r/pcmasterrace • u/Front_Cookie_1198 • 1d ago

Hardware PSU fails dramatically

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u/Front_Cookie_1198 23h ago edited 23h ago

Aftermath photo.

2.2k

u/Viking4269 23h ago

Somebody forgot the isolation under the pcb?
Been some years since I took apart a psu, but there used to be plastic isolation sheet between the pcb and the metal case.

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u/MiniMaelk04 22h ago

I basically know nothing, but the huge capacitors are the only thing I can imagine burning so intensely and rapidly. Reversed polarity perhaps?

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u/shakygator 22h ago

I think he means without that isolation sheet the board is connected directly to the casing and shorted out. Of course, that should have been grounded too so I'm not sure.

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u/CyonHal 21h ago

If it shorted on the 12V side it can pull a ton of amps (it says 60 amps max at 12V) and melt through the casing and start fires pretty easily without tripping a breaker.

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u/SoulWager 19h ago

Not this time. You can hear the mains frequency in the arc, and the only output that should be powered is 5vsb.

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u/7orque 17h ago

So you’re saying this is on the input stage prior to the rectifiers?

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u/SoulWager 16h ago

Probably. I think if this was after the rectifier, the rectifier would have acted like a fuse, getting you a single loud pop instead of a few seconds of arcing.

It's definitely somewhere on the primary side though.

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u/ReaperAteMyPrawnsuit 8h ago

This thread is too electrical smart for me to understand what’s going on

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u/4236W 8h ago

Something between the power switch and the thing that makes the wall power into PC power wasn't made right, and wall power got somewhere it shouldn't go

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u/SoulWager 8h ago edited 8h ago

What happened is pretty simple, mains wires poked through the board, weren't trimmed after soldering, weren't blocked by an insulating sheet, and touched the case: https://i.imgur.com/SLsQmmu.gif

The discussion above is about why other possible failure modes are unlikely. After getting on to the board, the power goes through some filtering and protection circuitry, then through a rectifier(4 diodes in a single package) that turns the high voltage AC into high voltage DC. Then the high voltage DC gets chopped up into much higher frequency AC, before going through a transformer to drop it down to low voltage high frequency AC. This then gets rectified to 12v DC before getting converted to the other voltages. Usually anyway, there are other ways to design a power supply, and there will be a separate similar power supply just for 5vsb(this is always on, so your computer can turn itself on when you press the power button).

Anyway, back to the rectifier, semiconductors often have relatively thin bond wires connecting the silicon die to the rest of the package, that would get vaporized in a few milliseconds if you tried to push this much current through them. This board also has an actual fuse, but the short happened before the power got that far.

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u/SoulWager 8h ago

I found a review with PCB photos, the burn holes are right under where the mains enters the board. Probably wasn't trimmed after soldering, and missing insulation sheet between pcb and case.

https://i.imgur.com/SLsQmmu.gif

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u/Inaniae 18h ago

Correct.

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u/Stormagedd0nDarkLord 21h ago

Perhaps not a good idea grabbing it with his bare hands then???

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u/Viking4269 21h ago

Nope, and bare feet for maximum grounding...

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u/1c3Type 19h ago

The shortest path to ground is still via the psu's cable

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u/Viking4269 19h ago

Judging by the two holes burned in the case under the mains plug. I think there is a good chance that there was no PE connection and the case was live at 220V at least some of the time doing this. The guy was lucky he "mostly" only touched it after the arc had carved an isolation clearance.

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u/Enlight1Oment 20h ago

I feel like the power outlet itself individually should have an on off switch for something used as a test bed

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u/Suspicious_Dingo_426 18h ago

Yeah, pretty much. That's also got to be one of the cheapest of the cheap garbage PSUs. No padding in the box? Not wrapped in anything? There's no way I would have plugged that fire hazard in.

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u/snypre_fu_reddit 8h ago

This wasn't a new PSU, this was an RMA return from a customer. So a customer packed it.

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u/ccarlyon 5090FE | 9800X3D | 64GB DDR5 | PCMR Limited Edition Lian Li O11 17h ago

Typical British Type-G socket W.

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u/Iv4ldir 14h ago

This... More safe to just inplug/cur at source instead of this. And also maybe plug in then turn on. Not pluging while live...

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u/marr 20h ago

Might be nice to have a setup where you can quickly reach the power outlet to unplug / switch off at that end.

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u/Thraxx01 20h ago

Electricity has already found a path that it really likes to ground, won't zap you

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 22h ago edited 22h ago

This PSU turned into a cheap momentary welding machine, and modern inverter welders use capacitors to do the same thing. My guess is 12V rail shorted @ 100-150A, which isn't too far off from welding machine parameters. It's why their circuit breaker didn't trip either, probably still being under 1800W or less from the wall.

They should be turning the IEC cable on from a switch, not plugging it in live from the unit. They should have a circuit-breaker and GFCI inline, and a dim-bulb tester, or at least variac they can slowly dial up.

Also possible this was plugged into a 220V line while the little red switch was set to 110V but I'm not sure if those typically catastrophically fail like this.

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u/Personal_Winter6863 21h ago

Modern PSUs no longer have the little red switch.

They just automatically determine what they are given and run with it.

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u/Independent-Bug-9352 21h ago

No kidding! I just checked my PSU which is even 8-years-old and you're right, no more switch. Older PSU I have running in another still has it!

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u/RealityOk9823 20h ago

Was watching a video the other day and the guy was like "I don't trust these PSUs with a 110/220 switch, they're almost always low quality" and I was like "WTF they all have that". Start looking around and, uh, yeah. Well then.

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u/OkChocolate3501 19h ago

My psus are so old that they never got the switch. I missed an entire gen of nonsense lol.

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u/Personal_Winter6863 21h ago

Haha I also had to run and go check when I learned about this

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u/Alarming-Stomach3902 Linux Mint | Ryzen 7 5800x | 9070 xt | 3060 ti | 32GB 17h ago

They have to be very old at this point, I have a 15+ year old PSU and it doesn’t have it.

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u/impala_haven 21h ago

By usuing a welder as an example, i now understand how pc's work just a tad more. Electricity is crazy

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u/quarantinedbiker 21h ago

Guy has the Vietnamese flag on his shirt, isn't speaking English, and that PSU looks like it says 180-240VAC right next to the charred bit. I can't find a single reason to believe any of this would be following any North American electrical norms.

GFCI is awesome (I still can't believe whole-house GFCI is not a thing in NA) but it would only have tripped if the case was actually grounded, however I'm not particularly inclined to trust the engineering on that model which is at the very least missing an internal fuse or five. Depending on the type of fault it may not have faulted through the case anyway (at least until the arc reached it)?

Also breakers behave differently depending on the kind of overload, a 100 A load on a 16 A breaker would trip immediately (something to do with the strong magnetic field resulting from a dead short) but a 20 A load on a 16 A breaker might take a while to trip (because it relies on temperature). Which means on a 16/20A 220V circuit you could feasibly pull over 5 kW for a little while. That's more than enough for sustained fireworks.

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u/zepsutyKalafiorek 20h ago

As someone who plugged very cheap PSU with 110/220V switch.

It sparked and I could smell burn but nothing that catastrophic. It could be some combination of problems too btw.

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u/kombucha711 20h ago

This guy electrons

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u/Gloomy_State_6919 22h ago

In my experience reverse polarity goes without flames.

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u/-prime8 20h ago

And a louder pop.

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u/Complete-Tangelo1532 21h ago

I am thinking something contacted where it shouldn't have, and caused the fire

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u/hardboard 21h ago

I would imagine if the capacitor(s) were reversed polarity, it would go bang, rather than catch fire?

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u/Dopest_Bogey 20h ago

Yeah this was what I thought too and ive seen it happen with excitation controllers where I used to work. Hand place line puts one backwards, inspection misses it, tester puts it into a fixture and BOOM. and the caps we used are the size of a soda can. 

If youre lucky they bust a small hole and spew flames and smoke, if youre unlucky they build pressure and explode like a grenade. 

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u/nikola_tesler 19h ago

caps pop, they don’t really burn like that

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u/Inaniae 18h ago

I've blown up my fair share of capacitors ant it's nearly instant. This sounded like arcing.

Story - when I was in school for electronics I was building a circuit in the lab, probably another 30 students in there. Unbeknownst to me, I had installed a cap with reverse polarity. I plugged in my project and BAM! It sounded like a gunshot. Everyone obviously turned around and was staring at me. I was already embarrassed but one of my professors called everyone in the lab over and they all crowded around me. He said it was a good learning experience for everyone to smell it and remember the smell. I was mortified and will never forget.

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u/Panzerv2003 R7 7800X3D | 3070oc 8GB | 2x16GB DDR5 6000MHz 12h ago

I don't think the caps blew here, it looks like a short though the case considering how it literally melted a hole through it setting everything around on fire

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u/okarox 12h ago

There is no reversed polarity in AC.

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u/Viking4269 22h ago

No, this looks like two pins (component legs or wires) on the underside of the pcb both touched the metal case and shorted. Causing an electric arc hot enough to melt holes in the case.

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u/SanduTiTa 19h ago

i basically know nothing, but * starts reciting the theory of quantum physics *

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u/QuandariousDingle54 18h ago

Capacitors would go out in a bang. Also I dont think the capacitors in a psu are big enough to do THAT

Probably a short, those were some intense arcs

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u/whymeimbusysleeping 17h ago

No, I've blown capacitors in the old days by using 240v instead of 120v. They just pop, not much of a spark, and spray their contents. I repaired the psu by changing the caps, luckily there was no other damage

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u/ButterscotchOk7776 17h ago

Most likely he pluged the psu to 230v and forgot to switch it to 230v form the 110v

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u/Questioning-Zyxxel 15h ago

The factory would test each supply before shipping. That little QA sticker/stamp and a number.

So not likely a reversed capacitor.

But in case they did miss to mount the isolating plastic sheet between PCB and metal, then it could have enough isolation distance to pass the factory test. But a tiny bump on the metal, or a changed orientation of the PSU could make the pins of some components make contact with the metal. And as soon as the sparks have started, you have an ionized air channel opened. So it will keep going until the power is disconnected.

I would not have been confortable touching that PCB - so best is if the power can be disconnected from the other side of the cable. That should be standard rigging when testing things.

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u/LeoCvier 14h ago

If there where reversed there only would explode and not burn

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u/shekurika 13h ago

capacitors with reversed polarity explode but dont burn in my experience. Was always fun on the testing floor when a pcb with a reversed capacitor was being tested and shocked everyone with a loud bang :D

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u/HighChinaman 13h ago

Reversed polarity

Is that possible without a sonic screwdriver?

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u/Welshedragon7 12h ago

This is a capacitor failing but reverse polarity doesn't just happen on its own, only if the bridge rectifier failed which is unlikely unless the NTC thermistor has failed or is not present, or there was a short circuit as suggested

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u/GhettoDuk 8h ago

The metal case is what burned from arcing on the AC side. There is a reason that slots are cut in power supply PCBs to create a gap between the AC and DC sides, and why there is a sheet of insulating plastic beneath the board. If someone forgets to clip the wrong lead, it can poke through the insulating sheet beneath it and make contact with the grounded case. And once you get an arc going, it can be hard to stop as it generates plasma that helps sustain it over larger gaps.

If you want to prevent this, you need combination AFCI/GFCI (Arc Fault/Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) breaker on that circuit*. With good protection to stop the damage, that PS might have been salvageable once the shorting lead was clipped and insulation repaired.

* This does appear to be arcing to ground which a GFCI would stop, but if it was arcing to neutral or there was a short between ground and neutral, there would be no ground fault to interrupt and a 20 amp breaker can sustain a surprising amount of arcing comfortably. (Breakers trip on sustained loads. An AC compressor can draw more than 120 amps of inrush current through a 60 amp breaker when starting up.)

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u/Inevitable-Ad6647 22h ago edited 22h ago

Maybe but it should be fine without that since there should be a gap and you need WAY above any voltages found in a PSU to jump the gap and sustain a circuit. So maybe the protector was there but pierced by something. Not to mention the fuse. Basically you need multiple problems all coming together. Maybe reversed polarity on a cap but that usually just a quick boom not to mention very difficult to get missed in even the most basic qc so I'd say unlikely.

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u/Viking4269 21h ago edited 21h ago

Yes sure, more than one thing was wrong. Bad quality control all around. Missing insulation and protruding pins/legs/wires. Bad or missing over current protection. There was likely a tiny gap when it left the factory, and things moved doing shipping.
Judging from the current needed to melt the case the short was probably on the 12V side, would explain why the mains fuse didn't blow.

Edit: looking at it again, and it just gets worse. The holes looks to be near the mains input, so not sure about it being a 12V short. But that is a lot of current without the mains fuse blowing.

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u/Batrall 22h ago

Could be or the failure point was on the PCB and the heat just worked itself through.

Hard to say with just the exterior, PCB shots would be interesting.

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u/imindebt2026 21h ago

That still is a thing.

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u/Kirianfx 21h ago

Probably, if you give it a good look, it appear it happened on the mains side.
So yeah, it was a mains short between the PCB and the case.

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u/RosyBunnyCloud 19h ago

No insulation sheet in a PSU is just high voltage caps waiting to arc against the metal case total hand ware execution

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u/MilkFickle Ryzen 7 5700X|Radeon RX 6700XT|32GB DDR4|1TB NVMe 18h ago

Even so, the solder joints shouldn't be touching the case.

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u/whymeimbusysleeping 17h ago

Probably, that was a nasty short and it didn't seem to trip the breaker. Maybe they have no breaker and just a fuse they replaced with a screwdriver, because they kept blowing

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u/Status-Warthog4680 8h ago

I am going to have to concur. I found a full breakdown of the supply from a testing perspective and they indeed show that there is an isolation sheet under the board. And that location in particular is where the large cap and several switching mosfets reside. The bridge rectifier is closer to the edge as well as the transformer. So I'm gonna say you called this. Might survive if the leads are clipped good and short and there are standoffs, but must have made contact.

My initial thought was that it was budget enough to have a voltage switch and it was cocked to 110V and got 220V and sent the old school doubler through the roof, but you called it.

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u/Privateer_Lev_Arris 20h ago

Yep. It's either that or something else.

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u/StaticSystemShock 17h ago

That or polarized capacitor installed the wrong way.

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u/Ameldur93 16h ago

True, happened on a Corsair PSU once because of that. It was freshly bought from Amazon, so they replaced it with a brand new one

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u/is-this-a-nick 14h ago

But shouldn't it have caused the GFIs to trigger in milliseconds? Its clearly a fault to ground, it should never have sparked that long? Plus the lights stayed on tin the room...

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u/3GWork 14h ago

Best guess is the PSU was set to 120v input and he's in Europe and plugged it into a 230v socket.

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u/Technic_Masters 13h ago

Could be that one of the Class X1 or Y1 caps (live to neutral or live to ground) shorted, thats why it took a few seconds, but with that much damage to the underside, not quite sure.

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u/mstpguy 3h ago

since I took apart a psu 

ಠ_ಠ 

I'm gonna assume you are someone who knows what s/he is doing. I felt nervous just reading that

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u/Serious_Damage1872 3h ago

the calm detective energy of diagnosing a small explosion like it's a minor parking violation

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u/Atuday 23h ago

Gotta say, great reaction time. Personally I'd have gone for circuit breaker and fire extinguisher. Safer option. But I've had that drilled into me and never had to put the training into practice so I can't say for certain if I would have done different.

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u/Ban-Circumcision-Now 22h ago

He could also have unplugged from the wall and not the end where the fire is

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u/PaltryPanda 22h ago

It looks like the plug is under the desk, with a cutout on the top of the desk for the cable to go through.

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u/muad_did 22h ago

In Europe, it's normal to have a row of sockets in front of the desk, with their switches and fuses/circuit breakers, to prevent a short circuit in one workstation from affecting the others. It seems very strange to me to test anything electronic with the socket under the desk...

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u/shawster 20h ago

Yeah, that's the way to do it. Surge protectors on the desk with switches that can be flipped to de-energize them.

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u/Disgusting_Slime666 18h ago

You're correct, that's the proper way to do things.

We build control/automation panels and our test benches work the same way.

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u/mtmttuan 17h ago

This looks like a store where most of the time products are either failed completely or working just fine so they're likely just use whatever looks good.

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u/Complete-Tangelo1532 21h ago

That was my first thought as well, ballsy move but the risk paid off I guess

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u/xchoo 22h ago

Trace where the cable goes... It goes into the cable tray in the desk. It was 100% faster to unplug it from the PSU than from inside the cable tray.

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u/notislant 22h ago

Was my first throught but who knows what fucky cable situation is going on under the bench. The outlets could be wedged behind a part of the desk you can't easily access.

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u/arstin 21h ago

He could have if they had been safety-minded enough to have that outlet readily accessible.

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u/Ur_mum 21h ago

Sure. But we tend to freak out and tunnel vision. I think he did great, I’d be happy if I reacted that way.

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u/shawster 20h ago

This would have been the thing to do, he's lucky that the case didn't get shorted to the mains. Not like I would have been thinking clearly in this situation, either, though.

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u/Pseudochthonic 22h ago

"Oh, why's it done that?"

reads label

Made in Britain

"Ahhh!"

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u/willstr1 22h ago

Put it over there with the rest of the fire

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u/banananuhhh 22h ago

That's 0118 999 881 999 119 725 … 3

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u/ccarlyon 5090FE | 9800X3D | 64GB DDR5 | PCMR Limited Edition Lian Li O11 17h ago

Four!! I mean… Five!! I mean… Fire!!!

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u/Pixxyeb 21h ago

I've sent an email about it.

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u/grantrules Debian Sid - Ryzen 2600/1660 super/72tb + 5600x/7800xt 21h ago

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to inform you of a fire that has broken out on the premises of 123 Cavendon Road.

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u/WheresYaWheelieBin 22h ago

Shoulda saved all that blue smoke for his Lucas Replacement Wiring Harness Smoke kit

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u/Io5k1ll 19h ago

Dejame adivinar... Los informaticos...

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u/sorrow_anthropology 19h ago

By the prince of darkness himself, Lucas.

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u/Antares-Trending 14h ago

It says "made in china" on the unit...

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u/iVirtualZero 12h ago

It says Made in China.

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u/Pseudochthonic 11h ago

It's a reference to The IT Crowd. There's a link to the relevant clip in another response of mine here.

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u/IStarretMyCalipers 7h ago

Jeremy Clarkson, is that you?

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u/ArseBurner 22h ago

Breaker might be far away and inside an electrical box you have to get to. I'd have tried to unplug from the socket side.

Also why switched outlets are pretty GOATed.

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u/TransitionNo8091 22h ago

In a workshop it shouldn’t be far away

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u/DedTV 19h ago

Even with some training, instinct works faster than reason when faced with the unexpected.

Id likely have done the same as him, and then 10 seconds later berated myself for not going for the circuit breaker.

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u/is-this-a-nick 14h ago

Frankly, its scary that the ground fault breaker didn't activate in the first 10 milliseconds. NOt even the light went out when it literally was arcing to the case metal.

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u/knifesk 8h ago

Yeah, I'd probably had done the same, but grabbing some electrical appliance that just caught fire is probably a shortcut to being electrocuted.. breaker and extinguisher should be the go to

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u/Dogekaliber 22h ago

BOOM! Steak Burning! What do you do!?

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u/Aisuhokke 18h ago

Yeah crazy high confidence there. Nice work OP!

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u/SoulWager 22h ago

You need to call an electrician, breaker should have tripped with a direct short to the case like that.

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u/Phantom95 22h ago

A direct short would have arced liked crazy as soon as the cord was plugged into the socket.

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u/SoulWager 22h ago

There's a physical power switch, and it arced as soon as he turned that on.

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u/Phantom95 22h ago

Ahhh, I missed that. Obviously the power switch was intended to act as the overcurrent protection device in this case. /S

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u/house343 22h ago

Probably a capacitor failing and venting. Doesn't consume a whole lot of current but makes a big scene. More likely than a breaker that doesn't open on overload. 

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u/SoulWager 22h ago

Dude, look at the photo. it melted through the steel case. That's a short.

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u/fatmanstan123 21h ago

If the short consumes less current than the breaker then it won't trip. Melted steel doesn't answer that and shouldn't be used as an assumption about current draw. Soldering irons melt shit all day with a few hundred watts.

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u/SoulWager 21h ago

Having used an arc welder, you don't melt steel like that with 20 amps.

The fact that the heat coupled into the case in the few seconds the power was on means the short was mains to case. You can hear the mains frequency on the arc. This means there was enough power in the arc that the plasma stayed conductive through the zero crossing.

If the breaker isn't defective, it's sized incorrectly for the circuit.

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u/Viking4269 21h ago

Thanks, I missed the mains noise. That sure looks like a lot current without the mains breaker tripping.
First thought it was a short on the 12V secondary side, but looking at it again the holes are near the mains input, probably shorted before the pcb mounted fuse.

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u/SoulWager 21h ago

I could see a short on the main 12v rail getting violent, but the only output that should be on at this point would be 5vsb.

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u/Kiwsi i5 2500K Msi Gtx 660Ti 16Ggb Ram 21h ago

It shorted tho, should most likely trip the breaker unless some inner wires after the transformer faulted and did not infact short but ower flowed with current and couldn’t handle the stress.

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u/EndIsrael 22h ago

If it were a direct short it would have, but this was definitely arcing, which adds resistance. As long as there's less than 20 amps in the arc, it won't trip.

Going forward though, OP should probably install an AFCI/GFCI combo breaker or outlet.

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u/SoulWager 22h ago

It burned through the steel case. The only likely scenario where that happens is if there was mains voltage in contact with the steel case. i.e. a short.

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u/Batrall 22h ago edited 22h ago

We don't know, breakers aren't there to protect the appliances, they protect the wiring up the appliance. We don't know if enough current was there to drip a breaker. Appliances have their own fuses for that. Or the breaker did drip, as a workbench should have it's own.

We don't know if it was a direct short, could also be some component burning.

But, you are right. Asking for a professional inspection is always the right decision.

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u/SoulWager 22h ago

We do know, because we can see the holes melted in the steel case.

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u/mister_peeberz 22h ago

thatll buff out

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u/Electrical_Name_5434 20h ago

Just need some carnauba wax

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u/Soju-Boss 13h ago

Still good, box it up

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u/bacan9 23h ago

So what was the cause? Voltage selector? Have had many PSUs fail. But none like this, with flames and sparks.

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u/Common_Reporter_2567 22h ago

It's cool that they drew an owl on it.

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u/ThaiJohnnyDepp i7 9700K | 2070S (Gigabyte Windforce 3X) 5h ago

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u/Meatmyknight 22h ago

Is it a good brand ?

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u/bbbbbbbirdistheword 21h ago

"megamax", seems to only be a thing in vietnam

edit yep vietnamese flag on the guys shirt

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u/ScytheNoire 21h ago

No way that China PSU actually has passed those certifications.

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u/nimbusconflict 21h ago

"For sale as is, barely used. Best Offer."

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u/Calm_Ad308 21h ago

I used to work at Fry’s Electronics at their service counter and they also wanted that nice clean workstation look and the first thing I did as supervisor was to take the Corporate guy and ask him to plug in a NuPower PSU.

It did the exact thing yours did and while he was frantically screaming I calmly asked him to unplug it and after many expletives later I crawled under the desk to switch off the power strip.

He still said they wanted the clean counter look and to just black list the PSU. And then another corporate guy who negotiated vendor deals complained why we weren’t performing service on NuPower PSU’s and round and round the corporate ladder it went

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u/GordonsTheRobot 21h ago

"made in Britain"

https://giphy.com/gifs/FspLvJQlQACXu

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u/Smyek 10h ago

it says "made in china" on the photo. Am I blind or missing the joke? (both?)

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u/GordonsTheRobot 8h ago

It's the episode where the stress detector and fire extinguisher both don't work and both say "made in Britain" on them

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u/Big-Tangerine158 22h ago

Auto switching voltage selector, or manual?

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u/Boxman90 22h ago

Your reflex should not be "let me grab that metal case that's being electrocuted". You got saved by a few microns of paint there.

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u/BuffooneryAccord 22h ago

This is why you plug it in before you power it on

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u/DisorderlyAqueduct 22h ago

unplug from the outlet next time!
much safer than trying to handle a flaming box with serious electrical components inside 😭

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u/SickXigma 21h ago

Is it okay

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u/jamesph777 21h ago

How’s your hand?

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u/Lucius-Halthier 21h ago

Power supply be like:

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u/CranberryMaterial218 21h ago

You got lucky with your hand, be more careful

1

u/N3GR31R05 21h ago

Ligou no 440v?

1

u/opinionofone1984 21h ago

Is this before or after they posted it on EBay marked at lightly used.

1

u/PartFew3942 21h ago

The explosion is MEGA

1

u/Mother-Attention2600 21h ago

That quick to melt the metal. Are your hands burnt or did the arch flash hurt your eyes? An hvac guy I know was temporarily blind from one.

1

u/Aw_geez_Rick 21h ago

Guy on his phone in the background posting to all the social media platforms:

"You won't believe what Roger just did!!"

1

u/FearlessGround3155 21h ago

Edit the original post caption, add brand name

1

u/PigletNew9289 20h ago

Yikes, that's rough. I had a PSU blow on me too, took out my whole rig, it was such a pain trying to replace everything.

1

u/Resiideent 20h ago

hehe the burn mark kinda looks like a parrot =3

1

u/CarlSPC1 20h ago

Me and my cat watching this video left the phone and ran away 😱 😂

1

u/silentdeath3012 20h ago

Was that thing new? I have never seen shit happen before jesus

1

u/zzen11223344 20h ago

Smoke test 😄

1

u/Sad-Excitement9295 20h ago

Looks defective ;]

1

u/bttech05 20h ago

What brand even is that lol

1

u/MagicalTaint 19h ago

Ahh the Megamelt 750.

1

u/Ok_Violinist_5673 19h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/3d0PahT093UPe

somehoe reminds me of her I mean thisband... RIP PSU

1

u/davidvin2387 18h ago

I think it’s faulty my guy.

1

u/Virtual_Bug_723 18h ago

Homie don't touch the metal part when the rubber tail is plugged into the wall and the metal part is exploding

1

u/MagicRabbitByte 18h ago

Notice the fake CE logo. This PSU was never approved for anything besides transfering your money to "their" pockets.

1

u/Moist_Plankton7973 17h ago

wear your shoes or slippers, thats one in a million ways to die,

1

u/T0biasCZE PC MasterRace | dumbass that bought Sonic motherboard 17h ago

Powersupply is the only thing you should never cheapen out on

1

u/flamixin 17h ago

It’s that the Mega\hole 50?

1

u/qwook 16h ago

xin chào bạn, mình thấy được cái cơ ở trên áo của bạn 🫡

1

u/koolaidismything 16h ago

You should have that plug be a quick disconnect from the opposite end of this happens again.

1

u/Pigosaurusmate 16h ago

You wiggled that cable in like it owed you money tho.

1

u/shimmy_ow 16h ago

Was it "megadeath" brand? Glad you are safe

1

u/Savings-Mud2808 16h ago

Switch-mode power supplies are extremely dangerous! Never mess with an electrically compromised unit unless you wear safety glasses and have an extinguisher and fire blanket close by. Almost 1000 Watts of TPD in a small package is an engineering feat and the reason why they fail. The linear power supply equivalent would be large, heavy, and very hot. Look at photos of old telecom power supplies, and you'll see what I mean.

Just replace and properly dispose of the e-waste unit. The copper inside is worth a lot today. Harvest the copper and get paid at a scrap yard for it. Properly discharge all high-voltage output capacitors first!!!

I hope that helps.

1

u/Steuv1871 14h ago

Wow ! Where you injured ? Nice reflexes though

1

u/64590949354397548569 13h ago

OP, put a switch on the desk so that you can kill the power next time. You would have been electrocuted if the main shorted to the case.

1

u/Slow-Excitement-3328 10h ago

put it in the rice

1

u/DiscipleOfYeshua 10h ago

Excellent reaction. Good job.

1

u/Alloutofchewinggum 9h ago

I guess it's not getting the "80 Gold" rating...

2

u/Front_Cookie_1198 8h ago

This model have cybernetics silver, but I wouldn't trust their QC process to actually use it

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1

u/BarrelRider621 8h ago

This will forever be a testimony as to why you check your PSU before install. Your good practices saved a client from more damage. Good job handling the emergency OP.

1

u/ThatOldCow 7h ago

Did you sold in Facebook market as "slightly used"?

1

u/PVTSprinkles 7h ago

the brand?

1

u/Spare-Collection8634 7h ago

is this why megaman series is gone now?

1

u/winwin7373 6h ago

That’s what my brain looks like after math as well.

1

u/Danylo_Reddit 5h ago

Fake CE logo never disappoints

1

u/Mastiff_Alpha 3h ago

Oh man, what caused this failure?

1

u/CJnella91 PC Master Race Ryzen 5 5700x3d, RTX 4070, 32Gb@3200Mhz 3h ago

What were you doing there, do you test them or something, work for a return department?

1

u/AsterionVT 2h ago

That looks like gunshots

1

u/Far_Process_8760 1h ago

I think so too

1

u/2raysdiver 13700K 4070Ti 16m ago

Zalman MegaMax models are rated "E" and "F" on the PSU tier list. So really, we should not be surprised.

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