What a way to wake up in the morning.  I go to fire up my computer as per normal and all hell broke loose.  The industrial power supply I have been using for my computers since the late 90's started to flicker and smoke!.  OK... shut that down and try direct plugins into the wall outlet.  Well... as it turns out... the wall outlet that the power supply was plugged into is also fried.  So, as it is - I can't use my computer very much until I replace the wall outlet, the circuit breaker (which should have worked) and the power supply.

GGGGRRRRRRRRR.....

That's exactly what I'm referring to... but it's industrial quality and a bit old so I'm surprised it lasted this long. I had to reroute my power sources and I'm running on a power bar right now but that's not going to work for the long run.

There's nothing more frightening (when it comes to computers) than flickering lights phzzzztztttzzphzzztt and smoke....

What brand of breaker box do you have? You should spend the extra money and replace that specific breaker with an arc fault circuit breaker.
That would have sensed any sparking and shut down immediately.
They are code by now in most regions, Not sure about Canada.

Not sure of the brand but thanks for the tip... as a matter of fact, I'm going to put a sticky note on the breaker box for the electrician. I rent this place so I'm not doing that repair, nor am I replacing the wall socket. That's the electrician's responsibility. In the meantime:

1. I have rerouted my wiring for a temporary surge protector until I can get a good one next week.
2. I'm only going to run one machine at a time until I've installed the replacement.
3. I've shut down that entire curcuit until the breaker and socket are replaced and the wiring is tested.

How many amps were you drawing from that poor 15A outlet?
I'd insist that your landlord installs an AFCI. A 15 A is about 35 to 45 US$ compared to maybe US$ 10.00 for the old type breaker.
Can you split up your equipment and spread the load over 2 different circuits?

Well... I don't know how many amps I'm drawing but once that circuit is repaired I will split the load. I think I have just a wee bit too much for one circuit.... OOPS!

Get to work! http://www.antec.outervision.com/ for each PC

After you have the watts for your comps, add whatever else you have on that poor little outlet, and you should be able to figure out your Amps. 15 Amps is a lot of comps!

Well... I'm looking at @ 1,200 watts total for the 3 computers and peripherals - add this monitor @30 or 40 watts (datasheet wasn't clear)... BUT... I was looking at how I had other unrelated stuff hooked up and I should have been a little more careful. Thankfully, everything seems to be function normally.

Around here, they are code for any bedroom in houses built about 5-6 years ago or more recently (that's when the code was implemented), but not required for other rooms yet.