It started this morning when I called APC about a used UPS that I had purchased on Fleabay for my server and a few workstations. I had mentioned to the seller that I was going to be in their town in a couple weeks, and that since it weighs 140 lbs, I'll just pick it up. Well, turns out the shipping dept get their wires crossed, and shipped it out anyways. Ok, fair enough, it was free to me, and saves me trouble when I am there. It arrived 2 days later, but when I opened the box I knew there would probably be some issues, they didn't have the factory packaging for shipping even though it was an APC box, and it was also missing the front bezel that covered the fan and the display, which I knew before I bought it.

Since they had padded it mostly with chunks of broken styrofoam, it had shifted a bit, and that had caused the display to be ripped off the front because it was sticking out due to said missing front bezel/fan cover. I contacted the seller, and he asked if it could be repaired. I was pretty sure it could, just needed a new display assy, and I'd contact APC to see about pricing and availability. I knew when I bought it that it was at the end of the warranty, but when the gent at APC pulled it up, it turned out that there was a week left in the warranty, and he would check on what would be needed for repairing it. After about 10 mins on hold, he came back to me and said instead of trying to get the parts that I needed, they were just going to send me a factory refurbed unit, with brand new batteries!

I couldn't believe it, but said Heck Yeah, and they would also be covering the return shipping for the old unit. After I got off the phone I messaged the seller of the situation, and said that he was probably in the clear, which made him pretty happy as well.

I thought that that would be the highlight of my day, until about a hour ago. I had been futzing with my new ubercruncher, and hadn't gone to bed till about 2:30. I was pretty tired, and laid down but didn't fall asleep right away, it took a little bit. About an hour later, I woke up, but wasn't sure why, things seemed pretty normal, though I thought I smelled something sort of electrical. Nothing very strong, but it was there, and I have a very good nose, as my family often reminds me. I got up, went downstairs to take a quick look around, seemed to be situated upstairs, so I went back up there, and noticed a very very light haze in the bedroom. I have one cruncher set up in there so I can keep tabs on it, and I have a small 12" table fan blowing on it to help keep the temps as low as possible. It seemed that the haze was getting a little thicker, and I came around the bed and noticed that the power cord was actually melting! All this had taken less than a minute and a half from the time I had gotten up.

By that point, it was smoking pretty good, I grabbed the fan and turned it off, and with no load the cord cooled off quickly. I have a double bladed window fan that I use during the spring and fall to bring in fresh air at night, so I quick opened the window and turned that on, then flew downstairs and turned off the A/C, to keep it from drawing that stench throughout the house. Then ran back upstairs and opened a couple windows for some cross ventilation. It cleared out fairly quickly, but the smell is going to take a bit longer to air out. At least it's reasonably cool out.

So, I have to say yeah, it's been a pretty good day, because if I hadn't woken up, I'm pretty sure that there would have been a contents fire in the room, especially since the bed has a couple full sized decorative pillows that I toss on the floor every night when going to bed, and put back on the bed when I make it in the morning. I had tossed one of them the floor next to the fan, and the cord was actually laying on top of the pillow. By the looks of the cord, it would probably have been less than 30 seconds till it would have caught on fire, and scorched the pillow cover where it was in contact with the cord. I was a fireman for years, and should have known better, but I guess I had figured that the fan was less than a year old, was a Hunter brand so I expected it to be top notch, and fans never melt down, worst case they just die, right? But still, this happened.

Oh, and also, be sure to check your smoke detectors, because (bad me) had not changed them out in a while (been meaning to, just seemed to slip my mind, dumb, I know), and the one upstairs still was the old style with replaceable batteries. And yep, you guessed it, battery was dead. *sigh* I'll be replacing all 3 in the house today with new, sealed style units that get replaced instead of just the batteries. Cheap insurance, so GO CHECK YOUR DETECTORS TODAY! It will take you less than 3 minutes. Please. So, the moral of the story is, don't trust electricity, because when you let your guard down, it'll get you. It almost did me tonite.

Yep, all in all, a pretty darn good day.

---

Glad that you are ok and that a fire was averted. Thanks for taking the time to remind us to be safe.

---