Computer Fire....

Demiurge
Demiurge Posts: 10,874
edited March 2024 in Clubhouse Archives
My MOBO started on fire last night! (I'm at work right now posting this). I went to the parts store and got a new MOBO. I installed everything at work, but have no way of testing it till I get home. Thank God for having a window on the side of my computer so I could see it happening. Could have been a disaster had I not been home. :(

Has anyone else had something like this happen? I'm pretty proficient with computers and have never heard of this, but the guy at the computer store seemed to have heard about it a lot....:eek:
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
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  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 11,056
    edited December 2004
    YIKES !! you didn't ask the cumputer guy why this happens ?
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  • faster100
    faster100 Posts: 6,124
    edited December 2004
    "alot" i wouldnt say that, he wanted the sale.. LOL with no real answer for ya,

    I powered up my at the time bedroom pc, and the power supply popped and caught fire for a sec followed by the stink of burning electronics.....

    bad thing is when a power supply or board go's that bad , it takes the rest with it.. I lost my memory, hard drive and processor.. only thing that still worked was the pci cards and the cd/ floppy drives so good luck..

    ive been building computers for some years now and it happened one time.. so its not normal, but anything can fail
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  • dcarlson
    dcarlson Posts: 1,740
    edited December 2004
    A few weeks ago, I had a friend's system over for a reformat. When I plugged it in all I heard was a LOUD pop, a whole bunch of smoke and an awful smell. I won't take people's computers for free any longer. The thing was caked in dust and I'm guess the move shook up the dust and shorted the power supply.

    My advice is to shut down your computer when not in use. That way there will minimal dust build up.
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  • Mjr7531
    Mjr7531 Posts: 856
    edited December 2004
    Caught on fire? Was the thing over clocked? Are all the heatsinks attached where they should be? I've heard of a computer going up in smoke, but not fire...
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited December 2004
    Dust should not short anything out, unless there are little metal flakes being sucked into the computer.

    You could probably witness a small fire if the caps on the mobo went. When those things go, they actually produce a small amount of hydrogen gas, which can ignite. Usually all you'll get is a *bang*, but sometimes the crack in the cap is small enough that the gas slowly escapes and can appear to be on fire.

    A lot of mobos have been produced with bad caps (see www.badcaps.com for more info)... the only option is to try and replace them yourself (some tricky soldering work) or just replace the board.

    Also, a dead mobo or PSU will not always kill everything else in the system. I have experienced my mobo dying, and killing my PSU, but everything else stayed intact. I have also experience just the mobo dying and everything else being fine. In fact, both situations happened on the very machine I'm typing on :-).

    Demi- make sure that your mobo wasn't still under warranty....
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • Demiurge
    Demiurge Posts: 10,874
    edited December 2004
    Well...


    I got the last parts I needed and finally had the time to work on it and I was able to fully recover my entire system. I just did a fresh install over my existing version of windows. I have ALL of my mp3s, pictures, files, ect...

    I'm very pleased. I'm getting quite good with computers the more I go through these problems. I've been building them for years now and it gets easier to diagnose each time.
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  • sowen010599
    sowen010599 Posts: 343
    edited December 2004
    The "smell" of new electronics, as well as the "smell" of electronics when something blows, is the flame retardant in the circuit boards. Tetrabromobisphenol-A, polybrominated biphenyl, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are all fire retardants used in printed circuit boards. Tetrabromobisphenol-A is the most common, 95% of all printed circuit boards use it.

    While a component may catch fire, as soon as the board gets hot, and the gases from the flame retardant are released, the fire is quickly smothered. That's why you never hear of a computer, monitor, etc. burning someone's house down.
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  • nadams
    nadams Posts: 5,877
    edited December 2004
    Gotta love it when things work out, demi
    Ludicrous gibs!
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  • Demiurge
    Demiurge Posts: 10,874
    edited December 2004
    Originally posted by nadams
    Gotta love it when things work out, demi

    Indeed. Nothing was fried but my mobo, and I realize I'm very, very luck. *wipes sweat from brow* :D
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