Investigate these confusing electrical or power problems. Let's figure out what's going on.
Investigate these confusing electrical or power problems. Let's figure out what's going on.
Hey there, team. I’m reaching out for help with this odd computer problem. About two months ago, I installed a new PC with these specs. It worked perfectly until recently. A week ago it started acting up—shutting down abruptly without any BSOD or automatic restart. Initially, I could reboot it by pressing the power button. But on the third shutdown, it tripped the breaker in my apartment (an older SoCal building from the 70s). Since then, every time it powers off, the breaker gets tripped.
At first, I thought a bad power supply unit was the culprit, even though the build was only two months old. I replaced it with a brand-new Corsair model, but the issue persisted—shutdowns still triggered the breaker. I took the PC to a local repair shop that’s well-reviewed. They kept it overnight and ran tests all day yesterday until 3 AM. No shutdowns occurred. They performed stress tests, checked voltages, inspected connections, and found some corrupted .dll files—possibly linked to the frequent power cuts. They also noted the GPU VRAM was running hot (83°C) under load.
The breakers in use were standard (no AFCI), unlike the one I replaced. Other observations: shutdowns were more common during gaming sessions, though I wasn’t playing anything intense (just Stalker Gamma). There was one instance when I just browsed the web and it shut down too. I tried connecting directly to the wall versus a surge protector, but shutdowns happened regardless.
Recent changes to my setup included adding a second SSD and installing a new monitor arm. The Event Viewer shows Kernel Power 41 errors. Any ideas? What could be causing this? I’m open to suggestions. I suspect an faulty AFCI breaker, but the early shutdowns didn’t trigger it. Thanks for your help!
There is a slight chance the load increase is causing a fault in your wiring of the house to exaggerate to the point of tripping breakers. There's even some theory of electrical that explains wires are vibrating (so little you can't see by eye) under load. My first thought: I would try grabbing a space heater (or other heavy load equipment) and operating off the outlet/plug you had issues with and see if it still trips a breaker under that load. If so, you gotta call the electrician and hand out the big bucks to solve that problem. If not, you've eliminated the chance of it being faulty house wiring. (Unless for some reason the house wiring is specifically weak to the load your PC generates, but I think that's like a 0.000001% chance)
Well, I didn’t quite grasp that segment in my initial comment. I apologize for overlooking it. I’d still consider other load options similar to what I mentioned before. Still, I understand that AFCI breakers are promoted as safe, but in reality they can be quite sensitive and not every heavy device will cause them to trip. The problem with AFCI breakers is that if a device trips under load, there’s no solution—those units aren’t designed to work with AFCI. I’m not sure what the exact compatibility differences are, but many electrician communities discuss this topic. You might want to check forums or ask experienced folks if they’ve encountered PC power supplies that trigger AFCI breakers. If you’re more traditional, searching similar subjects manually could help. I’m pretty sure others share this concern, but switching to GFCI might be a safer bet (assuming local codes allow it). Here’s a link for reference: https://www.galvinpower.org/what-causes-...-tripping/ and another helpful guide: https://superuser.com/questions/1571257/...ning-it-on.
Caution: You’re dealing with potentially dangerous electricity—make sure you have the right protective equipment and consider consulting someone experienced before proceeding.
I'm sorry for focusing too much on this subject. After resting on the concept, here are some observations:
- Apply higher stress to the same outlet where your PC previously failed. This can reveal details about your home’s wiring (good if no more breaker trips, possibly poor wiring if it does). Further checks may be needed to confirm if the problem lies beyond faulty wiring.
- If you have experience with residential circuits, try switching to a different AFCI breaker. Note which outlets are protected by that breaker. Then test your PC on that circuit. This helps figure out if the issue is with the breaker itself or compatibility with the AFCI setting.
- If the alternate AFCI still trips when your PC is connected, it’s likely the PC isn’t compatible with AFCI protection. There’s a very low chance both breakers fail simultaneously, but it’s worth confirming.
- You can also attempt to run the PC on a non-AFCI outlet to observe any changes. This mirrors what a technician would do during diagnostics.
- Ultimately, this method involves testing how components respond under different conditions. It’s a straightforward way to isolate variables.
I hope this gives you some clarity. For now, I’ll leave it here without adding more unless you share your findings.
Thank you so much for your replies! Appreciate you taking the time to think it through. It's a really strange issue for sure. I also want to clarify one point that further complicates this. The first two times the PC shut off, the breaker hadn't tripped. It's only after those two times that every subsequent shut-down also tripped the breaker. Another minor update: since yesterday afternoon, I've been running the PC with the GPU removed (i.e. just on integrated graphics). No shut-downs yet. I ran a CPU+RAM stress test using OCCT last night and it survived. This doesn't necessarily mean there is anything wrong with the GPU, but it's an interesting data point. Note that this is the first time I'm running the PC since I got it back from the PC tech who tested it for me. He might have reset the BIOS settings, I haven't checked, so that could maybe contribute here. The only other change is that I've made sure to keep almost everything else unplugged from the circuit, and I also replaced the surge protector I was using with a brand new one. I'm going to keep testing the PC without the GPU, maybe by doing a power test on OCCT for a couple of hours. Then, I might try again with the GPU and see if I get another crash, although I'm getting nervous about really messing up the OS with all of these shut-downs. I agree that running the PC on different breakers is also a logical next step. Just need to figure out the logistics of this as I have a roommate and the only other AFCI breakers are in his room and in the kitchen, so not great places to set up shop.