PC exploded... booby trap maybe?

[SPARTAN VI]

So my father has been out for a week or so on medical leave of absence after throwing out his back in the workplace. On his first day back, it would seem the gentlemen covering his shift were none too happy.

When he came into the office and tried to turn on their workstation, he soon discovered it was unplugged from the PSU. So he attached the cable then hit the switch and POP! The PC lights up, lets out a wonderful snap, crackle, and pop, then starts smoking. When going in to review the smokey parts, he found the side panel of the case had been conveniently missing the screws. So someone was definitely tampering with the components.

His company is contracted to have only a single body at this office, one in the morning, then afternoon, and graveyard. So every one of the three men would sit at this help desk, odd that one would sabotage it.

Anyone ever heard of an exploding PC.... booby trap?

 

[Fayd]

or it just let out the magic smoke...

if it was sabotaged, it'd be fairly obvious.

 

[Athadeus]

It was probably a Dell, so yes it was a booby trap waiting to happen with the wonderful $8 PSU. I'd check for any liquids, staples, or paperclips anyways.

 

[fffblackmage]

I don't think a power cable would just undo itself from the PSU... seems like someone did something, whether it was sabotage or not.

 

[DaveSimmons]

It might be theft: a coworker replaced one or more of the parts with something cheaper to get themselves a free upgrade and botched the job.

 

[boran]

did the PSU have a voltage selector ? setting that to 110 where 220 is given results in the aforementioned symptoms.

 

[Lonyo]

Maybe it had been unplugged because someone knew it had a problem, it wasn't supposed to be used, and no one told your father?

 

[piasabird]

So how come the last shift didnt leave a note or just tell the next guy what was wrong with the PC. Duhh . . .

 

[Lonyo]

So how come the last shift didnt leave a note or just tell the next guy what was wrong with the PC. Duhh . . .

Maybe everyone assumed everyone else knew about it. Or the note got misplaced. Never worked anywhere with multiple shifts? Messages often don't get passed on, they get removed, misplaced, or forgotten about.

The guy was away for a week, so in that week everyone could have assumed everyone else knew, or the note could have appeared at some point and then during one of the days afterwards been removed.


Or someone engaged in a conspiracy to destroy a computer, which seems a much more likely explanation. Not going to get in trouble for something like that now, are they?

 

[Reincus]

If I was going to booby trap a PC, it would do a whole lot more than just smoke.

 

[corkyg]

Sounded like the PSU blew. That can happen with those symptoms. What causes that can be many things, not the least of which is a disgruntled employee.

 

[tweakboy]

Who installed comp for you.

It could have been sabotage ... Who knows... so your saying the mobo was touching the case and blowin up,,, crazy story,, gl

 

[Magusigne]

Its a tarp!

 

[SPARTAN VI]

its a tarp!

lol 😀