Exploding Copper

WARNING: THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC COPPER CARNAGE THAT MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR ALL READERS. ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO FEEL EMPATHY FOR METALS.

So, the other day I’m happily laying in bed, and all of a sudden I hear my computer shut down. I think to myself, “That’s odd. Maybe it’s Vista doing some dumb thing again.” So I get up and push the power button again. The system starts up for about half a second and then all of a sudden I hear BZZHZBSHSBZZZBZHSZHZSH(CRACKLE)(CRACKLE) and see a large electrical arc glowy light under the desk.

I rush over to the tower and yank the cord out of the PSU and then carefully go around and unplug the cord from the wall outlet and to my surprise there is a charred black hole in the middle of the power cable!

The cable has obviously been discontinued from service, and my computer has survived unscathed. I think that the cable had been pulled on too hard and was damaged that way. So you with your non-pulled-on power cables should be fine.