I just modded my SeaSonic Super Tornado 400W PSU so that I can manually adjust the fan's rotation speed with a Zalman Fan-Mate. As always when I have modded something to quiet it down, I'm nervous what would happen if it overheated.
So, what would happen if a PSU overheated? I don't really care if the PSU breaks down, but is there a risk that it takes something else with it? Can it catch on fire? Any insight and calming words would be appreciated. I run my computer with both side panels off, so I don't think there is a great risk of catastrophic overheating.
Modding nervousness: What happens if it overheats?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar
It depends on the nature of failure and the protections built into the thing. Overheating usually first melts the copper windings on the transformers inside the PSU. The thin strands of lots of windings become thick strands of small number of windings. This reduces the effectiveness of the psu and in unstable voltage lines. At one point the voltage is not reduced enough and a very high current passes through the transformers burning everything in its path, the mobo, CPU, hdd, you-name-it. Of course this is a catastrophe that takes a long time in the making so you could *probably* check your voltages for stability. The electrician I talked to said there would be no way for me to identify the problem until it's too late but some thinking says clues can be had from voltage lines.
