Keyboard Cord Feels Hot And It Doesn't Work Either

So on my old PC, it shut down and it wouldn't turn back on. There was no power. I thought it was the power supply at first.

Then I found out it had something to do with my keyboard. If I just moved the keyboard cord around it would turn on the computer lol.

Then when it was on, the keyboard itself wouldn't work but everything else does. I unplugged the keyboard and when I felt the cord, it was really hot...i've never felt a keyboard cord to get this hot.

Does anyone know what happened to my keyboard and why the cord became so hot? And why was the keyboard cord able to power on and off my computer but the power button itself couldn't power on my computer ?

weird

 

It seems likely a wire in the keyboard cord or connector broke and is shorting out the +5V that runs through the USB port. Ohm's Law says I = E/R or current = voltage / resistance.

So when resistance drops and voltage remains the same, current goes up.

When current goes up, that presents an over-current situation through the motherboard and power supply. So hopefully, your computer and/or power supply are shutting down due to a protection circuit kicking in.

You need to try a different keyboard. If it does the same thing, try a different USB port. Hopefully it is a faulty keyboard and not a fault USB port.

 

Thanks for the reply. I tried another keyboard and it works fine now. I guess it was the keyboard and I better just discard that one right? No way to salvage it?

 

If it's an expensive multimedia keyboard it might be worthwhile replacing the cable.
If not, dump it.

 

I agree with Eldon but that assumes the fault is actually in the cable and not the keyboard itself. If the short is in the keyboard, it will still draw too much current through the cable. If the cable (wire gauge) is not big enough to support the excess current, it will get hot. And a cable is like a chain, it is only as strong as the weakest link. So while the short may be in the keyboard, the weakest link may be a connector crimp or solder joint in a connector, or a spot on the cable itself that was pinched or kinked at some earlier point in time.