(Possible) Fire in PSU?

[Sharccc]

I have a Thermaltake TR2-430 Watt PSU, and the other day, during light load the entire pc shut off instantly. No BSOD, nothing, straight to black.

 

I turned it back on, and there was a bright orange flash that came from the direction of the PSU. However, before I shut it off, it still was delivering power to the PC.

 

I gave it a while to cool down (It smelled a bit like burning), turned it back on, and sure enough, it worked just fine. Kept using it, and nothing happened. No shut offs, no flashes, no burning smell. Everything worked fine.

 

So, what happened? My best guess is a bit of dust (There was about 1 months worth of dust build up in a not so well ventilated case) ignited in the PSU, but I don't know for sure.

 

Does anybody know what caused it? Is it safe to keep using? Will it happen again?

 

Thanks in advance

[darkDOS]

It is more likely that the dust caused a short on a component, rather then the dust itself being ignited (remember dust can be conductive).

Even though it is still working, it is best to think of it as now compromised.

Given what could potentially happen (household fire), it is not worth the gamble.

Will it happen again? Maybe no. Is it safe to keep using? Not worth the risk, in my opinion.

[Sharccc]

I cleaned out the case after the flash happened, as well as the entire surrounding area. I also unplug the entire PC at night to be safe. Also, in case this matters, the PSU is top mounted (Old case). How likely is it to start an actual, sustained fire?

[darkDOS]

2 minutes ago, Sharccc said:

How likely is it to start an actual, sustained fire?

Who can say for sure. The only thing that is certain is that it is now more likely to start an actual, sustained fire then it was before.

[Sharccc]

3 minutes ago, darkDOS said:

Who can say for sure. The only thing that is certain is that it is now more likely to start an actual, sustained fire then it was before.

I'll keep this in mind. Thanks for the help! I'd still like to get a second opinion from anybody still reading this though

[Archer42]

One thing that can blow up inside the PSU without breaking it are mains filter caps. Should have let some magic smoke out too if that's the case. Or power switch can be just damaged/dirty and simple (and mostly harmless) spark might have happened. Or something else, without opening it nobody can tell what actually happened. And IMO it is not a good idea to use such PSU without at least inspecting what's inside, what happened and removing/replacing broken components.

 

As for actual fire... can happen, but how likely is to escape metal box PSU case is... I'd say very unlikely but still not completely impossible. And considering how serious the consequences of a fire are - even small probability is not worth the risk.

[Sharccc]

16 minutes ago, Archer42 said:

One thing that can blow up inside the PSU without breaking it are mains filter caps. Should have let some magic smoke out too if that's the case. Or power switch can be just damaged/dirty and simple (and mostly harmless) spark might have happened. Or something else, without opening it nobody can tell what actually happened. And IMO it is not a good idea to use such PSU without at least inspecting what's inside, what happened and removing/replacing broken components.

 

As for actual fire... can happen, but how likely is to escape metal box PSU case is... I'd say very unlikely but still not completely impossible. And considering how serious the consequences of a fire are - even small probability is not worth the risk.

There was no smoke of any kind, even right after the possible fire. (Also bear in mind this is a ~400$ CAD budget shitbox im using temporarily until I can find newer parts in stock for a new build, and I do have a even shittier backup build in the event that this does die on me)

 

Also, I have had an ACTUAL PSU fail before, due to Dell being, well, Dell. That time and this were fairly different. The dell had a loud pop, a bright blue flash, and smoked, this had a sudden, much less bright orange flash, with no noise or smoke.

[SavageNeo]

that is pretty bad psu. also if no BSOD and full black that is likely a psu issue. Should replace that unit. it is not good.