PC repair problems

Riffler

A few weeks ago I got fed up with a persistent intermittent fault my PC was experiencing and took it to a local repair shop to get it fixed. The power on the PC would occasionally cut out for no apparent reason; sometimes it had a physical cause - if I knocked the desk, or the PC moved slightly when I plugged a USB cable in.
They ran some tests on the PC, and while they were unable to replicate the fault, they said the RAM and Hard Disk had been damaged by the power losses. I paid for these to be replaced, and, then at the last minute, they said they had also seen a power loss and traced it to a faulty power supply, which they also replaced.
When I got the machine home, it ran fine for a while then started displaying the same intermittent fault as before, so I took it back to the shop. This time, they traced the fault to the CPU fan - its thermal contact was poor and it was occasionally detaching enough for the CPU to overheat rapidly and shut down as a failsafe. So they replaced the CPU fan, and I took the machine home.
Same fault. It's happened 3 times in 3 days, but now it happens more often when I start the machine up, and only once when running. I took it back in, but got the definite impression that they're getting fed up with me - that's understandable, I'm getting fed up too. They tried to claim this is a new fault - if so, IMO it was their work that caused it, and it's reproducible by putting pressure on the CPU fan, suggesting it's certainly in that area - maybe a fault with the CPU, the socket or the mainboard.
So, where do I go from here?
All the repairs have been paid by Credit Card, so what's my position if I claim that all the repairs where pursuant to fixing a specific fault, which remains unfixed - can I get my money back? Are repair services covered by the Consumer Credit Act? The labour is covered by a one-off upfront charge, but the parts are chargeable; presumably if I do ask for my money back they'll want to take the parts back out of the PC. Not really an issue - at this stage if I can get my money back I'll be replacing the PC rather than trying another repair.
The 18-month old PC was, unusually, sold with only a one year warranty - am I likely to get anywhere with a Sale of Goods Act claim against the vendor?

pcombo

Sounds like a motherboard problem as i had this, Or the PSU watt is to low to run all the components and extras.

and it's reproducible by putting pressure

Can you explain abit more?

Normaly if its a problem with say memory or hard drive the BSOD will appear with error codes, Or have beeps when you start the machine.

S0litaire

*STOP*
If you are putting pressure on the FAN then that may be causing the problem to get worse!!
It may be a cracked contact between the CPU and the socket / motherboard.

First thing is to Get on to the makers website take a look at the support forum!

But it sounds like the Motherboard is damaged. (This may have damaged the CPU as well!!)

It might be cheaper and quicker to bite the bullet and get a replacement Motherboard and CPU.

cit_k

Whatever you do, dont use that shop again....

Hammyman

My bet is on the mains lead. The contacts in the plug on the computer end of the mains lead become splayed over time and you can get an intermittent connection. There's an easy way to test this and thats to swap the mains leads over from the monitor to the PC and if the monitor then shows the same problems or the PC ones go away, thats what the issue was and the entire fault finding from the PC shop was nothing but bull-excrement. Sadly there's no laws to stop clueless morons from setting up computer shops and too many !!!!!!!!s who manage to build one seem to think they're capable of doing it for a living. I make a lot of my living sorting out the mess they leave behind.

Drove me mad trying to find that fault the first time I experienced it.

Apples2

I get the feeling this shop will eventually fix your machine...

It'll be like a broom thats had three new heads and a new handle.

junkimunki

what computer is it that you r having the trouble with, please let me know ?