Fire

[jasonmac731]

A couple months back, I was up at 1:00 AM in the morning watching TV. All of a sudden I could smell smoke. I look around and the smoke is pouring from the computer case. I never did see flames but I did pull the power cord as soon as I saw this. Is this normal for PSU's to burn up for no reason. Yes...I do leave my computer on overnight. Please don't tell me that I should shut my computer off every night to overt this. It shouldn't happen in the first place. I suspect that it was a build up of dust. Any thoughts?

 

[JohnnyLucky]

There have been reports of power supplies going up in smoke. It happens. One of the regular posters sometimes posts a video clip of a psu going up in smoke.

What make and model power supply do you have?

 

[Burodsx]

Dust could be the culprit (that would require a lot of dust I would think), or perhaps a wire or something went bad.
Just remember to replace the PSU before turning the PC back on if it happens again.

 

[jasonmac731]

I don't recall. It was a standard PSU that came with a case I had bought. I'm not looking to get money back or to sue. I was just curious if this was common and should I take some sort of precautionary measures with my new PSU and system.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

It's usually the barebones, generic, or cheap psu's with low budget components that go up in smoke. You would be better off purchasing a high quality psu with heavy duty components. Some of the better quality brands that have an excellent reputation for high quality, reliability, and stability are Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, and Seasonic. For low wattage psu's the Antec Earthwatts series of psu's are good.

 

[jasonmac731]

I have a quality PSU now (Corsair). I was just curious if I had to worry about my house burning down from a damn PSU.

 

[jsc]

Not now.