[atarikraken]

Yeah, you basically got it, don't use cheap PSUs (most cheap pre-builts are cheap PSUs) and if you do use a cheap PSU, expect something to explode/fizz out the more time passes.

I expect the average life expectancy of cheap OEM PSUs to be around 2-3 years. After that, you're on shaky ground.

You can likely extend the life of your electronics by keeping them constantly cool, and as dust/lint/pet hair free as possible (do yearly vacuum, use compressed air). This also greatly reduces the amount of combustibles in your electronics, meaning if something does overheat and die, there's nothing to burn.

As far as predicting it aside from it's lifespan, if you smell anything awkward, hear any funny noises, or notice any odd hardware behavior (blue screens, crashes, instability, etc) but especially "sudden shutdown and power-offs" then you know something is wrong. Just like if you suddenly get constant headaches, don't ignore it.

[Rd6n6]

It was actually a decent power supply, maybe 5-7 years old, good ratings etc. Cleaned dust and hair out every season or so with compressed air.

Might leave my home computers powered off from now on when I’m not using them.

…my brand new smoke detectors didn’t go off

[atarikraken]

Damn that's scary. What PSU + model was it? I might have to cross that off my mental safe list :D

[Rd6n6]

Corsair something something. I’ll find the model tomorrow. Might not have been the psu though. My laptop charger is busted too and my laptop trackpad is acting up now. They shared an outlet. Both used surge protectors though

[Rd6n6]

In case anyone is curious: it was the video card. A capacitor I think. Potentially caused by the psu but the fire was the gpu…