Exploding PC Burns Man to Death

[altazi]

It is quite possible for a poorly designed and build power supply to explode. More specifically, if incorrectly sized aluminum electrolytic capacitors are used, and they are of poor quality, they could explode with quite a bit of force. These are the big, round cans inside the PSU. High-quality capacitors have stress lines in them which will "give" in the case of internal over-pressure, venting a foul-smelling cloud of chemicals. If a poorly-built capacitor isn't designed with this vent structure, a great deal of pressure could build up inside and cause the capacitor to burst violently. I have seen this happen when the capacitor is subjected to a severe over-voltage. Solid capacitors like ceramic and especially tantalum can explode and burst into flames, but these tend to be relatively small devices - more like a firecracker than a dynamite stick, as it were.

Even so, it is unlikely that an exploding power supply would cause the PC case to fly apart - let alone kill someone.

 

[mrubermonkey]

This must somehow involve underwear gnomes. It is a conspiracy I tell you.

 

[eddieroolz]

What if the PC was like one of those horiztonally placed ones, with the monitor on top? If the PSU was facing the programmer then that might be the reason.

 

[Raidur]

Maybe he was passed out drunk and his computer caught fire. I couldn't see a computer exploding with enough force/heat to render him unconscious and burn him alive, or instantly char him... The CRT idea sounds probable though. *shrug

 

[Annisman]

I bet he had a couple of 4870X2's in CF, with poor cooling, that is prime for disaster. He was probably running a Vantage torture test with like 1 80mm fan for ventalation. It's too bad the Arctic Cooling Accellero Xtreme 4870X2 coolers aren't out yet....

 

[m3kt3k]

Since details are sketchy there is a chance that its ignorance on the police. Many people I deal with refer to the computer when they really mean the screen (yes it is annoying) BUT what if the police said computer when what they ment was the screen. If it was a CRT it could IMPLODE but that still throws glass shards. Wounds him or knocks him out then the screen catches fires and burns him. Still Sucks.

 

[oceanotter]

Sounds like BS to me. I'm willing to bed the PC was rigged.

 

[ravenware]

Nigel Tufnel: And, uh, it was tragic, really. He exploded on stage.
Derek Smalls: Just like that.
David St. Hubbins: He just went up.
Nigel Tufnel: He just was like a flash of green light... And that was it. Nothing was left.
Nigel Tufnel: Well, there was...
David St. Hubbins: It's true, this really did happen.
Nigel Tufnel: It's true. There was a little green globule on his drum seat.
David St. Hubbins: Like a stain, really.
Nigel Tufnel: It was more of a stain than a globule, actually.
David St. Hubbins: You know, several, you know, dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported.

 

[jsloan]

it's not bad enough that the software is bug ridden, but now this, not good at all, i can only imagine what the next apple vs pc commercial will be like. ;-)

 

[belardo]

Crap... more ammo for the next Apple TV AD.

Hell, I'm a PC - We burn our users Alive.
Mac: uh, okay... you win.

 

[sonofliberty08]

he must be using the Intel Pentium 4 or Pentium D presscott cpu , the highest temperture chips ever made

 

[zerapio]

CRT's have a vacuum inside so I doubt if the monitor was a CRT that it was the source of the explosion. I'm curios as to what was the cause of the accident.

 

[krazynutz]

It was a laptop: http/declubz.com/blog/2009/04/06/exploding-laptop-kills-an-indian-engineer/

And remember this Dell? http/www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/700/1042700/dell-laptop-explodes-at-japanese-conference

That could've killed somebody...

 

[eklipz330]

omg they're retaliating!!

 

[kato128]

Can't think of anything that would char and instantly kill someone in a PC. I've seen stuff hit with lightning and several psu's exploding but nothing with enough force to do more than dent the chassis (tho one capacitor did blow a hole thru a mainboard in a server I worked on once).
This sounds real fishy to me. Pics or ban!

 

[jerreece]

I'm not even sure this is quite possible. Sounds like one of those crazy freaking CSI stories. If the guy's body was "charred", he must have been dead before catching fire. ANY idiot who catches on fire is going to at least fall out of his/her chair in a panic before they simply die.

Either he was somehow dead already, was killed by shrapnel during the explosion, or there's more to the story than the roommate has given police.

Or, as someone else mentioned, this could be a late April Fool's joke.

 

[cruiseoveride]

Damn

 

[methal]

idiot got drunk, passed out, spilled the vodka on his computer and fwump! another idiot can not pass on his idiot genes.

 

[skittle]

obviously this was the work of some super villian like the one from Die Hard 4

 

[pocketdrummer]

It really sucks that people are making fun of this guy. He was probably murdered. How the hell does a computer explode into flames!? That doesn't sound possible without a source of fuel... probably planted by someone who didn't like him, or someone who would profit from his demise.

I hope India has good detectives...