My secondhand Compaq case finally gave me a scare last night

I was gaming on my sleeper build in my basement around 11pm when I heard this weird buzzing sound coming from the power supply area... kept getting louder for about 30 seconds then everything just shut off. Turned out the old front panel power button had shorted against the metal case and tripped the surge protector. Has anyone else had an old case's switches or ports cause problems like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

susanh4621d ago

The whole "front panel switch shorted against the case" thing sounds more like user error than the case being the problem. I've built in a dozen old Compaqs and similar retro cases over the years and never had that happen. If the switch was installed right with the mounting clip fully seated, there shouldn't be any way for the metal contacts to touch the case. Either you didn't push the switch in all the way or you busted the clip at some point. Old parts aren't automatically dangerous, people just get careless with them.

troyjackson20d agoTop Commenter

Nah, I gotta disagree with you there. I've seen those old switches get brittle as hell over the years, hairline cracks in the plastic that you can't even see until you push them in wrong. One bad angle and that little tab snaps off, then the metal prongs can definitely wiggle over and touch the case. It's not always about being careless.