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Is Your Computer a Fire Hazard Waiting to Happen?
whoppers asks: "I'm sure we've all had our share of computer fans die, but what happens if your box is running while you're at work and several fans go out? My in-laws spare TigerPC AMD K62-400's power supply fan just went out about two hours ago, and the thing was blazing hot. A little poke to the blade, and it started up again, but shouldn't these things be made to stop if the fan stops for any reason? I'm starting to wonder if I should start leaving my box off when I'm away for a few hours. Since it's usually wide open, I don't see too much harm, but these cheap boxes that never get opened and cleaned have to be a hazard right? I can't afford a halon system in my office just yet. The only link I found related to this is here and should a few more people read this, here's the cached version. Does anyone have any thoughts or stories related to this?" The fact that this article appears on July 4th, when most Americans will be lighting fireworks is purely coincidental. That doesn't change the fact that the submittor raises a very good point.
A general rule of computers is: the older they get, the more dusty they are and dust bunnies and their denser cousins are highly flammable. Unless you can keep such machines clean, it' is probably safer to leave them off.
- All computer power supplies have temperature sensors. These are
bona fide safety devices that shut the supply down when it overheats -
regardless of cause. Some of them permanently disable the supply (under
the assumption that once they're triggered, enough damage has been done to
make the supply unsafe for use). Others disable the supply until it is
unplugged and the obstruction is cleared. I have seen dozens of
power supply fans fail on very old, dusty PCs, and not a single one has
caused any sort of smoke or fire.
- Fire suppression systems do not respond to smoke. According to
the current national fire code, the presence of smoke shall not be used to
trigger fire alarms - only local smoke detectors. Why? The cause is
simple: the ratio of burnt toast to uncontrolled fires is about 200:1. The
resultant false alarms would overwhelm fire departments and cause a public
safety nightmare.
- Computer fires almost never leave the case. Nothing inside a
computer is particularly flammable. The threat of dust fires is overrated
- dust is not sufficiently dense to ignite anything else, and when ignited
it burns up within seconds. Computers do not contain much wood, paper, or
any other inflammable substance. Face it folks - metal doesn't burn, and
plastic doesn't do much besides smolder.
Now let's take a look at some actual computer fires that I have witnessed:- My younger brother, a developmentally disabled individual, plugged in a
PCI card backwards and the motherboard burned up. Several members of the
chipset were burned beyond recognition. No water or other measures were
needed to put the fire out; it fizzled on its own within seconds.
- I have seen several laptops overheat because of poor cooling designs
(especially Dells). Typically this means that flames leap out of the
keyboard and melt the LCD. Again, this fire is contained, and unless the
laptop is being operated in a hazardous area, nothing happens.
- One of my "hax0r wannabe" co-workers thought he understood
electrical engineering, and caused a brick transformer to catch fire
because he had wired the + and - sides of the output together to "double
the power." The transformer was destroyed, but since almost all power
strips are flame retardant, nothing else caught on fire.
The truth of the matter is that it is extremely difficult to start a destructive fire by accident. 90% of home fires in the country are caused by stupidity such as kitchen incidents and smoking in bed. There is no reason to suspect that your computer is any more of a hazard than leaving your VCR plugged in all the time.In fact, I just used it for some of the best anal sex I've ever had and replaced the oil in my car. It worked great on both counts. Thanks! P.S. Did you know WD-40 also tastes great on crackers and makes a good hair conditioner? Next time you make pasta, spray in some WD-40 and the noodles won't stick.
-Kevin
Try realizing that the USA is not the center of the universe.
(and yes, I'm an american. Morons like you piss me off.)
No unauthorized use. Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.