Help with PSU wattage and Surge protectors.

[spongemonkey]

Recently had a spark/fire issue with a 15 amp surge protector only from the plug that is connected to my computers PSU. Recently installed a PSU (Corsair 750 watt) and a nvidia gtx 770 GPU. I have horrible cable management in my pc and I think I might have put some components in wrong? I might have left some plugs unplugged and/or didn't plug some in right. I have never done this before. Anyways I'm wondering if it was the surge protector most likely or something with my PSU/PSU installation? Maybe I should take it to a tech repair place? Thanks in advance.

P.S. I'm afraid to leave my pc while i'm away so I turn it off every time I leave my room now. It's annoying. Reason being is because I'm afraid it will spark and smoke again.

 

[Jason Werthman]

I dont think that the PSU is capable of making the surge protector explode. The surge protector probably had some faulty wiring in it and shorted.

 

[spongemonkey]

So it didn't explode..it just sparked and smoked from the outlet on the surge protector that the psu was plugged into.

 

[westom]

Recently had a spark/fire issue with a 15 amp surge protector only from the plug that is connected to my computers PSU.

Was the plug loose? Or did that power strip do what so many did? Only last October, APC (under new management) admitted some of their power strips are so danagerous as to be removed immediately.
https://forums.thefirepanel.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=6334

Destructive surges can be hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules did your power strip claim to absorb? Hundreds? Surges too tiny to overwhelm superior protection inside a computer may also cause strip failures. In rare cases, a fire. Be concerned if you do not have a 'whole house' protector to protect that power strip.

 

[spongemonkey]

The surge protector that was having the sparks and smoke fly from it wasn't an APC. The new one I bought just now IS an APC however, it is not listed in that list of recalled surge protectors by APC. So I should be fine with my newly bought APC. As for the surge protector that I had problems with, I opened it up and there didn't appear to be any damage until I got to the circuit board. One of the nodes had been badly damaged and was starting to spread to the others around it. It's weird because that node was not even on any sort of "circuit path." Hence, I am not one to know much about circuitry and what not but I will say that seems a little odd. Anyways my new APC says it has a joules rating of 2160.

*EDIT* The plug was NOT loose

 

[westom]

The surge protector that was having the sparks and smoke fly from it wasn't an APC. The new one I bought just now IS an APC however, it is not listed in that list of recalled surge protectors by APC.

You missed the point. This type of protector has a history of creating fires. Due to new management, APC admitted some are so bad as to remove immediately. That does not say others are safe; only not as dangerous. You may have observed same problem with that old one from a different manufacturer.

Furthermore, no reason exists to believe a new one does effective protection. Posted numbers said why.

Provided were numbers that should have made scary danger obvioius with both old and new protector. Destructive surges can be hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules did your power strip claim to absorb? 21 hundred? Being so undersized is safe? Never ignore numbers..

Surges too tiny to harm a computer have made power strip protectors fail catastrophically. Again, effective protection means you can say where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. An example of why that power strip needs protection provided by a 'whole house' protector.

If something was connected wrong, the power strip is defective. Connections must be so easy that a five year old can do it right.