PC problems - troubleshooting issues

[theleg]

Right this is a weird one for me.

I woke up this morning and the power was off. The electrics in our house are awful and the fuse goes every couple of days and shuts all the power off. So PC gets forced offline quite often.

My main PC was on last night during the power shut down and it won't restart this morning. No life at all except the light on the ethernet port which i assume provides its own power. I swapped power cable to see if it was that, used a different wall plug etc. Then I removed the PSU and plugged it into my second PC which has been sitting disconnected in the cupboard for the last month and it powers up for 1 second and then restarts with a single click and continues like this.

The weird thing is, I then tried it with the second PC's original PSU which hasnt been turned on in a month, and it is doing the exact same thing. Turning on for a second and then restarting with a click.

What might this issue be? Have I just blown my second PC motherboard by plugging a faulty PSU into it? I was wondering if it was a safety issue with the PSUs shutting down due to the crappy electricity supply coming into the wall sockets?

Any clues? Much appreciated.

 

[Chris Beard]

Do you have access to clean power, perhaps at work, to test? Perhaps the power from the wall is causing the issue.

Consider (if not using already) serge protectors to use going forward. They will need regular replacement as they wear out over time.

Faulty wiring can be very dangerous, consider getting the wiring redone or moving house.

What happens if you try the second computer’s power supply on your main rig?

 

[labcoattech]

If you don't have clean stable electricity in your house then you need to invest in a UPS (uninterruptible power supply).

The issue with your current PC could be due to any one of the components, you will need to take somewhere that has good electrics and the components to diagnose the PC.

 

[EsaT]

What the model of PSU?
Sounds lot like possible bad PSU with it just providing some kind 5V standby to get some LEDs relying on it powered, but unable to provide actually good voltages.
Problems after cooling down would be typical symptom for failed capacitors.
Ironically while heat is bad for endurance of electrolyte capacitors, bad caps can keep working just enough for as long as they stay warm.

BIOS/CMOS battery having gone bad could also cause wacky issues, which would appear when PC has been without power.
So new CR2032 would be cheap shot to try.

Also sounds like UPS for getting controlled shut down would be good.