USB front panel connector melted

[synergy]

Hi,

Does anyone know why my USB front panel connector has melted where it joins the motherboard? The computer was working normally until a few days ago when suddenly this burning smell happened and it wouldn't start up the next day.

Initially I wasn't sure where the smell was coming from and suspected the PSU or CPU. However then I noticed black residue marks on the PCI-express slots leading to the black USB front panel connector. It had melted so badly it had melded together with the pins. I couldn't pull it out and eventually yanked the whole thing out, pins and all.

I'm wondering what the root cause of this could be. I was memory testing 2 servers in the same room which were pulling a fair amount of power, but that could be just coincidence. Is it the PSU? Or just a fault or short with the connector? I've been using this case for about a year and its been fine, the mobo is 7 years old or so but again its never had a problem and it was just under normal load when the problem occurred. Other than the damage caused by the overheating everything seems normal.

Thanks

[peterb]

A faulty connector, a faulty USB lead, or a fault in the connected equipment. The plug might have shorted the USB connector.

Is the cable mechanically damaged anywhere, or could the plug have been badly inserted in the socket?

[MrComputerSaint]

As above was my thinking plus thinking if you had to much power being drawn from the USB socket was my initial thought.

I don't think there would be one way to find out for sure, unless I suppose you had another set of components that were the same that you wanted to test with.

[jossi007]

It sometimes happens, when the black plastic piece within the connector breaks and the pins that carry the positive and negative of the 5V touch one another.

[synergy]

Just an update on this, it turns out a usb device had been inserted the wrong way and as a result the +ve and -ve sides on that usb port were touching, thus creating a short which burned out the motherboard connector.