I was trying to rig in a temp CD-RW drive to our soon-to-be backup server today when it gave a small whimper and the magic smoke came pouring out. (For those not familiar, the theory on magic smoke: Every electronic device is filled with it, and once it escapes, the device never works again.)
Anyway, I'm thinking this is pretty cool. I've heard of computers giving off smoke, but never drives. So I run it outside to cool off and plug in another one. This time, I get the full show. Sparks, acrid smoke, bright lights in the drive...and I couldn't get it unplugged for nearly a minute.
By this time, of course, I got it. There's an issue with the power supply which would explain many of the troubles we've had getting this particular server up and running. But for a few brief moments, I was (I believe) the only tech in the state who'd let the magic smoke out of an optical drive.
What bit(s) of electronica have you-all managed to let the smoke out of?
i have yet to release it from any computers or peripherals, but i think it escaped from my oatmeal-to-go this morning when i microwaved it in a metallic wrapper. oops.
At some company I was some years ago, I had the opportunity to set up an IBM p-Series mainframe, because no-one else dared to do it and I just grabbed the manuals and set the thing up, and configured the OS (AIX).
On PCs, I've had problems with defective power supplies before, but thank god, nothing got fried. :lol:
On older types of computers, with less sophisticated electronics, I've seen chips getting fried before, however.
This one's a home-brewed 4u monster. Weighs way more than OSHA allows office-workers to lift, has 6T for storage (and an additional 240G for the mirrored operating system. When it finally gets up and running, it's to run Server 03 and backup all the other systems. (Our current backup machine's on it's last legs.)
I shall now retell the sad story of the release of the Magic Smoke from a pair of floppy drives I was working on. Had the case open and the floppy sitting on top of it, power the system and hear a quick spart, followed by a good amount of smoke from the floppy.
Now like any other IT person out there this is a momentious occasion and i must attempt to repeat this.
So I plug in a second floppy drive and power the system on, this time not only do I free the Magic Smoke but I also have earned the release of one of his small little flame brethen. Dont you just love the smell of ozone in your workshop?
It turns out that the spot where I was sitting them had a small pirce of hetal that was sticking up creating another bridge on the circuit board.
On purpose, only a small PC speaker. I was attaching cannibalized computer parts to a UPS battery to see how fast I could get the fans to spin. I tried the speaker, and got this awful groan and then a small puff of smoke.
I also had a hard disk go up. It was resting on another hard drive at the moment since it was a test machine and all the parts were not secured to save time. I still have the other hard disk with the huge black scorch mark. I also brought down a Mac lab by touching a printer. It was winter and they had carpets, so the static was too much.
