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Blew my computer - URGENT

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
Just bought a MINI VAPORIZER PEN KIT HIGH QUALITY
-280mAH battery///Mini USB charger // 510 thread // bud touch O-pen
- element// blue box - no instructions

NEW COMPUTER , BOUGHT 2 MONTHS AGO , WITH MY OWN ART WORK ON IT, .. WORKED BEFORE I HOOKED UP THE VAPOR , NOW THE $3000.00 COMPUTER WITH MY OWN ART WORK IS DEAD...
--- Any one have this problem ??? Any suggesting ???
---- No # listed to call !!!!!
 

voicenyerhed

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I have never heard of this issue before. That sucks, though, dude! I hope someone is able to help.
 

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
I have never heard of this issue before. That sucks, though, dude! I hope someone is able to help.
I don't even see HOW it was even possibly ! hopefully someone will have an answer for me... This was my friends computer who is an artist & all his work is on the computer ... Why doesn't site have a phone #
 

kevin littell

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Member For 3 Years
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ECF Refugee
Look,


Even the best, highest quality vape gear, unless sourced from Europe or the Philippines is still the highest quality that the lowest Chinese bidder can produce. Alot of these small battry style pens have questionable batteries in them and the power supplys are unregulated....They dont shut off when the battery charges because THAT chipset cost's an extra 10 pennies.


Its likely that the power supply overloaded the 5vdc rail in the computer or smoked (shorted ) the USB board on the computer,


Good news is when the power supply sees a short and dies it USUALLY oesnt smoke the main board or kill the hard drive.


Get a wall charger.
 

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
model # SKD038 ///imput DC5V ///output DC5V 0.1A
You mean a DC 5V will blow my computer when charging ?
 

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
... I know nothing about a computer ,so you think all I need is a new USB board on the computer & all the data & art work is still there ?
 

SteveS45

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Before you go throwing parts at a PC you need to properly diagnose the problem. Simple Testing of the power supply requires a PS Tester and plugging it in. I have been charging everything from Cig-A-Likes to 3 Cell MOD's in any of my PC's and have never had a problem. I had a 50 type Compact Flash drive fry while hooked up to a PC and nothing happened to the PC but the drive actually melted!
 

The Cromwell

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model # SKD038 ///imput DC5V ///output DC5V 0.1A
You mean a DC 5V will blow my computer when charging ?
Yes it can.
many computers are only rated at a fairly small current thru the 510. so you can overload it and cook the USB circuitry which the keyboard and many things in the PC uses.
And of course as stated the ecig chargers are cheap junk anyway.


Use a 5V wall adapter for charging anything not just ecigs.
 

The Cromwell

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... I know nothing about a computer ,so you think all I need is a new USB board on the computer & all the data & art work is still there ?
The data should still be on the hard drive and the computer is probaboly repairable or the hard drive can be swapped into another computer by a knowledgeable person to access your data.
 

kevin littell

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Lets break this down into 2 components and Ill explain.

1: the vape. Battery, Atomizer and charger.

2 Computer. Main board, memory, hard drive, USB card, video card, Networking cards and Input Output devices. All powered by its power supply.


You plugged the vape battery into the USB port of the computer to charge it. The vape battery now draws 5 vdc from the computer power supply to the vape power supply to charger the battery via the USB board.


Vape pen power supply is made by the lowest bidder in China.


Vape pen power supply starts drawing more juice then the USB port or computer power supply can provide...More electrical current means more heat on the components....At some point one of the components of either the vape pen power supply, USB board or computer power supply will reach critical heat threshold and release its magic smoke. (Once the magic smoke is released it will never work again ;)

So, throw that vape away and get one that has a regulated power supply in it and take the puter to a repair shop that can determine if the power supply or USB card had a smoke release and bear in mind that alot of folks have been caught up in this.


I damn near burned the house down 4 years ago using the very same method!
 

anavidfan

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
300 or 3000, the worth of ones computer is worth what its stores and what you use it for.

I never plug anything to charge on mine. Never, why? I have a wall socket and a charger and if you dont,and its an emergency plug it in and monitor the thing plugged in. Touch it, make sure its not getting hot, nor the area where the usb port is not getting hot, if it its, disconnect it and turn the computer off and let it cool off.

The power supply on most computers are usually the minimum to use it to browse the internet.

SOme programs make the computer "rev" up and cause it to push that power to its limit. Ambient temperature, dust, other peripherals can often cause it to heat up and it will turn itself off many times to protect itself.

My computer is my lifes extension. I do photography etc. I have all my important stuff on external drives and back those up.

If your are not very knowledgeable with computers, take it to someone and hopefully you can find someone honest that can see whats wrong.

THe artwork is NOT lost, It can be accessed by putting it in another computer and go from there. Even if the hard drive is what failed it can be retrieved.

I wish I were close I could do that for you. Is this a laptop or desktop?
 

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
300 or 3000, the worth of ones computer is worth what its stores and what you use it for.

I never plug anything to charge on mine. Never, why? I have a wall socket and a charger and if you dont,and its an emergency plug it in and monitor the thing plugged in. Touch it, make sure its not getting hot, nor the area where the usb port is not getting hot, if it its, disconnect it and turn the computer off and let it cool off.

The power supply on most computers are usually the minimum to use it to browse the internet.

SOme programs make the computer "rev" up and cause it to push that power to its limit. Ambient temperature, dust, other peripherals can often cause it to heat up and it will turn itself off many times to protect itself.

My computer is my lifes extension. I do photography etc. I have all my important stuff on external drives and back those up.

If your are not very knowledgeable with computers, take it to someone and hopefully you can find someone honest that can see whats wrong.

THe artwork is NOT lost, It can be accessed by putting it in another computer and go from there. Even if the hard drive is what failed it can be retrieved.

I wish I were close I could do that for you. Is this a laptop or desktop?
 

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
It's a desk top &
300 or 3000, the worth of ones computer is worth what its stores and what you use it for.

I never plug anything to charge on mine. Never, why? I have a wall socket and a charger and if you dont,and its an emergency plug it in and monitor the thing plugged in. Touch it, make sure its not getting hot, nor the area where the usb port is not getting hot, if it its, disconnect it and turn the computer off and let it cool off.

The power supply on most computers are usually the minimum to use it to browse the internet.

SOme programs make the computer "rev" up and cause it to push that power to its limit. Ambient temperature, dust, other peripherals can often cause it to heat up and it will turn itself off many times to protect itself.

My computer is my lifes extension. I do photography etc. I have all my important stuff on external drives and back those up.

If your are not very knowledgeable with computers, take it to someone and hopefully you can find someone honest that can see whats wrong.

THe artwork is NOT lost, It can be accessed by putting it in another computer and go from there. Even if the hard drive is what failed it can be retrieved.

I wish I were close I could do that for you. Is this a laptop or desktop?
 

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
It's a desk top & your right it's the art work on it that matters , But...do you think geek squad at Best buy is a good place to go ....
 

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
300 or 3000, the worth of ones computer is worth what its stores and what you use it for.

I never plug anything to charge on mine. Never, why? I have a wall socket and a charger and if you dont,and its an emergency plug it in and monitor the thing plugged in. Touch it, make sure its not getting hot, nor the area where the usb port is not getting hot, if it its, disconnect it and turn the computer off and let it cool off.

The power supply on most computers are usually the minimum to use it to browse the internet.

SOme programs make the computer "rev" up and cause it to push that power to its limit. Ambient temperature, dust, other peripherals can often cause it to heat up and it will turn itself off many times to protect itself.

My computer is my lifes extension. I do photography etc. I have all my important stuff on external drives and back those up.

If your are not very knowledgeable with computers, take it to someone and hopefully you can find someone honest that can see whats wrong.

THe artwork is NOT lost, It can be accessed by putting it in another computer and go from there. Even if the hard drive is what failed it can be retrieved.

I wish I were close I could do that for you. Is this a laptop or desktop?
 

jtbmagic1

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
it's a desk top.. do you think best buy is a good place to go ?. ( geek squad ).. It's not my computer but I feel partly responsible ..
 

SteveS45

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Before you do anything check the outlet or power strip the PC is plugged in to.
 

inspects

Squonkamaniac
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Ive had better luck with Data Doctors, your milage may vary.
 

anavidfan

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it's a desk top.. do you think best buy is a good place to go ?. ( geek squad ).. It's not my computer but I feel partly responsible ..

It all depends on the Best buy. Do you have a microcenter around? Ive always done my own work on desktops, laptops Ive never actually done anything to other than change out hard drives and monitor/ screens.
 

dropin_biking

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
Coming from a 12 year computer expert, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt ANY short on the 5volts rails will cook the computer. I've witnessed power supplies catch fire and surge out, melting motherboards, everything else intact. I've seen computers go into protection from overload and over-voltage. Simply turning the power supply off and back on fixes it. I've personally sent 2volts through my CPU when overclocking and put it into protect mode, it came back after clearing the CMOS.

I would HIGHLY recommend taking the tower in for inspection, but I seriously doubt a USB device caused the entire computer to fail.
 

bobnat

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Member For 4 Years
... I know nothing about a computer ,so you think all I need is a new USB board on the computer & all the data & art work is still there ?

Stop and think for a moment. This is a vaping forum. Your problem is a computer problem. Why don't you either go to a computer shop or forum, they'll be able to help you.
 

David Wolf

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Coming from a 12 year computer expert, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt ANY short on the 5volts rails will cook the computer. I've witnessed power supplies catch fire and surge out, melting motherboards, everything else intact. I've seen computers go into protection from overload and over-voltage. Simply turning the power supply off and back on fixes it. I've personally sent 2volts through my CPU when overclocking and put it into protect mode, it came back after clearing the CMOS.

I would HIGHLY recommend taking the tower in for inspection, but I seriously doubt a USB device caused the entire computer to fail.
I was waiting on someone knowledgeable to respond. USB ports have overcurrent protection so it shouldn’t have killed the power supply. Things fail, usually the USB port only fails to work if something’s wrong with it. Whether this Pc failure was a result of uSB Protection failure (doubt it) or another cause is the question.
 

snake94115

Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
model # SKD038 ///imput DC5V ///output DC5V 0.1A
You mean a DC 5V will blow my computer when charging ?
Yes...Every damn time too.
Those USB 2 & USB 3 nodes can only handle about 2 volts.And if the USB's aren't (Protected Ports) then you can wave bye-bye to your super expensive computer when the damn USB hub fries your motherboard.

I will never understand why most computers do not come with (Protected USB nodes & hubs)
It is only a $0.23 difference in price...FFS SMFH!
 

Moniker

Member For 4 Years
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It's a desk top & your right it's the art work on it that matters , But...do you think geek squad at Best buy is a good place to go ....
I used to work on computers for side money but there isn't a whole lot I can do without being there to trouble shoot the thing.

Worst case scenario you fried all your components which suck Best case scenario your power supply took a crap and didn't take anything with it. Also if you don't know anything about computers and you dropped 3k on it you either got WAY more pc than you know what to do with or you got ripped off. Hopefully, the hard drive with your artwork is still good wish I could help you more.
 

Moniker

Member For 4 Years
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Yes...Every damn time too.
Those USB 2 & USB 3 nodes can only handle about 2 volts.And if the USB's aren't (Protected Ports) then you can wave bye-bye to your super expensive computer when the damn USB hub fries your motherboard.

I will never understand why most computers do not come with (Protected USB nodes & hubs)
It is only a $0.23 difference in price...FFS SMFH!
.23 adds up on that kind of a scale, Im hoping she got lucky and she can salvage some of the parts.
 

NineNine

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Unlisted Vendor
Just bought a MINI VAPORIZER PEN KIT HIGH QUALITY
-280mAH battery///Mini USB charger // 510 thread // bud touch O-pen
- element// blue box - no instructions

NEW COMPUTER , BOUGHT 2 MONTHS AGO , WITH MY OWN ART WORK ON IT, .. WORKED BEFORE I HOOKED UP THE VAPOR , NOW THE $3000.00 COMPUTER WITH MY OWN ART WORK IS DEAD...
--- Any one have this problem ??? Any suggesting ???
---- No # listed to call !!!!!
Have no idea, welcome to VU.
 

gbalkam

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Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
Reddit Exile
Just bought a MINI VAPORIZER PEN KIT HIGH QUALITY
-280mAH battery///Mini USB charger // 510 thread // bud touch O-pen
- element// blue box - no instructions

NEW COMPUTER , BOUGHT 2 MONTHS AGO , WITH MY OWN ART WORK ON IT, .. WORKED BEFORE I HOOKED UP THE VAPOR , NOW THE $3000.00 COMPUTER WITH MY OWN ART WORK IS DEAD...
--- Any one have this problem ??? Any suggesting ???
---- No # listed to call !!!!!
Check the fuses on the computer. Some are resetable, some have to be soldered in, but they all have fuses.
 
It got real quiet when someone mentioned checking the power stick. Was your issue resolved?

Anyway, as others have said, it's not really a good idea to plug these types of things into your PC, and your problem is almost definitely related to your PC's power supply, especially if you bought a custom, pre-built PC. This is a MASSIVELY common mistake among those who buy "custom computers" online -- they buy the generic PSU's that the PC builders offer, which are often cheap and poorly made. As a result, the computer fries in 2 months or less and you end up spending twice as much money. Never, ever skimp on your Power Supply Unit.

That being said, you can take it to Geek Squad, yeah. I'd personally tell them I want them to test the PSU and then have them install a new one if that turns out to be your problem (well, I'd install mine myself but idk if you're comfortable doing that). Should fix your problem. Good luck.
 

eStorm

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I deal with that on a daily basis... people and their computer issues lol. I'm still wondering tho what setup you're running that's worth $3000.00, please don't tell me you purchased a plug and play setup off amazon ;)
 
I deal with that on a daily basis... people and their computer issues lol. I'm still wondering tho what setup you're running that's worth $3000.00, please don't tell me you purchased a plug and play setup off amazon ;)

She did mention actually having a custom graphic on the PC, so my guess is she ordered one online from iBuyPower or something like that and had her artwork printed onto the shell. If this is the case, she almost definitely got a cheap PSU. Companies like Cyberpower actually custom build decent PCs and they're not TOO overly priced considering, but literally the sole reason for 95% of their bad reviews (and there is a lot of them) comes from individuals who customize their rigs with Cyberpower's own brand of PSU (they're manufactured by Cyberpower's sister company) and basically royally screwed themselves by doing so.

People who don't know much about PC customization will so often opt for spending the vast majority of their budget worrying about things like CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage while completely ignoring the Power Supply Units, aka, rendering their otherwise powerful systems useless. You could literally buy a 1500W "GameMaster" PSU and it will still fail to give you 200+W. I honestly think this is how these companies profit from their PC sales: "DISCOUNT UPGRADE from your 650W Corsair PSU to a 1000W GameMaster PSU (that will actually give you less than 100W of power!) for only $79!"

I'm crossing my fingers for the OP and hoping she was able to get the issue resolved without too much trouble. I hate to see this happen to people.
 

Blargh23

Member For 1 Year
Coming from a 12 year computer expert, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt ANY short on the 5volts rails will cook the computer. I've witnessed power supplies catch fire and surge out, melting motherboards, everything else intact. I've seen computers go into protection from overload and over-voltage. Simply turning the power supply off and back on fixes it. I've personally sent 2volts through my CPU when overclocking and put it into protect mode, it came back after clearing the CMOS.

I would HIGHLY recommend taking the tower in for inspection, but I seriously doubt a USB device caused the entire computer to fail.

Any half-way decent motherboard should have current protection on the USB ports -- even if it's the cheap solution of a non-resetting fuse which will burn out just that port (but without killing the entire computer).

Not so much can be said for the myriad of dodgy power supplies that are out there -- easily overloaded and likely to completely scramble a computer when they are. Even brand names like Antec use shitty Chinese caps that only last a few years (there's an entire forum dedicated to these caps and the woes they cause).

And then there's the power company . . . prone to spikes, dips, brownouts -- it's silly to be running a Very Expensive computer with your Valuable Files without a line-conditioning UPS.
 
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Lady Sarah

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Member For 5 Years
I used to use several virtual worlds (not at the same time), and I did a lot of 3D meshing and artwork. I blew 5 computers. Now, I just use a laptop for what little important stuff I need to do, and a tablet for everything else. If your hard drive is OK, you should be able to just put it in another computer. Many of the decent ones have more than one deck for hard drives.
 

snake94115

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Member For 4 Years
I used to use several virtual worlds (not at the same time), and I did a lot of 3D meshing and artwork. I blew 5 computers. Now, I just use a laptop for what little important stuff I need to do, and a tablet for everything else. If your hard drive is OK, you should be able to just put it in another computer. Many of the decent ones have more than one deck for hard drives.
Yep multi-bay is the way to go.
Best in show is going to be the (Corsair Obsidian 900D)
If you run out of room in that.Well you got issues...Just saying!
 

Vape Fan

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For irreplaceable data > pc, external storage, and cloud. At least 2 backups.
There's one thing that's certain about data. If it's not backed up, you WILL lose it.

No one asked what the computer was? Brand? Operating system? Model #?

You can't just plug a hdd with an operating system on it, into another computer and easily access any data on it.
If the needed data is on a separate partition from the OS, it could be relatively easy but for a skilled person, the person retrieving it would have to have another PC + the knowledge on how to navigate the system, to retrieve/back up the data.

Someone w/o technical knowledge and for the OP scenario, which is obviously already resolved one way or another,, just take it to a shop, a real pc repair shop and not some GS or any other squad, and let them know you have crucial data on the hdd. They will be able to make sure saving it happens, unless it's already lost.
 

Blargh23

Member For 1 Year
For local backups to an external drive:

Windows 10 has built-in backup functionality called "File History" though it takes some fiddling with to make sure it backs up all your stuff.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/297...-windows-10s-file-history-backup-feature.html

I'm currently using EaseUS ToDo backup (Free!) on this laptop because File History is clunky.
https://www.easeus.com/backup-software/

However, It's a good idea to backup both locally and to the cloud because redownloading all your 100's of Gigs of stuff over the internet can be mindbogglingly slow, but backing up to the cloud protects you in case of disaster (fire/flood/burglary/zombies/the rapture/ragnarok/etc).

I've used Crashplan -- it backs up locally (to an external drive or another computer on your network) for free and to the cloud for money.
Note: While their Home plan is getting the axe, the business plan is still affordable: $10 per device a month.
https://www.crashplan.com/en-us/

Some people like Carbonite, it's more expensive and space is limited.
https://www.carbonite.com/
 

snake94115

Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
For local backups to an external drive:

Windows 10 has built-in backup functionality called "File History" though it takes some fiddling with to make sure it backs up all your stuff.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/297...-windows-10s-file-history-backup-feature.html

I'm currently using EaseUS ToDo backup (Free!) on this laptop because File History is clunky.
https://www.easeus.com/backup-software/

However, It's a good idea to backup both locally and to the cloud because redownloading all your 100's of Gigs of stuff over the internet can be mindbogglingly slow, but backing up to the cloud protects you in case of disaster (fire/flood/burglary/zombies/the rapture/ragnarok/etc).

I've used Crashplan -- it backs up locally (to an external drive or another computer on your network) for free and to the cloud for money.
Note: While their Home plan is getting the axe, the business plan is still affordable: $10 per device a month.
https://www.crashplan.com/en-us/

Some people like Carbonite, it's more expensive and space is limited.
https://www.carbonite.com/
I really like (ADrive Cloud) it's super cheap as low as $2.50 a month or $25 a year.And you get your first 60 days for free.No credit card needed to signup either.So there you go.

http://www.adrive.com
 

gsmit1

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Coming from a 12 year computer expert, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY doubt ANY short on the 5volts rails will cook the computer. I've witnessed power supplies catch fire and surge out, melting motherboards, everything else intact. I've seen computers go into protection from overload and over-voltage. Simply turning the power supply off and back on fixes it. I've personally sent 2volts through my CPU when overclocking and put it into protect mode, it came back after clearing the CMOS.

I would HIGHLY recommend taking the tower in for inspection, but I seriously doubt a USB device caused the entire computer to fail.

Coming from a 20 year professional computer technician, I agree. Practically no chance any USB device caused this.
 

Th3_uN1Qu3

Member For 1 Year
There is a chance of an USB overcurrent frying a motherboard if said computer is a cheap laptop. I work as a hardware technician doing component level repairs and i've seen it a lot lately. It's like the new crop of cheap computers (2015 or later) have absolutely NO protection on USB and HDMI ports, I see so many shorted soldered-in processors it's not even funny anymore.

That being said, i charge my mod thru my laptop and have had zero issues, but i do have a laptop of reasonable quality. I agree with the others about chances being slim to none of this happening on a desktop PC. In fact, the OP never followed up - could have just been a troll.
 

Obama

Member For 1 Year
Damn, i gotta be more careful with mine. I got a bunch of important shit on my pc, thankz for the warning. :):)
 

Rooster Cogburn

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it's a desk top.. do you think best buy is a good place to go ?. ( geek squad ).. It's not my computer but I feel partly responsible ..
You plugged your cheap ecig into your friends computer to charge it. Cheap ecig blows something in the computer and you feel PARTLY RESPONSIBLE?!?!? Wow way to step up and take PART of the responsibility. You’re one helluva friend.
 

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