Re: Here's one for the books

["Frank Olson" <feolson@xxxxxxxxxx>]

"R.H.Campbell" <rh.campbell@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:isOdnbrun8pCjdffRVn-3A@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>I got a call from a large business customer of mine that the Power 832 had
>completely shut down and nothing was working. So I immediately hit the road
>and was there in about 5 minutes time. By the time I got there, people were
>complaining about a foul, noxious odour coming from the small utility room
>where the panel was located. As I got to the door, I could see the smoke
>coming from under the door.
>
> Anyway, upon entering, I could see this foul brown smoke was coming from
> the alarm can. When I opened it up, the main board immediately burst into
> flame from the oxygen that was now available, and that had not been
> available previously due to the intense smoke inside the can. I
> disconnected AC and battery, and was able to blow the fire out, but
> needless to say, the board was toast (literally), and the whole system had
> to be replaced. What had happened was the bridge rectifier on the board
> had shorted in some fashion and ignited.
>
> But thinking about it afterwards, this panel could have burned the whole
> damn building down. Who says low voltage equipment poses no risks !!!!!


Interesting.  In my experience situations like this usually "rectify"
themselves in that the traces on the board will blow off thus preventing any
further current from "heating" things up...  Case-in-point...  an Edwards
6500...  Water leak = nicely "toasted" cards...