Unsafe Computer Catches Fire: NZXT H1 Case & BLD Serious Problems
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Date: 2021-01-24
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Comments and reviews: 10
Cykes
If all you have to do is unscrew and screw it back in in the right way - I wouldn't consider that to be a rare issue. It's rare in that it doesn't happen every day, but eventually as you maintenance your computer it will happen. This is even more concerning with how the fire continued . Those materials are meant to be fire retardant and prevent continual fire. You may get a puff of fire and then it extinguishes itself. But clearly that isn't happening here. An open flame burns hot and can then reach the ignition temperature of other components that are not designed to be exposed to that temperature. For example if you were to have a fire that melts components on the GPU itself it could then short out and now you're feeding 400W+ of power that then exceeds temperatures and catches fire too.
Along with this imagine if you have a computer that isn't super clean. If you have dust, hair, and other small debris in your computer I have no doubt it'll light up like a dried Christmas Tree.
I'm also surprised PSU's don't come equipped with better safety for this. Common electrical house wiring has breakers that will flip the power if you're drawing too much wattage. Or have GFCI's that will flip when there's a loss of more than 10mA between Hot and Neutral. Or AFCI's which detect arc faults and flip. Why don't PSU's have this? The PSU should know that the actual casing ground shouldn't be shoveling out amperage. Components already have grounding wires coming from the PSU.
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If all you have to do is unscrew and screw it back in in the right way - I wouldn't consider that to be a rare issue. It's rare in that it doesn't happen every day, but eventually as you maintenance your computer it will happen. This is even more concerning with how the fire continued . Those materials are meant to be fire retardant and prevent continual fire. You may get a puff of fire and then it extinguishes itself. But clearly that isn't happening here. An open flame burns hot and can then reach the ignition temperature of other components that are not designed to be exposed to that temperature. For example if you were to have a fire that melts components on the GPU itself it could then short out and now you're feeding 400W+ of power that then exceeds temperatures and catches fire too.
Along with this imagine if you have a computer that isn't super clean. If you have dust, hair, and other small debris in your computer I have no doubt it'll light up like a dried Christmas Tree.
I'm also surprised PSU's don't come equipped with better safety for this. Common electrical house wiring has breakers that will flip the power if you're drawing too much wattage. Or have GFCI's that will flip when there's a loss of more than 10mA between Hot and Neutral. Or AFCI's which detect arc faults and flip. Why don't PSU's have this? The PSU should know that the actual casing ground shouldn't be shoveling out amperage. Components already have grounding wires coming from the PSU.
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Quinto
The dangerous thing is that in the future somebody might replace the nylon screws with metal screws.
The chance of somebody buying the system second-hand and using new screws and tightening the screws just right (wrong) might be small, but given the potential consequences, I think it is an unacceptable risk.
I really believe that all risers should be replaced.
Years from now second-hand systems will end up in the hands of people who like to tinker. And they will probably not be aware of the risk.
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The dangerous thing is that in the future somebody might replace the nylon screws with metal screws.
The chance of somebody buying the system second-hand and using new screws and tightening the screws just right (wrong) might be small, but given the potential consequences, I think it is an unacceptable risk.
I really believe that all risers should be replaced.
Years from now second-hand systems will end up in the hands of people who like to tinker. And they will probably not be aware of the risk.
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Peter
The 3D diagram isn t correct for how screws work. Screws follow a groove all the way down. Because the pcb hole isn t threaded, it seems like it depends a lot on how the screw is first inserted, or as you guys showed, how the threads are worn from moving the screw several times. Either way, this is a glaring flaw, and NZXT should be replacing the riser cables, not just providing a nylon screw. They need to do proper safety validation of their suppliers.
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The 3D diagram isn t correct for how screws work. Screws follow a groove all the way down. Because the pcb hole isn t threaded, it seems like it depends a lot on how the screw is first inserted, or as you guys showed, how the threads are worn from moving the screw several times. Either way, this is a glaring flaw, and NZXT should be replacing the riser cables, not just providing a nylon screw. They need to do proper safety validation of their suppliers.
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Austin
Man thanks for showing us the new hot case on the market Steve will make sure I never buy 1.
Sucks because this isnt a cheap case ether. It was really really pricey. I think had this been a 60 case it wouldnt have been as big of a deal. Because plenty of Apevia generic PSU cases blow up, and plenty of cheap cases from all manufactures kill USB's and spark from the USB ports. But this case at 100+ dollars you expected much higher build quality.
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Man thanks for showing us the new hot case on the market Steve will make sure I never buy 1.
Sucks because this isnt a cheap case ether. It was really really pricey. I think had this been a 60 case it wouldnt have been as big of a deal. Because plenty of Apevia generic PSU cases blow up, and plenty of cheap cases from all manufactures kill USB's and spark from the USB ports. But this case at 100+ dollars you expected much higher build quality.
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duclicsic
The little blender animation of the screw is kinda wrong though isn't it, that isn't how screws work. If it's turning and the thread is properly engaging with the material it wouldn't appear to move with respect to the board in the way depicted. That said, the slightest difference in the way the screw was originally installed could easily determine whether the thread makes contact with a trace on such a poorly designed board.
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The little blender animation of the screw is kinda wrong though isn't it, that isn't how screws work. If it's turning and the thread is properly engaging with the material it wouldn't appear to move with respect to the board in the way depicted. That said, the slightest difference in the way the screw was originally installed could easily determine whether the thread makes contact with a trace on such a poorly designed board.
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HexerPsy
Sooo..... How come NZXT blamed the screw, when its really a fault in the riser PCB?
Did they not look into it properly? Blaming the screw seems like a cheap fix for an exposed trace.
I also agree with the concern of the case and riser being resold in several years. Isnt it reasonable to expect whatever screw to work inside the PC case? Somebody will be selling and buying a house fire starter kit.
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Sooo..... How come NZXT blamed the screw, when its really a fault in the riser PCB?
Did they not look into it properly? Blaming the screw seems like a cheap fix for an exposed trace.
I also agree with the concern of the case and riser being resold in several years. Isnt it reasonable to expect whatever screw to work inside the PC case? Somebody will be selling and buying a house fire starter kit.
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Khurram
Is that screw hole not a plated through hole? Almost all holes in PCBs are plated through holes (with copper sputtered on the inside edge of the PCB) that are connected to ground rail, for this very reason. You see them on motherboards where you have a bunch of raised contact points just underneath the profile of the screw head that make contact with the screw body and short it to ground.
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Is that screw hole not a plated through hole? Almost all holes in PCBs are plated through holes (with copper sputtered on the inside edge of the PCB) that are connected to ground rail, for this very reason. You see them on motherboards where you have a bunch of raised contact points just underneath the profile of the screw head that make contact with the screw body and short it to ground.
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Ari
Not trying to defend nzxt (I have none of their equipment) but to those armchair quarterbacking this for likes .. how could this happen ? It's so obvious! . In reality.. It's a crap shoot and has to do with the exact tightness of the screw. They need to take responsibility of course but to say it's super obvious is a bit ridiculous.
Great video as usual, Steve
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Not trying to defend nzxt (I have none of their equipment) but to those armchair quarterbacking this for likes .. how could this happen ? It's so obvious! . In reality.. It's a crap shoot and has to do with the exact tightness of the screw. They need to take responsibility of course but to say it's super obvious is a bit ridiculous.
Great video as usual, Steve
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kenabi
shouldn't even be pcb traces near a screw in this sort of implementation. there is literally no justification for it. the screws are far enough away from the slot and cable connections that it should just be empty pcb on the tabs where the screw holes are.
this is a glaring oversight by the design team.
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shouldn't even be pcb traces near a screw in this sort of implementation. there is literally no justification for it. the screws are far enough away from the slot and cable connections that it should just be empty pcb on the tabs where the screw holes are.
this is a glaring oversight by the design team.
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homelessEh
i had a Pc-chips am2 mother board.. once.. it came with the usb header designed wrong and caused instant flash fire up the usb cable and a satisfying pop of a capacitor near by the header. instant death ..thank fk it was like 2004 and just had a sempron and 2gb of ddr2 in it.
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i had a Pc-chips am2 mother board.. once.. it came with the usb header designed wrong and caused instant flash fire up the usb cable and a satisfying pop of a capacitor near by the header. instant death ..thank fk it was like 2004 and just had a sempron and 2gb of ddr2 in it.
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