[SOLVED] PSU power cord burnt. Is it the PSU's or the cord's or UPS's fault?

Nov 13, 2018
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Hey guys,

The PSU's power cord burnt which was plugged into UPS. The UPS was plugged into a powerstrip and powerstrip into the wall socket.

The thing is, the UPS was turned off 6 hours before the cable caught fire. How can the cable burn when the UPS is turned off?

The CPU is working fine though. But what do you think caused this? Is it the PSU or the PSU cable or UPS? What should I replace to fix this?

The cord burnt in two different places on the cord.
Here are images of burnt power cord:
https://imgur.com/a/Ko2WzH8

Here are some details written on the components:

PSU: Zebronics AC 230V
PSU power cord: 10A 250V
Power strip: 6A 250V AC

Thanks in advance

Edit: The power strip was ON but the UPS that was plugged into the strip was off
 
Solution

As I wrote in the other thread: miswired outlet/building, cable or device.

If hot and neutral are swapped upstream from whatever switch is in the circuit, then neutral on the cord will be always hot and can short to ground.

So you probably have a miswired building or extension cord on top of a defective, damaged or fake spec'd power cable.
I think it's highly likely that the cable was damaged. It was either pinched (may rolled over with a chair or a pet took a taste of it.) and thus any current through the cable would have exposed the short and caused it to burn. It's hard to tell from the photo but the wire gauge looks pretty thin for the rating you reported.

Sometimes the cables can smolder slowly for a long time. It wouldn't take much current to burn the cable once it's damaged. Count your blessings that the cable did not burn worse than that or catch something else on fire or damage the system. Dispose of that cable get a new one and look for what potentially damaged the cable. Maybe look at getting a floor conduit or some other sort of cabling protection so it doesn't happen again.
 
MERGED QUESTION
Question from keithroy : "PSU cable burnt"





 
Edit: Also I have been using the PC for almost a year.

I mean, how can the cable burn when there's no current flowing through it. (The UPS was turned off 6 hours prior).
 

As I wrote in the other thread: miswired outlet/building, cable or device.

If hot and neutral are swapped upstream from whatever switch is in the circuit, then neutral on the cord will be always hot and can short to ground.

So you probably have a miswired building or extension cord on top of a defective, damaged or fake spec'd power cable.
 
Solution