Info EVGA 850W PSU Caught Fire - PSU Randomly Ignites!

[UrNzWy]

You know what's fun? Waking up to a house full of smoke, fire alarms going off and finding your desktop engulfed in flames..



That was a reality I never even though about until last Friday...



Que 5:45AM in the morning. We live on a busy alley way where there are always garbage trucks, construction, etc.. So when I heard a beeping, I didn't think twice about it just being a truck in the alley way and not the smoke alarm in my office. Luckily my Fiancee was was more alert than I was at the time and jumped out of bed. By the time she got to the source and yelled back to me, the second Nest Protect fire alarm in the living room was going off saying "Head's up, there's smoke in the living room". This catapulted me out of bed to run that way only to come into my office and see what looked like a camp fire inside my computer case.. I immediatly told her to grab the fire extinguisher and started removing the glass cover off the front of the case. Upon opening, like any fire.. It ignited even more but I was ready. After a couple douses with the extinguisher, the fire was out.. But the smoke was so bad I couldn't even see where the door was anymore. I got back out of the room only after sucking in a bit of fumes that I could now feel in my lungs. Fire alarms still screaming at us.



I trekked back into the office holding my breath to turn on a whole house exhaust fan I have in the window. Luckily I have one of these or the burnt plastic smell would have lingered forever.. Within 15 minutes, the smoke had cleared but the burnt plastic smell still lingers as I type this a week later.



I work with electronics, wiring, controllers, etc.. So the technical side portion of me kicked in. It's time to inventory what was damaged and what was salvageable. Given this is my personal / work computer, this cannot stay down long...



I dissembled the entire thing, removed parts that were potentially salvageable in one pile and the items that were clearly damaged in another. When it came down to it..



EVGA 850W P2 - Toast and was where the fire started

Motherbaord - Toast

GTX 1070 Ti - Toast

Wiring - ALL toast



My first chat was to NZXT as I have their RGB contoller, Kraken X62 CPU cooler, Fans and an NZXT case with associated wiring. Although the case was a bit charred. I am extremely handy and have no problems refinishing the case. Their customer service was AMAZING. They didn't even ask for receipts.. Just asked what I had and what I needed. ALL WIRING THEY SENT FOR FREE. I didn't even have to pay shipping. Now THAT is service. Especially since I told them it was 100% the EVGA power supply that caused the fire.



Next e-mail was to EVGA. They got back to me three hours later, but as it was the wekeend.. Not much they could do with without upper management approval. I told the tech "I am going to order a new motherboard and a new power supply (told him about NZXT above) because I have to get this PC back up and running, especially since I don't know what's good and what's bad". His reply was "Not a problem, we will likely reimburse you given this as this is the worst faulty PSU I have ever seen".



Simple right? WRONG.



Monday rolls around.. No word. OK cool.. Tuesday rolls around. "Still waiting on management".



Wednesday rolls around "Still waiting on management re-guarding the Motherboard reimbursement but let's go ahead and RMA the PSU and Graphics card. I need a credit card on file and you'll need to send those items back to be swapped out".



No thanks. I'd like a full decision on everything. And what I need is reimbursement for the parts I have already purchased (as we discussed on Friday) due to the faulty PSU fire. "Well.. You'll likely need to return the items you bought, we will send you a new PSU and likely we will provide you with an EVGA motherboard but I am still waiting for approval on that". I said that I will need to pay a restocking fee for opened and installed parts to which he replied "I don't know of any company that would charge you a restocking fee".



I am BAFFLED at this point.. Does he not realize that EVGA, the company he works for charged a 15% restocking fee on parts open USED OR NOT USED?



This is where we left things.. I told him to get me in touch with someone who can actually make the decisions as this back and fourth to no where is wasting my time. So here I am. A week later sharing my story with you. Make of it what you will.. But so far I am not impressed AT ALL with their warranty service and their lack of communication.



Apparently a faulty PSU that starts a fire isn't that big of a deal. I am just glad I was home as if it was two hours later. We both would have been gone and there is no doubt that faulty PSU fire would have set the house on fire. Luckily the fire alarm went off and we were able to get to it pretty quickly and act quickly.



I'll update once EVGA still decides to give me the run around or actually owns up and takes care of the issue. The should be bending over backwards to get this taken care of considering I am going through the trouble to get this rebuilt, repainted, etc..



Photo's for your viewing pleasure.

 

[Barty1884]

No thanks. I'd like a full decision on everything. And what I need is reimbursement for the parts I have already purchased (as we discussed on Friday) due to the faulty PSU fire.

Really sucks that it happened - and I'd be curious if the route cause is ever determined (and shared with you, unlikely). Definitely looks like the fire was in/around the PSU.

However, reimbursement for parts you've already bought &/or were bought as a result of the PSU are not strictly covered by any warranty that I'm aware of.
The extend of your warranty coverage is:

EVGA'S TOTAL CUMULATIVE AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY AND ALL LIABILITIES, OBLIGATIONS, OR CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO ALL PRODUCTS SOLD UNDER THIS LIMITED WARRANTY, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY THE ORIGINAL PURCHASER TO EVGA OR THE AUTHORIZED RESELLER FOR THE PRODUCT(S) UPON WHICH LIABILITY IS BASED.

So ~$200 PSU, ~$400 GPU?

However, if the tech offered you more, then make sure you hold them to it.


Two things, out of curiosity.

1. Looks like the fire starts at the connectors on PSU, although impossible to say for sure. Were you using the included cables from the PSU?

2. More random that anything else, but why was your first point of contact NZXT?

 

[UrNzWy]

Yeah. Totally get it with the warranty information. But typically the warranty RMA is a simple defect. Not a fire that destroys a bunch of other stuff. So a non-typical situation here for sure. That's why I made sure to tell them I was buying the parts as I needed to get back up and running and he said they'd likely be reimbursing me for everything damaged. Maybe not his place.. But that's what i was told. A risk, but I had to have my PC back up and running for work this week, Not to mention to figure out if my hard drives were still OK. Luckily.. They were. I have everything backed up.. But you know what a pain it is to get everything set back up just how you like it.

Worst case, they send me the parts and I sell them and lose out some. Verses footing the bill myself.

Yeah, these were the EVGA cables. Pretty easy to tell where the fire started but the PSU protection should have kicked in LONG before that got outta hand.

Call first to NZXT was because I wanted to find out if I could get replacement cables or if I'd need a whole new case. Just getting information together to submit to EVGA to try and make things clear and easier. Sent them a FULL breakdown of what happened, what was destroyed and what was pending until I got back up and running. Started re-searching motherboards and a bit before I ordered, they called. Off topic, but ended up with the Z390 Aorus Ultra and digging it so far and a EVGA 850W G3.

Used to be a project manager and now manage all of our remote monitoring for 400+ solar thermal / PV systems and provide tech support for our technicians. So I'd like to think I am pretty organized. Which is why I hate all the back and fourth.

I submitted every photo, receipt, etc.. right off the bat and followed up with the receipts for the replacement purchases. One phone call to discuss sure.. But 5 phone calls later and "Still waiting on management?". Now I'm irritated and don't mind sharing my experience. I wasn't going to mess with any of this had they just taken care of it and not strung it along a bit to be honest.

Either way.. Likely a good thing so people think twice about leaving them on and in sleep mode.

 

[Barty1884]

I'm surprised there's no damage down the cables, honestly - EPS, ATX or PCIE. It really looks like it started at the beginning of the cable &/or connector on the PSU side, and nothing else. Very, very strange.

That;s why I asked about cables. Incorrect pinout (from another PSU), too thin gauge (aftermarket cables) etc could potentially cause it, without triggering anything internally with the PSU, as there wouldn't be anything 'wrong' with the PSU itself.

All in, very strange & very rare.

 

[jonnyguru]

I'm surprised there's no damage down the cables, honestly - EPS, ATX or PCIE. It really looks like it started at the beginning of the cable &/or connector on the PSU side, and nothing else. Very, very strange.

That;s why I asked about cables. Incorrect pinout (from another PSU), too thin gauge (aftermarket cables) etc could potentially cause it, without triggering anything internally with the PSU, as there wouldn't be anything 'wrong' with the PSU itself.

All in, very strange & very rare.

Agree. That is VERY strange.

Usually you see the melting wires on the load side of the cable, which points to that particular component failing. This clearly failed AT the PSU; which also brings up some troubling thoughts about how many protections didn't work AT ALL!

 

[UrNzWy]

Agree. That is VERY strange.

Usually you see the melting wires on the load side of the cable, which points to that particular component failing. This clearly failed AT the PSU; which also brings up some troubling thoughts about how many protections didn't work AT ALL!

I'm surprised there's no damage down the cables, honestly - EPS, ATX or PCIE. It really looks like it started at the beginning of the cable &/or connector on the PSU side, and nothing else. Very, very strange.

That;s why I asked about cables. Incorrect pinout (from another PSU), too thin gauge (aftermarket cables) etc could potentially cause it, without triggering anything internally with the PSU, as there wouldn't be anything 'wrong' with the PSU itself.

All in, very strange & very rare.

Agree'd on all accounts. I built this PC in Jan 2018 as well. Cleaned 3-4 times a year. Filters cleaned much more often. Whenever I am vacuuming my office which is every couple of weeks.

100% the PSU that started the issue. And NO protections kicked in. Wild and just lucky overall.