Piece of glue in PSU. Dangerous or not?

[doive1231]

Hi,

I have a Hiper 580W (HPU-4M580) PSU. I noticed a solid white globule of glue about 2cm long hanging inside the casing near the power connector. It then fell off and is now inside the casing somewhere. It doesn't seem to be causing any problems but I am wondering could it melt on a hot component and damage my computer or worse still catch fire?

Thanks, Dan

 

[Greenmantis]

Most likely it will not catch fire or fail, especially if you didn't put the glue there in the first place. Many electric components are encased in epoxy to prevent tampering. PSU's (for the most part) are pretty hardy and are hard to kill. I have seen them completely caked with dirt / hair / dust and function just fine.

Unless something electrically goes wrong with the PSU, they just don't get hot enough to burn tissue paper. Wire insulation is thermal and is designed to withstand high temperatures. While I have seen video of PSU's igniting and toasting a PC, I believe it to be exceptionally rare.

As long as the fan is functioning, I wouldn't worry about it. PSU's are protected by fuses. If it starts drawing enough amperage to start going Chernobyl on you, they blow the fuse.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it.
~Greenmantis

 

[jsc]

It's non conductive and if the chunk of adhesive is large enough not to foul the fan, you'll have no problem.

On the other hand, the day after the PSU warranty expired, I'd open it up and removed it, just on general principles. I'm a retired, former military electronics tech and I just don't like to hear rattling sounds from inside something electronical.

 

[doive1231]

OK folks. Thanks for your replies. I shall leave it for now as it is still in warranty and it's not caused a problem yet.