PC Fire!

[Jon]

Hi all,

 

We have around 60 oldish RM PC's around the school.

 

Over the last 3 weeks I have had two that have experienced a burn out of the CDROM sata connection. ... please see attached pics.

 

Anybody else experienced this .. especially with older RM PC's?

 

[chazzy2501]

we unplug internal drives that are not in use. we found that our old kettle leads were burning (iec 13) so we actively change them with each PC refresh. (which we didn't do as its slower)

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by chazzy2501

[3s-gtech]

This is a bit of a known weakness with SATA power connectors. I'd start pulling all of the CD-ROM power connectors (i do this when they arrive, as students only mess with them).

[mavhc]

Had a similar issue with an hp ml115 molex power splitter, stupid part was the psu had enough cables so the power splitter wasn't needed

[DalekSec]

Had an old external HDD, plugged it in to see what was on it.

 

PC wouldnt detect it, saw smoke coming out the top... unplugged gave it some time and opened it up. Yupp lots of burnt marks! Turns out i stuck the wrong DC adapter in!

[Jon]

These RM Pcs are a good few years old now ... lots still around school however.

 

I'm now a bit concerned that I've had two in the last three weeks do exactly the same thing.!

 

The SATA connector to the CDROM is actually a MOLEX to SATA adaptor.

 

I guess the sensible option to now to visit 60 odd PCS and disconnect the CDROM and remove the molex to sata connector.

 

I am interested if any others on here have had similar issues with RM Pc's

[bald_pig]

There are a certain method of manufacturing sata connectors that's cheaper, but can lead to shorts as you've seen. These are most commonly seen on molex to sata adapters, and has lead to the phrase "molex to sata, lose all your data"

[3s-gtech]

Molex to SATA converters are notorious and I would recommend removing them from any PCs in any schools.

[localzuk]

Only fire I've ever experienced in a pc was caused by this exact thing.

 

If you've got any of those converters in your machines, I'd remove them.

[Chaniel]

Molex to SATA, lose all your data.

 

Pretty notorious for faults with those, specifically the moulded cables. The crimped molex to SATA in my experience are OK but the moulded cables are a gamble.

 

I would just disconnect all of the CD drives, I mean, we do that anyway but definitely in your case.

[mavhc]

The only use for CD drives is for the pupils to press the eject button, grab the tray and make the elastic band fall off

[mrstrong]

The only use for CD drives is for the pupils to press the eject button, grab the tray and make the elastic band fall off

 

Where do you put your coffee then ?