SOLVED MOLEX to Sata connector caught fire.

My PC is on 24/7. I never switch it off. 2 days back, out of nowhere, the power cable going to the DVD-RW caught fire. I don't know how the fire was caused. I don't even know whether it was the connector or the drive that had problem. But both of them had been working perfectly fine all this time. I think I bought the connector recently when I bought a new power supply, but the drive is year old. It caught fire, but luckily, somehow, the system shut down. I had no idea all this was happening because it happened while I was in the shower. When I came back and tried to switch on the PC, it wouldn't boot. When I reached my hand near the DVD-RW's cables, charcoal came onto my fingers. I removed the cable and drive and found out they'd caught fire. The connector's pin was partly melted, and there was damage to the drive as well. This is the first time something like this has happened. I've had my power supply give up on me and suddenly go out with a cracking noise and a flash, but none of my hardware's ever caught fire before.

Can someone explain to me exactly what went wrong?

I've decided to change my power supply regardless. I'm also gonna need to buy a new DVD RW because the old one got damaged at the port where you insert the SATA cables. Before you answer my question, I think you should know this:

About a month back, while I was using my PC, there was a sudden power cut. Must've been like 2 seconds. The lights in my apartment went off and came back on. Don't know why. But after that, when I tried to start my PC, it would start, but wouldn't load window. It would just get stuck at the Intel screen. So I started unplugging hardware and checking what allows it to start up. Turns out, the power cut took my 750GB HD and old CD-RW with it. I could actually smell burnt silicon from my CD-RW. Once I unplugged those two, and tried to start my PC with just the 160GB HD and DVD-RW (R.I.P), it booted up without any problem. I reinstalled Windows and everything was fine.

So yeah, what could have caused the fire, and the killing of my 750GB HD and CD-RW?

You had a high current bad connection. Only the smallest part of the pins was touching, so all the current went through a very small area and not most of the surface of the pin area. Hope you understood that. If it was a normal short, the PC would of shut down I bet.

A power surge also could of damaged your stuff. I'd suspect the PSU also.

Conumdrum said:

You had a high current bad connection. Only the smallest part of the pins was touching, so all the current went through a very small area and not most of the surface of the pin area. Hope you understood that. If it was a normal short, the PC would of shut down I bet.

A power surge also could of damaged your stuff. I'd suspect the PSU also.

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I didn't get you. Could you explain further?

As for the power surge, I never understood why it happened. But I too suspected the PSU. However, up until 2 days back, it didn't occur to me to change it. Will change it soon.

A pin that should have 5mm of square area is poorly connected. So all the current goes through a .05 spot on the pin. That creats lots of heat and can overheat stuff.

Like trying to run a car battery through a 32 guage wire that is smaller than a pencil lead. Smoke and flames. Car battery wires are about 3/8" thick.

Conumdrum said:

A pin that should have 5mm of square area is poorly connected. So all the current goes through a .05 spot on the pin. That creats lots of heat and can overheat stuff.

Like trying to run a car battery through a 32 guage wire that is smaller than a pencil lead. Smoke and flames. Car battery wires are about 3/8" thick.

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So how was this problem caused? Could it be because I might have not connected it properly (Or maybe connected properly but it may have got loose while I was installing or checking other stuff nearby)?

Also, I did not know that loose connections work. I thought that unless the pin is connected properly and all the connections are made inside, the device won't function. Guess I was wrong, eh? :/

Caused by bad luck, bad pin, it happens.

Conumdrum said:

Caused by bad luck, bad pin, it happens.

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So there was no fault from the PSU or the DVD-RW whatsoever?

Dragster93 said:

So there was no fault from the PSU or the DVD-RW whatsoever?

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Not likely, no.

Oh ok. Thanks guys. Your info's helped.
So should I go and buy a new PSU or not?

Also, I'd like to help out in the forums. How may I do so? I'm not s pro at OC'ing so I'm not really sure my advice on OC'ing would be helpful to others.

I would still verify the power supply still works, but it should be fine.

There are many more sections not related to hardware that you can help out with. Check out the forum listing.

It could have also been cause by dust, I've see computers run fine, but dust collecting on the plug connectors slowly making their way under and into the connector caused a fire. That could also have been what caused it as well. Especially if you have pets, Pet hair can be VERY bad to electronics. I open my case and blow out the dust ever 2 months. but that's me.

thideras said:

I would still verify the power supply still works, but it should be fine.

There are many more sections not related to hardware that you can help out with. Check out the forum listing.

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Will do that. By the way, I'm a software developer. I develop Windows and Web applications. So if you guys need any help with any such things, do let me know. In the mean time, I shall have a look see.
Cheers.

Metlcub said:

It could have also been cause by dust, I've see computers run fine, but dust collecting on the plug connectors slowly making their way under and into the connector caused a fire. That could also have been what caused it as well. Especially if you have pets, Pet hair can be VERY bad to electronics. I open my case and blow out the dust ever 2 months. but that's me.

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Yeah it has been a while since I dusted my PC. It's not caked with dist, but yeah, it is dusty. Thanks bud.