"Bernard Peek" wrote in message
...
On 04/06/11 19:54, MuddyMike wrote:
My PC is giving an electrical burning type smell. I have the side off and
can't see anything wrong but should this part be hot its not comfortable
to
keep my finger on it for more than 15 seconds?
http://share.ovi.com/media/Muddymike...uddymike.10805


As Andy has suggested, your nose should help you locate the problem.

It is most likely to be the power supply (that's the metal box where the
power cable comes in.) In most desktop PCs this is a standard component
that you can replace for yourself if you have minimal DIY skills and a
cross-head screwdriver.

If the burning smell is not coming from the PSU then it could be some
part of the motherboard or video card overheating. This could be because
of a stalled cooling fan. Clean the cruft off of all of the fans and
check that they spin. Make sure that the fan in the PSU is running.

Changing a cooling fan is relatively easy to do unless it's the one in
the PSU or the one cooling the CPU. The PSU is a disposable part and I
wouldn't advise trying to repair it. Replacing a fan may be quite easy
but the other components of the PSU will have been thoroughly cooked and
will be likely to fail. Changing the CPU fan is also possible but quite
fiddly and you need to do some studying before attempting it.


I have given it a good clean out, I only noticed all the dust build up next
to the hot thing when I looked at the picture I posted! That was all from/on
the video card. All four fans are working normally, and the smell das died
down, certainly can't pinpoint where it is coming from.

Mike