I have a customer who had an old computer. One day, it stopped working. So she brought it to me to have a look. Everything was fried... Hard drives wouldn't spin, CD wouldn't spin, etc. So I built her a new computer. Installed it at her house, everything was good and she was happy.
Then, she spilled water in the keyboard, and she bought a replacement keyboard. She shut the computer off, plugged the keyboard into the wrong port and fired it up. It reported there was no keyboard. She tried this a few times, same result. So she called me.
I went out there, saw that she had jammed the USB connector into the serial port, so I plugged it into the right place, fired the computer up. Then she remembered she had a new mouse, too, so I shut the computer off. It was getting warm in the room, so I asked her to turn on the ceiling fan. I plugged in the new mouse, hit the power button on the computer - nothing. Unplugged the new mouse, hit the power button, nothing again.
So I removed the computer, brought it back to my lab, plugged it in and it worked fine. So I brought it back to her house again, plugged it in and it still refused to work. I have a thing to plug into an outlet to check to make sure it's wired properly - no open line, no bad ground, etc, it said it was ok. So we talked about it, she remembered that when the first computer fried, she had put the ceiling fan on as well. She said the wiring in the house is alumunum and probably 40 years old as well.
So we shut off the ceiling fan, pulled the computer out and plugged it in by itself. It worked. So I put it back in the desk, plugged everything else in, it wouldn't work. Pissed, I yanked it out, she said she would call her neighbor to see if it would work in his house. We went over there, it worked fine! So I brought it back to her house, plugged into a different outlet in a different room, it worked fine. Put it back in the desk, connected everything, and it continued to not work.
Today I picked up a new power supply, thinking maybe the one that's in it is a little too sensitive. Same result, not working.
WTF? I'm not an electrician and don't really know much beyond how to wire a simple outlet... Any ideas what might be going on?
Then, she spilled water in the keyboard, and she bought a replacement keyboard. She shut the computer off, plugged the keyboard into the wrong port and fired it up. It reported there was no keyboard. She tried this a few times, same result. So she called me.
I went out there, saw that she had jammed the USB connector into the serial port, so I plugged it into the right place, fired the computer up. Then she remembered she had a new mouse, too, so I shut the computer off. It was getting warm in the room, so I asked her to turn on the ceiling fan. I plugged in the new mouse, hit the power button on the computer - nothing. Unplugged the new mouse, hit the power button, nothing again.
So I removed the computer, brought it back to my lab, plugged it in and it worked fine. So I brought it back to her house again, plugged it in and it still refused to work. I have a thing to plug into an outlet to check to make sure it's wired properly - no open line, no bad ground, etc, it said it was ok. So we talked about it, she remembered that when the first computer fried, she had put the ceiling fan on as well. She said the wiring in the house is alumunum and probably 40 years old as well.
So we shut off the ceiling fan, pulled the computer out and plugged it in by itself. It worked. So I put it back in the desk, plugged everything else in, it wouldn't work. Pissed, I yanked it out, she said she would call her neighbor to see if it would work in his house. We went over there, it worked fine! So I brought it back to her house, plugged into a different outlet in a different room, it worked fine. Put it back in the desk, connected everything, and it continued to not work.
Today I picked up a new power supply, thinking maybe the one that's in it is a little too sensitive. Same result, not working.
WTF? I'm not an electrician and don't really know much beyond how to wire a simple outlet... Any ideas what might be going on?
