Most insane repairs...

[CPUZappa]

I was just wondering what the most insane repair/tech support calls you have ever received are....

Here is my story.

Client: Hello, I need some help. I have a mouse on my computer.
Self: Oh, that is good...Do you seem to be having a problem with that mouse?
Client: Yes...
Self: ...What kind of mouse is it?
Client: Don't know...
Self: Is is a PS/2 or serial mouse?
Client: Neither. There is a rat inside of my machine. Ever since it went in there, my computer doesn't work.!!!!!

Well, come to find out, this mouse brought a quarter and some screws into the computer via an open backplate and shorted the motherboard. Afterward, however, the mouse got caught in the CPU fan and gets whacked to bits.. Very gruesome repair, to say the least.

Any one else have stories like this..??

[Darren Wilson]

Now that is a cracker

I have a friend of mine who called me because his office machine was dead. Found out that mice had been nesting in it and had urinated all over the motherboard!!!! It absolutely stank!!!

[bfrau]

Oh Sh@t, that's funny. At my old job we had a lot of critters running around the office, and I had a modem fry once because a mouse decided to take a leak on it. I guess the mouse was ok, he wasn't in there when I did the repair.

[Wayward Clam]

Had a computer that had sat eight inches deep in sewage for a weekend when someone's basement had the sewer back up into it. Actually managed to save thier files because the hard drive was over the "waterline".

[d0cman]

Originally posted by Darren Wilson:
Now that is a cracker

I have a friend of mine who called me because his office machine was dead. Found out that mice had been nesting in it and had urinated all over the motherboard!!!! It absolutely stank!!!

I had one similar, but the mouse urinated on the power connections. not only shorted out the board, but shorted out the mouse and that stinks!

[CPUZappa]

Originally posted by Wayward Clam:
Had a computer that had sat eight inches deep in sewage for a weekend when someone's basement had the sewer back up into it. Actually managed to save thier files because the hard drive was over the "waterline".

Now that's good....I've had to salvage PC's that have been left out in the rain, or from the nearest corporate dumpster, but never from a septic tank!!!

Speaking of left out in the rain, about 2/3 of those PC usally go up in smoke while your trying to test them...Nothing more embarrassing than a client walking into your store and asking.."Do you smell something burning? "

[Kymera]

A friend of mine had a cat that like to urinate into the PSU's exhaust fan. Two computers, 4 PSU's and a video card later he got rid of his cat. I always thought it was funny the calls I would get . . .
Him : "Hi. Ummmm, K, can you look at something for me?"
Me : "It's not Striker is it?"
Him : (guilty silence)
Me : "Dude, evict the cat."

[corelogik]

thats funny

[Pyroate]

Down here we had a flood in oct of 98. About 4 months later a I saw a system that had been in the flood waters. The owner said that after everything in thier house dried the system had worked fine for a few weeks. you could see the water marks on the side of the box. When opened the system had been filled with mud and after it dried it had hardened into a brick.

[antonye]

Luckily I'm not a repair tech, but one of my friends had a problem with his machine so he decided to open it up for the first time in a couple of years.

The problem was that he was a smoker and his unit sat on the desk in front of the ash-tray.

Opening up the case he found a couple of years worth of household dust along with ash and TAR from the cigarettes had completely coated everywhere inside the machine with a sticky goo - the fans had been doing a really good job of sucking everything inside the case!



Needless to say he ended up replacing the whole machine and now keeps it on the floor away from the ash tray!

[Outcoded]

Know a tech who left his mobile in a PC. It was an onsite upgrade. He'd just finished the job and was about to put the side back on when I rang him, we finished talking. He put the phone down whilst reaching for a case screw whacked the side back on and then started to look for the phone. Ten minutes later he borrows the customer's phone and rings himself, customer says "Mate, the PC s'posed to ring like that?"

And I used to be in business with this guy?

[labtech]

A lady brought in her 486 Packard Hell....errr...Bell, mini tower case wanting a memory upgrade.

I opened the lid and the dirt started pouring out its side. It was over an inch deep with dirt! The modem (bottom slot) was completely invisible. The entire interior was like a moon-scape.

She couldn't understand why we were charging her a extra to clean it out first!

[ZeroCool]

One place i had been working had some PC in a warehouse and once i had to to some upgrade to one of them that was sitting on the floor, it was glue to the floor because of the wax on the floor then once i remove it from there i needed an hammer and a screwdriver to open the case because it was rust close. Was funny doe to see the face of the user checking me hammer is pc open.

[Kyr0n]

Must have been a pretty powerfull cpu fan...

[Captain_Kirk]

Had a desktop system once. After opening up the case, you couldn't see the mainboard, memory, or cpu! There was about 2 inches of dust in the case. And the customer was wondering why the system was freezing up.. Can we say zero cooling on the cpu?!? =o)