How'd it get burned?

[warhammer3025]

Last night, while running updates for the software and OS on my old Aspire One D250, smoke started coming out the vents. A heat blister appeared on the bezel, quickly becoming a small hole.

I swiftly unplugged the AC power, and ripped out the battery. After consulting a service manual for instructions on taking the thing apart (it's well out of warranty I'm sure), I found the burn centered above the wireless network card, where the antenna leads meet the card itself.

What would cause this to happen? And why now? If it's a manufacturing defect, surely it would have happened years ago, right? I've never had a system actually melt before.

 

[Goodeggray]

Seems like the insulation on the wire got dry and cracked and shorted out on the mobo.

 

[Prostar Computer]

Seems like the insulation on the wire got dry and cracked and shorted out on the mobo.

Yeah, that sounds about right. It's very rare but cheap material is liable.

 

[warhammer3025]

I'll take a couple pictures of the damage and apparent cause when I get the chance. No big deal at this point, as the damage is done and it's not getting any less burned, but I'd still like to be able to point to a definite cause.