Computer Power Cord Melts Down - Catches Fire

Left a computer plugged in over night on our work bench. Came out the next morning to find the power cable had melted down and caught fire over night. Very fortunate and very thankful we didn't burn down the entire shop. That was smoke that you see on the camera.

[mxslick]

To everyone who keeps asking why the breaker didn't trip: ALL standard circuit breakers have a trip time curve, IE how long a specific amount of current flows for (x) amount of time. Arcing faults like this one do generate very high current spikes, but the duration of each arc is too short (pun intended) to activate the trip elements in a standard circuit breaker. Some fuses can blow under conditions like this, but the same rule applies, for a fuse to blow the current has to last long enough for the fuse's link to get hot enough to melt. Odds are a fuse in this situation MIGHT blow about 20% of the time.

The new ARC FAULT breakers have electronics inside which are programmed to react to these very short bursts of current, and trip the breaker as a result. BUT they can, and often do, false trip under "normal" arcing, such as the brushes in an appliance motor, light switches, or unplugging an appliance or lamp that is switched on.

[bwc]

Wow, the smoke alarm sounded like a dial-up modem! Glad things didn't end up worse.

[ItzDeadsecc]

This is my PC trying to Run Minecraft with Ray Tracing.

[kyzokuomc]

Fire alarm so loud it woke up the other pc

[DJdoppIer]

I love how the monitors turn on like they were woken up by the smoke alarm. XD

Jokes aside I'm glad the fire burnt itself out and didn't destroy the whole house.

[bigclivedotcom]

I wonder if that was one of the rogue copper coated aluminium cables.

[ArthurTheEagle]

The PC somehow was still alive after this, you can see a Windows 10 notification pop-up. I wonder what it was saying... "Yeah I'm dead, unplug me and call FD right now"

[DARKNINJA]

Wow I'm watching this late at night trying to sleep but now I'm getting up to turn off my pc

[radon_officially]

The Smoke alarm sounds liek thst because the camera is right next to it, which makes the microphone on the camera sound weird and like a dial up modem, Smoke alarms were designed to be really loud, about 80 to 90 Decibels, which can make microphones glitch because of how loud they are.

[noahthesarcastictd]

Exclusive footage of the makings of the RTX 4090, Nvidia knew it all this time.

[UnenthusiasticPerson]

The smoke alarm sounds like it’s being strangled

[williamvenersky]

I’m so glad!! This is why it is so important that have working fire alarms and sprinkler systems!

[Fearagen]

Must been the early prototype in house test model of the 4090 connector.

[blackbearelectronicswithco]

Why did the breaker not pop open? Those large arcs should draw over 30A and trip the breaker within 5 seconds

[jackaj]

You should have watched the verges build guide to make sure that didn’t catch on fire

[Creeperdude]

This almost happened to me the other night. I got lucky that only the cable's live output slot melted a bit and it started to give out right in front of me. It had been running for 2 days straight before hand too. Turn off your computers before bed, people!

[jeanetmann]

Yes always unplug all your devices before setting on fire is definitely dangerous.

[stumpusMaximus]

They must have been using an incorrect or damaged cable. Nothing catches fire if it’s using the correct draw on it, otherwise all things would be on fire. Shame though. No one wants this in their lives! Also proves the point never to leave these things running overnight unattended

[draxoronxztgs]

What amazes me the most, is how the fuse didn't blew earlier when the cord catched fire with all those sparks and explotions.
That's probably a 120V country where 20-25Amps are used for regular outlets, and 20Amps does cause quite a lot of damage if not properly connected, independently of the voltage.😬
We use half of that with double the voltage in my country, as less current causes less heat in wires and connections, needs less copper and is far more efficient.
Still not fire safe though, but less dangerous in this case.

[cgjake]

apple computers when you open any application classified as a video game: