Burning Power Supply

[WhoX]

Thought I would share this here.

A few years ago my son was sitting at his desk, working on a school project, when he heard a loud bang. He said it sounded like a large fire cracker. Immediately following the noise, smoke rose out of the back of his desk. When I came into the room small flames were jumping out of the case's side vent and the back of the PC. We quickly hit the breakers, disconnected the PC and tossed it out onto the balcony. After that I began pouring bottled water in every orifice I could find. A few minutes later the fire was out. After examining the singed machine, I discovered that the relatively new power supply had been the source of the fire.

The power supply was a cheap no name PSU that I bought at a local PC store. I should have known better. I'm very thankful nothing else happened.

 

[Geoff]

Wow that is very interesting, just goes to show you should never skimp on a cheap no-name power supply.

It's a shame you poured water on it, as you pretty much guaranteed that all the components inside are now shot, but in the heat of the moment I'm sure there wasn't much else you could do. At least you unplugged it first!

 

[WhoX]

...as you pretty much guaranteed that all the components inside are now shot, but in the heat of the moment I'm sure there wasn't much else you could do. At least you unplugged it first!

Yeah, the only component I managed to save was the hard drive. I baked it in the oven at 60 degrees Celsius for four hours to get rid of any water. The drive worked, so I backed up his data and then tossed it in the garbage. The PC was old, and I was planning on getting him another one anyway.

 

[Renzore101]

Yeah, the only component I managed to save was the hard drive. I baked it in the oven at 60 degrees Celsius for four hours to get rid of any water. The drive worked, so I backed up his data and then tossed it in the garbage. The PC was old, and I was planning on getting him another one anyway.

Incredible to me that the drive worked after you went chef boyardee on it! This makes me happy that I opted for a higher quality 80+ gold PSU versus the questionable quality one that came bundled with my old case.

 

[Okedokey]

Nice post. I have been advocating quality PSU for many years as others have here (e.g. John) but its always good to be reminded

 

[WhoX]

Nice post. I have been advocating quality PSU for many years as others have here (e.g. John) but its always good to be reminded

Fifth photo - I'm assuming a capacitor exploded and caused the fire.

Third photo - I have never seen plastic burn that quickly.

 

[Okedokey]

Thermal runaway, yes, capacitor is probably to blame.