All-Cardboard Case Challenge!

[RTX 3090]

10 hours ago, Dutch_Master said:

PS: contrary to popular beliefs, metal can burn. Search the web for thermite welding videos. Fire extinguishers are classed according to their properties, one is Class D, including metal fires.

Metal fires are a lot harder to start and require much higher temperatures, thus the risk of them setting on fire is at least 5 times lower then the risk of a plastic counterpart setting on fire

[Egg-Roll]

On 7/24/2020 at 5:02 AM, Dutch_Master said:

You do realize you're actually contradicting yourself here? If the surroundings of a metal case are that easy to ignite, a longer duration fire inside the metal case only raises the ignition risk, by a significant margin. Yes, the plastic parts will melt, but they're oil-based products so eventually, they burn. Which-ever way, it leaves even more holes in the metal case, where the fire can get out of it. And ignite the surroundings you've described.

 

PS: contrary to popular beliefs, metal can burn. Search the web for thermite welding videos. Fire extinguishers are classed according to their properties, one is Class D, including metal fires.

Yes, however my point wasn't trying to make a metal case look "fireproof", clearly anything with holes can complete the fire triangle, or more specifically anything can burn even a planet. However in a metal case you are still more likely to have that fire burn itself out than a cardboard case, simply because cardboard has a really nice flammability proposition to a fire with a nice pre packed air fuel mix, something a metal case simply doesn't provide plentifully esp with the new glass fad.

 

So yes everything will burn, however a metal case usually gives you some time (usually way more than needed) to react whereas a cardboard case you could have less than 5 seconds before it becomes out of control, depending where the fire originated at. Building a case out of wood is a smarter choice over cardboard, the "quick burn" excuse is just that, an excuse. A quick burning item usually burns hotter than a slow burn, which is why campers try to keep fires under control and under certain temperatures, to prolong the fire. One could put a mountain of cardboard for a fire however that fire wouldn't last as long and would be too hot to hang around by as say semi wet logs on a good fire base. Because cardboard has a great air fuel mix prepacked once a fire grabs it your reaction time is very limited, so better keep a fire extinguisher right beside your computer, where as a "normal" person could have a fire extinguisher 20 feet away, unplug/turn off and casually walk over and back to put the fire out, assuming it is still active at that point.

 

That's the point, as long as a fire doesn't start cardboard is "ok", and depending on what's around the cardboard case the fire can quickly get out of hand, however if you are that poor to not being able to pick up a case for $50 maybe you shouldn't be getting a "new" computer, but a refurbished/off-lease one which will be a little more than a new case and usually comes with Windows.

 

I'm not trying to underplay the huge fire hazard that you clearly are, yes stuff can burn inside metal cases and yes the case itself can burn, but as pointed out above metal is significantly harder to burn (I also knew this due to my past work, rule of thumb there: KEEP CARDBOARD AWAY FROM EXCESSIVE HEAT BY ANY MEANS, if hadlable material is needed USE WOOD if no other option was around). It's literally fire safety 101, don't open a door if handle is hot, don't open the hood if the fire is in the engine compartment, don't put something that could cause a fire or produce excess heat in a flammable container. Last time I checked cardboard falls under flammability. So while this video was likely fun to do, Linus and gang shouldn't be promoting it in any way, as it is unsafe.

 

You can keep trying to prove me wrong, however at the end of the day for the cost of cardboard needed to make a sturdy case, it wouldn't be much more expensive to just buy a metal case as almost no one has cardboard "hanging around". I've dealt with fires including some really big ones on a open lot, I know what burns great and what doesn't, petroleum products are not really great fire starters or maintainers and are more likely to melt instead of provider proper fuel source, however the small drops/pieces can easily catch fire assuming they touch the fire in some way, for long enough. It's why I'm comfortable not worrying about my 1070 which if overclocked wrong can catch fire, and it's been on almost 24/7 for nearly 4 years 0 issues, however it has overheated a few times to uncomfortable levels (one of which actually cause the computer to crash) to which if in a cardboard box I would actually be worried about catching fire. Also the dryer the wood or cardboard the more flammable it becomes, and since a computer runs warm>hot with no fluids expect at least cardboard to dry out fairly fast, increasing its hazard.