Video game cables: A fire hazard?

[Erik_Twice]

In the following months my humble setup will radically change to accomodate almost a hundred cables. And I'm worried about a potential fire breaking out. I'm sure others have similar thoughts.

Some background first. The main reason behind this mess are the large amount of video and audio cables required. Each console needs three cables for RGB, one for sync, two for stereo audio and then one for power. That's a total of 7 cables per console. Add a bunch of consoles pls the PC and you have a gigantic mess. And I don't think it's safe to have such a mess.

I was thinking what you guys think of the topic and what comes to mind as possible safety considerations to have in mind.

From the top of my head:

1) Manage every single cable so there are no knots or crap lying around. Everything should be well managed. This aids with the cleaning, is more pleasant and safe.
2) Order a splitter that can be turned on and off manually so not all consoles are powered at once.
3) The splitter should have a fuse and turn off automatically if there's a short-circuit.
4) Do not block vents of computers, or other devices. I'm not happy to see that someone has covered the vent of my stereo with papers.
5) Have everything in a proper storage place.
6) Do not completely furnish the room with flamable material. If your room is small and fully covered in cardboard, that doesn't seem safe.

Thoughts?

[MrPopo]

The only cables you should even worry about are the power cables, as your video/audio cables are such low draw that they are not any real hazard. Depending on how old the console is, you've either got a brick, so the cable is only transmitting a low voltage and amperage DC signal, or the transformer is in the console, so you've got a cable transmitting a mains signal. That's the one that is more likely to be a fire hazard. But really, the spots to worry about is where your bricks are and on any modern consoles. Make sure the modern consoles have room to breath, and don't sprinkle your bricks with a bunch of lint.

[Jagosaurus]

Not exactly the same, but I've thought of similar as well:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=48174&p=947180&hilit=Unplug+consoles#p947180

[Anapan]

No video-game console that draws any appreciable amount of power through mains should ever draw enough to cause any more than a warm heat even on low-wattage rated cables. A large CRT might draw a large current, and an xbox 360 might also draw a lot, but you'd need to use a lot more to actually start melting plastic enough to cause a short circuit.
If you are concerned and want protection in place, you can buy a simple device called a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) and install it before your power splitters. It will trip its breaker if too much current is drawn as would happen with a short circuit, a large string of incandescent lights, a large electric motor or a powerful electric heater running for a long period of time.
Still, I believe you'd need to have all consoles and displays on at the same time to cause enough current draw for something like that, if that's even possible with low current devices. If your splitters and 3-way cables are really old, like from the 70s there might be reason for concern. A corroded connector inline with everything else drawing power through it might cause some internal sparking which over time could lead to a failure if the draw were enough for that to melt through the old plastics they used to use. In this case, the damage is easy to see inside the receptacle for the plug.

[Ziggy]

If you are concerned and want protection in place, you can buy a simple device called a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) and install it before your power splitters. It will trip its breaker if too much current is drawn as would happen with a short circuit, a large string of incandescent lights, a large electric motor or a powerful electric heater running for a long period of time.

Actually, that's not what GFCI does (this video explains what it does pretty well). The circuit breaker itself will trip to prevent over current. What you're more interested in is Arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI). AFCI detects if there's an arc, say from if you accidentally ran the leg of the sofa over the lamp chord too many times and it frayed and started arcing. Or if your rats nest of video game power adapters got damaged when you pushed your TV stand back up against the wall.

[Anapan]

I do not have experience with AFCIs, but on my jobsites, we mandate GFCIs on all our power consumption as part of our standard safety protocols. I've seen fires caused by someone not plugging a portable one in before plugging our tools and equipment into a standard outlet. They are built into the 440v step-down transformer panels we regularly use to provide all our power with push buttons to reset the internal breaker between the 2 standard outlets of each outlet bank.
Because we use multiple power tools, large strings of incandescent lighting and ventilation fans through extension cords, it's common to blow the inline breakers on our stepdown panels as their internal GFCI breakers will fail if over 15 watts is consumed over a short period of time. They are simple and effective coming right out of the socket, or at the end of a long extension cord. I keep a portable one handy - plugged into the the end of my extension cord when I'm doing work far from the step down panel so when I stress my extension cord's ability to send current to my tools I only break a circuit on that local GFCI rather than having to walk all the way back to the panel (usually because I'm running an angle grinder beyond it's capabilities). A GFCI will prevent overcurrent long-or-short term before the circuit gets to the house's breaker panel, or stresses the wall's internal wiring.

Just 2 weeks ago, I had to cut a melting and smoking 110 volt cable apart to prevent a fire when dayshift had plugged their long string of lighting into a non-GFCI'd cord instead of their protected ones because they had rerouted too many lights and it was blowing their GFCI.

[marurun]

A GFCI trips whenever there is unequal current between hot and neutral. This usually picks up things like shorts and can often pick up over-current situations. We don't have a ground for most outlets in our home because it's knob and tube wiring, so in order to have 3-prong outlets and still be compliant we had to install a bunch of GFCI outlets. Electrician informed us that we should NOT put a GFCI anywhere there's an appliance, because appliances often have spikes in draw that can cause GFCIs to trip. And the last thing you want is your GFCI to trip and turn off your fridge or freezer.

[AreYouSerious]

Interesting you bring this up as a topic, as just a couple weeks ago I was discussing (more like an argument) with my sister about all the wired that we got going on behind the TV. Well you have to figure, the TV, cable box, ps4, Xbox 1, DVD player.. it starts to add up. Not only does it look messy, but cables do tend to get warm.. so it's a good idea to organize it if it's a huge wirey mess.