My server caught on fire


Recommended Posts

This is about an ArchLinux workstation I built as an `offsite` ZFS backup, and to try and build my own router (no pfsense, no vyos, no ubnt)

 

I'm sitting very comfortably, all of a sudden I see a pillar of smoke in front of me !! BOLTED to the nearby 'rack', and  ... I can see actual FIRE through the case !!!

 

Background:

it's a Zalman MS800 with two 3-in-5 hdd cages, the bottom 3 hdd slots are empty except for the last one that houses the system ssd.

 

Resuming ...

I can see FIRE through the bottom air grills, I blow at it, fire subsedes a bit ... thinking fast, I unplug the power, remove the lan cable and take the case outside, open it and the fire has died down, not sure when it fully died.

 

VERY SCARY !!!!

 

Post Mortem:

The power cable to the ssd drive is charcoal burned. I know the ssd is dead for all intents and purposes (reinstall is what lies ahead).

 

Leave it resting for a day or two (let me give it some thought) and buy another SSD.

 

Why it caught on fire is still a mystery to me, but these are some facts:

 

- The machine is powered by a Seasonic 650 Gold power supply

- A single power cable was covering the two 3-in-5 cages and the cable has a third connector which I extended with a third-party cable to power the SSD

- The endpoint of this extension is what caught on fire

 

So, either the connection was loose, the extension cable was bad quality or random gremlins woke up at noon.

 

Currently:

- New Crucial 120Gb SSD

- New single power cable from PSU to SSD

 

It works now.

Edited by jbrodriguez
Link to comment

Won't loose cause, most time was SATA plug short the power and cause fire. Many case report that.

 

In fact, there are some design fault in SATA plug, the insulation between connector pin was too thin.

Edited by Benson
Link to comment
2 hours ago, jbrodriguez said:

... which I extended with a third-party cable to power the SSD

 

As @Benson said, this is a VERY common cause of fires.  Never, ever, never use a "molded" SATA power connector.  Always use the "crimped" style.

 

Bad:

molex2xsata.jpg

 

 

Good:

maxresdefault.jpg

Edited by StevenD
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
3 hours ago, HK-Steve said:

Same here, 90% are molded from Corsiar PSU. Scary....................... Appreciate the story and advice, Thanks

 

Will now look for 60 new crimped connectors.

Tower 1 has 10x hard drives

Tower 2 has 24x hard drives

Tower 3 has 20x hard drives

I haven't seen a single corsair PSU that uses molded connectors. Are you sure?

And if Corsair uses molded ones, I would think they use a quality supplier.

From what I have seen, the issue is with the cheap adapters and not the ones from the PSU.

Link to comment

I am not sure which type must better then others, usually you will got 3 types.

 

I like EZ crimp type more then others, bacause insulation between connector || connector usually thicker and overall have stronger mechanical performance.

 

- molded type

  You can't see the inside

 

- EZ crimp type

s-l500.jpg.3ecd9bd39fa1b95794d3a8c60ec5373d.jpg

 

- pin type

1.jpg.dd9796df989f87c9d4b2caa3868d88a6.jpg

 

So any pin-to-pin short, means that power short to ground.

2.jpg.4013f24018faa445052d375344b4913b.jpg

 

Edited by Benson
Link to comment
I haven't seen a single corsair PSU that uses molded connectors. Are you sure?
And if Corsair uses molded ones, I would think they use a quality supplier.
From what I have seen, the issue is with the cheap adapters and not the ones from the PSU.


I also have a Corsair psu. They are not supplied with the psu, they are bought subsequently, from china
I will look for some new ones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Link to comment
12 minutes ago, PSYCHOPATHiO said:

I try to avoid anything molex all together when i can, I used to use a sata Splitter I got from Amazon, seen too much horror on youtube.

Not saying those won't work, but not really recommended, 12V on SATA plug is designed for 4.5Amps maximum, 4 disks can easily require 8 to 10amps during spin up.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
23 hours ago, johnnie.black said:

Not saying those won't work, but not really recommended, 12V on SATA plug is designed for 4.5Amps maximum, 4 disks can easily require 8 to 10amps during spin up.

So does this mean that since 2 disks could need 4 to 5 amps during spin up, I shouldn't use any SATA power splitter at all for hard disks? What about 1 hard disk and 1 SSD, or 2 SSDs?

Link to comment
Just now, johnnie.black said:

I have no problem using a 1 > 2 splitter for 2 HDDS, but wouldn't use more than 2.

Good to know. Any experience with SSDs? My Googling didn't turn up anything that looked credible, and the specs of my new Sandisk SSD don't mention power consumption at all.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.