Dell complaints

TedMichaelMorgan · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 7:12 pm Post subject: XPS

What problems have any of you had with XPS units? My mother board melted about two months after the warranty ended. I replaced the mother board. It worked a few minutes and then the system shut down again. I think that the brushes on the motor of the fan cooling the power unit failed. I can accept that, but the technicians at Dell were of no help in indicating the problem. While they fooled around, the mother board melted.

I will avoid Dell products in the future. I really need a computer that can handle my photographic work. Dell failed by selling me a sorry product. I have come to hate the brand.

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Ted Michael Morgan

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:07 pm Post subject:

Actually melted? You may have missed an opportunity. If it melts and turns black, it's a potential safety hazard and they will replace it even out of warranty. All you have to say is you smelled something hot and you're afraid to plug it back in.

Dell fan motors have never had brushes, but they can still fail. If the fan in the power supply stops, that doesn't melt the motherboard. Something else happened.

Anyhow, ultimately you're right. Dell is the worst the Chinese know how to make and get away with it. Let's put it this way: I wouldn't feed it to my dog.
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TedMichaelMorgan · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:05 pm Post subject:

The technicican who evaluated my PC (not a Dell technician) told me that the board metled. It was microscopic melting. He told me that the problem is common with Dell computers.

A friend, who runs network services where I used to work, told me that Dell laptops often fail because of overheating. He is the one who installed the new mother board. The system did work but shut down when I got home. My friend's co-worker had noticed the cooling was not working on my desk top PC. The co-worker was formerly with IBM. Both men know a lot about computers.

I have not taken the PC back to be evaluated a second time. The system shuts down when I boot it. I fear melting the board a second time. I have not taken it back to the service technician. I just got an eMachine to cover basic computer services until I can replace the failed system. I need a good system for work with my photographs.

Dell is a deep disappointment. I wonder why and how they get such great reviews from the magazines. I don''t trust the magazines anymore than I trust Dell.

By the way, Dell refunded some of the money I paid for help by telephone. The technicians were not much help. They never indicated what actually happened. I could never understand the technicians in India. The ones in Texas were condescending.

The darn thing is that I bought three Dell computers. I gave the other two to friends. One is another XPS 400.

Does anyone have any idea why the system failed?

Thanks for the response.

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Ted Michael Morgan

FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1493

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 10:41 am Post subject:

Pointless to speculate on something that specific with the only evidence being the description by an unknown third party. What melted? Solder, @600F? Plating, substantially higher?

I've seen P2 unsolder itself and char the board. That's hardly microscopic though, and it's desktop.

I haven't done laughtops since 2001, and back then they didn't overheat as a rule. Hard to imagine anything 'melting', requiring temperatures that would long since destroyed semiconductors, the things that get hot. Surely they didn't underrate a power trace to the point trace resistance alone melts it?

Or, DID they?
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diashto · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 7:25 pm Post subject:

TedMichaelMorgan · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 10:55 pm Post subject:

So my technician was simply wrong? At any rate, I have an expensive computer that failed after only two years. The computer is a deaktop. It might just be shutting down. The technician is from the leading shop in Baton Rouge. The folks have a great reputation.

I could not see or smell any burning. The system just shuts down.

At any rate (I repeat), I don't have a computer to use for my work on photographs. Thanks for posting.

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Ted Michael Morgan

HellResident · Dances with Hate Joined: 20 Nov 2005 Posts: 123

Ah Dell Machines and overheating. My Fiance 's 610 stated to overheat again for the fourth time since January. This time I got on the phone and 15 minutes later had a system exchange shipping out for "Too hot to Touch" . There is definitely something funky witht he RAM or slots they are in on latitudes. It's not the first time I see the ram getting hot enough to burn whoevers lap they happen to be on. But it happens and often enough we'd see it often on the phones.

HellResident

diashto · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 7:01 am Post subject:

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 10:25 am Post subject:

There is little telling where he picked up the term 'microscopic melting'. I was in the failure analysis lab, where we DO have microscopes, and I never saw it or heard of the term.

Now just cuz he's a technician and I was an engineer, doesn't mean he might not know something I don't. But melting a conductor takes at least 600F. I think you'd smell that, but maybe not.

The power regulator parts can 'microscopically melt' internally, but to find and confirm that takes more equipment than we even had in our lab.

But back to what yours is doing now. If it runs ~30 seconds and shuts down, that sounds like the heatsink isn't mounted correctly. Hard to imagine an experienced technician doing that, since it is something endusers can do with written instructions and usually get right. Have him look at it again, there should be no charge since you already paid and it went bad immediately.

Back to the experienced technicians/engineers, at least once a week testing boards I'd forget P2, or forget to put memory in. Hell, I think once I forgot to put a processor in!
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TedMichaelMorgan · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 11:56 am Post subject:

I think that I assuemd microscopic melting. The point is that the technician reported that parts of the board melted. The technician is from the leading computer company in Baton Rouge. The company has an excellent reputation. I think the fellow knows his business.

I did replace the mother board with one that Dell sent me. It did work for a bit (but not for long) and now I get shut down messages when I boot. I am afraid to keep the thing turned on. I would really like to know if it can be repaired.

When the computer worked, it was a great piece of equipment. I miss it.

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Ted Michael Morgan

paul_dellcc · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 12:04 am Post subject:

Don't be afraid, let it go on fire, that's big issue for Dell.

They will have to compensate you and solve the problem asap before you start legal actions.
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Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 11:33 am Post subject:

Um, YOU replaced the motherboard? Are you certain you got the heatsink back on correctly? Removed all the goo residue from both mating surfaces? Got the plastic tabs firmly engaged?

'Runs 30 seconds and shuts down' sounds an awful lot like loose/misinstalled heatsink.
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TedMichaelMorgan · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:58 am Post subject: I think that we restored the

heatsink properly. We were pretty attentive to it. The machine came back on fine for awhile but failed again the same day.
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Ted Michael Morgan

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:24 am Post subject:

Without hands-on, I'm not going to be able to guess what's going on. This is a desktop, right? (There was some confusion earlier). You should be able to leave your finger on the base of the heatsink while it's running. It shouldn't be over 120F. The point at which it shuts down is 150F, which won't burn you but will make you let go of it pretty quickly. If after it shuts down, you can't touch the heatsink base, then yep it's overheating.

At these times, the fan should be roaring at full speed. If it isn't, the processor isn't experiencing overtemp. If it is, be aware Dell had a series of defective heatsinks, the ones with the vertical copper tubes.

Now, if it shuts down and the base of the heatsink is only comfortably warm, either the cause of the shutdown is something else, OR the processor heat is not getting transferred to the heatsink.
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