty then! ;)  Priceless!

Whether it has damaged any of your other components wont be obvious until you get a replacement PSU.

Well the first thing is to change your PSU. Never buy a cheap and nasty power supply they can go wrong and take out all you other expensive components at the same time. Not only that just because it is marked 600W often they are nowhere near that rating. Purchase a good make like Seasonic, CWT, Corsair, Thermaltake, Enermax, Gigabyte, Coolermaster, Antec, etc and try and get one with a single 12V rail if possible. I would advise you to get one of about 650W minimum depending on your hardware demands.
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: jonathancolledge on October 08, 2011, 08:02:04 pm
Could the problem have caused your power supply to fail. If so it isn't the power supply!

I have exactly the same problem.

I changed the power supply - same.

Swapping the reset and power buttons worked with new power supply.

I dare not leave it on in case somewhere, something is touching the case and causing some badness thus overloading the PSU.

Any ideas? I don't want an explosion!
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: jonathancolledge on October 08, 2011, 08:08:38 pm
My first thoughts would be that there is an extra motherboard post left in from the last build in that case. It is causing a short to earth via the chassis. It is possible that something else could be causing the short but that is most likely.

Ah - this might be a contender. Could a short cause the PSU to fail? I would have guessed so?
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Aussie Allan on October 08, 2011, 08:34:24 pm

  YUP!....Can take months .... or Seconds

  When PSUs go big time ... they usually take something with them .... Nasty little sods ... this is why it pays to go the quality route!

  Aussie Allan
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on October 09, 2011, 07:56:45 am
I would agree and anything that is putting an exceptional load on any of the busses of a PSU can cause failure down the line. On rebuilds where tha case has been used previously extraneous  motherboard posts are quite common. Of course there are other ways that a short can occur. I had one member on the forum here quite a fdew months ago now that didn't use any motherboard posts at all and just screwed the board to the backing plate directly and wondered why nothing worked!!!! :o
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: M0rningLightM0untain on January 06, 2012, 04:18:30 pm
Hey I just want to note I've been experiencing a similar issue.  When I power on, case comes up for about 3 seconds then shuts down.  After 2 seconds, it magically boots up like a charm (without me pressing a button again.)  I will post more detailed info later.
Title: Re: 3d Mercury turns on then turns off in a few seconds
Post by: Dark Mantis on January 09, 2012, 08:36:16 pm
Hi and welcome.

Try doing an extended clear of the CVMOS followed by loading Optimise BIOS Defaults then synchronise the two BIOS versions. Follow these instructions exactly and you should be fine.

Remove the power cable from the mains supply and then press the power switch on the case for a few seconds just to drain any residual energy in the PSU capacitors.

Once done remove the motherboard battery for at least one hour before replacing it.
 
Next plug back into the mains supply and boot.
 
You will now need to enter the BIOS by pressing DEL and load Optimised BIOS Defaults.

Make any other changes to the BIOS settings to suit your self like disabling the floppy drive, disabling the full screen logo and making the HDD the primary boot device and then press F10 to save and exit.  Power down the computer.

If you have a PS2 keyboard connect that instead of the USB version as it is more reliable.

From a cold start with the power to the machine switched off press the power button and then enter the BIOS by pressing Del.
 Then when you get to the main screen press F9.
 
This will bring up an extra screen which will display more information about the two BIOS versions. Assuming they are different exit the BIOS and shutdown.

Again press the power button and this time press Alt + F12 where you would normally use the Del key to enter the BIOS. You will find that then your monitor will turn black and you will see:

Press [Enter] to start copying main BIOS to backup BIOS...

When you press Enter more text will appear saying:

Writing BIOS image.... xxxKb OK

Once completed more text will show:

BIOS successfully recovered! Power off or reset system!

Do as it says. Both Main and Backup BIOS chips now store the same BIOS version. You can now reboot as normal.