Quote:

It made a small explosion when it blew out the motherboard.


Modems work at much higher voltages that motherboards, even the old 286 motherboards. That pop was a cap & probably spilled nasty goo.

The RTC clock battereis in PCs used to occasionally explode sometimes if plugged backwards. Enough force to shred the computer, and probably anyone bent over it. But this almost never happens any more.

The problem that *is* sometimes still seen is thermal runaway in the big Lithium Ion (or the LiPo) batteries used in notebooks. It's rare but bad news: a chemical fire hot enough that it will probably burn up the house or car it's in, the fumes are very toxic, and the fire can't be stopped or put out once the runaway starts. Notebook batteries should be treated gently and not kept around the house if "dead".
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"If they can't picture me with a knife, forcing them to strip in an alley, I don't want any part of it. It's humiliating." - windsock