And we went dark
I caused a Blackout this morning.
The Customers were surprised and some just sat there, without a care in the World, eating their free Nasi Lemak. The rest of us rushed to the Fuse Box while those who are higher up in the Management rung ordered someone (anyone) to call the TNB aka Tenaga, who manage and supply our Country's electrical power.
In the midst of the emergency (no Wifi), I managed to quickly shut down my Laptop while calmly disengaged myself from a repeating conversation.
I started to tell anyone who is within whisper-shot to, 'calm the f@ck down and stop calling TNB' as the Blackout happened within the Office, which is not within their jurisdiction. So, I said, 'Please f*cking call the F*cking electrician' instead but in a nicer way. While I am saying this, someone is already starting to poke the RCBs with a plastic spoon inside the second fuse box after realising some of the MCBs are not latching. By the time I called the electrician, power was back on again because they poked at the right MCB.
What happened?
I am not sure what happened but I know that it was my fault. Moreover, during that session above, no one actually questioned about what started it nor was there any initiative to find out. I decided to put 2 and 2 together and my answer was 3....
Clue #1: The Brief Stench
During my Conversation, I noticed there was a burning smell which I usually ignore. This was because I happen to be sitting right next to the Toilets and just in front of everything, was a Drinks Bar which has a coffee warmer. Added to that, the occasional waft of pantry smell which reminds you someone is cooking from from the pantry about 40 feet away. So, I would either smell piss, burnt coffee or something from the pantry. The burning aroma is quite strange; it approaches you with a salty stink and then lingers around, hitting you with its unreconisable plasticky aroma.
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| The smell just wafted about and disappeared very quickly. After sniffing everywhere, my Laptop's cable smelt slightly funny. | |
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| And holding it near the plug, it likes to bend to one direction. So, taking a closer look, yep, the LIVE cable had briefly touched the EARTH cable. The soft plastic became worn and gave way, allowing the two cables to touch each other. |
Clue #2: That Popping in the Air
And just a split second before the blackout, there was a small pop in front of me, you know, like a small firecracker pop.
Clue #3: Brocken Neck
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Everything was charred and this area was the failure point. | I need to find a much better cable and also, not to bend them too much. It flexed or rather, flopped to one side as if it's spine was broken. |
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| This is the wiring colour code which is different from the ones we are used to in Malaysia. If you must know, this kind of molded plug cannot be re-used since it is difficult (and dangerous) to reconnect the three wires to their respective metal contacts. |
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| FYI, this (top) is the Malaysian's Color code for the 13A plug. Speaking of which, I need to get a new plug... |
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| This is the replacement Plug which looks boring because I could not find any transparent Blue or Red (like the one I used for my first Toshiba Notebook in the 90's) | | |
So for now, the problem is solved but I would have to make sure this does not happen again or it if does, I would have to be ready. I would need a new PSU, new C13 cable and yeah, maybe a transparent 13A BS1363 plug too.
