OcUK kettle lead goes boom

gahixon1

gahixon1

gahixon1

Associate
Joined
28 Jun 2011
Posts
53
Hi guys. Had no problem with my new build for over a week now, however today I turned the computer on to hear a loud bang, a bad smell and the RCD trip on the house electrics.

I thought the worst and quickly pulled everything out i could thinking my PSU had gone bump. tested in another board with same cable no response. Changed the lead and seems to be no problem what so ever.

How can I make sure no damage has been caused to my computer?

Also, my Dad being an electrician said I should report the kettle lead to Oc, as it may be a bad batch. He said houses not on a modern RCD could cause a major problem.

Any thoughts,

George
 
Sounds unlikely, what model PSU do you have? Any damage to the cable?
It sounds more like the fuse in the plug blew (this surely occurred to the sparky?) indicating that the device tried to draw more current than it should have done! PSU at fault?
 
vertica said:
It sounds more like the fuse in the plug blew (this surely occurred to the sparky?) indicating that the device tried to draw more current than it should have done! PSU at fault?
Click to expand...

This. The only likely point of failure in the cable is the fuse, so I'm willing to bet that the PSU has killed it.
 
Also, what rating was the fuse in the kettle lead.

It's possible it had the wrong fuse for the PSU (IIRC kettle leads are rated to 13amp, but I think some come with fuses rated for the equipment IE 3 or 5 amp).


edit, op posted agian whilst i was typing.
 
gahixon1 said:
Righ guys sparky has tested fuse no issue. He said the cable only had a neutral on his fluke multimeter. Thinks the live and earth is open circuit and shorted.

PSU is LEPA http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-006-LA&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2057

Lepa b-series 750w.

Cable is undamaged.
Click to expand...
Sounds like the internal sheathing has failed between the earth and live and the wires have come into contact with each other. That would certainly blow the RCD back at the dis board.
 
@ Jokester. He completely agrees with you. Do you think there could have been any damage to the PSU or components. Or have I had a lucky escape with the aid of modern electrics.
 
Only way to be sure is to fire it up, but I suspect it will be ok as the RCD should have protected the PSU and the short circuit current would have went direct from the live wire to the earth wire and back out the socket not going near the PC.
 
I'm currently on the computer in question. Boot up time has been about 3 hours all temps fine. I thought the PSU was the unlikely suspect as the reviews were very good.
 
I would certainly give them a call or drop them a note even if it's just to inform them just in case it is a bad batch. I would assume the cable comes with the PSU in the box so they might want to get in touch with the supplier.
 
yes defo ring them and tell them im a sparxs and thats very bad will have done no dmg to your pc though as the earth bad to the consumer unit has a lower resitance than you computer so the fault current will go back to the dis board rather than into your pc im very surprised this didnt blow the fuse also though hehe

but yes please let ocuk know as it could be a bad batch as not every lead will be pat tested its useally a 10-15% of the batch
 
cable was separate to PSU. On bill its a separate item. I'll give them a call tomorrow. If everyone is confident that my components are fine we can call this one a close call and move on.

Cheers guys.
 
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