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Handling a power supply safely?

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  • Power Supplies
  • Power
  • Components
Last response: in Components
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October 29, 2011 2:07:50 AM

Hey all, this might sound like a really stupid question and probably is, but I'm pretty paranoid about it due to something my brother told me a few years ago (can't remember what exactly)

But anyway, what do I need to know about handling a power supply and not killing myself? From my research it seems that I need to keep myself grounded, have the power cord unplugged, the switched turned off at the back of the supply power itself, and not touch or insert anything to open areas of the power supplies like sockets or vents, is this correct?

As long as I am grounded, am I able to handle the PSU however I need to? Do I need to let it discharge any extra energy for a few minutes after I turn it off?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

More about : handling power supply safely

October 29, 2011 2:35:10 AM

12v isn't enough to do anything to you. Your body's resistance is too high. Keep it unplugged and don't lick it and you'll be good.

Also, the PSU is a closed case, so you don't have to be to concerned about static electricity affecting the PSU so long as you don't open it up. Obviously you don't want to abuse it, but you don't need to take any special precautions.

Of course, you should be grounded when handling sensitive electronics like the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM and so forth.

EDIT: If you are taking a PSU out of a computer then switch the PSU off (and/or unplug it) and hit the power button on the front of the case. This causes the capacitors to discharge on all the electronics. This prevents accidentally discharging a capacitor on a motherboard and eliminates any power held in capacitors within the PSU. If it is new or has been laying around outside a computer, then you don't need to do anything special.
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a b ) Power supply
October 29, 2011 3:51:57 AM

Always turn off the computer and physically pull out the power cord and wait like 30 seconds before you do anything. I don't usually hit the power button on the front, but it doesn't hurt to do it either. If anything it is an extra 1% likely that you don't break anything if you do this.

I don't usually wear gloves when I pull stuff out, but its another 1% likely you don't break things if you do that too.

I also don't usually maintain contact with metal while I am taking stuff out or putting stuff in. I usually sit on the carpet with my case laying on the carpet as well and don't experience any problems.

One thing you should do if you aren't going to wear gloves is physically touch the metal outside of the case before you grab any internal parts. That will cause the static to shock the external case if there is any.

You shouldn't have to worry if you are just going for the PSU, because the shell on that still counts as the external case, but if you went straight for a video card or a RAM stick you could damage it from static electricity if you don't touch the outside of the case first.

Anyway, I spent quite a bit of time working with PC hardware professionally and never had any problems doing any of those things, but I recognize that those aren't all the *best practices*.
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October 29, 2011 5:07:02 AM

You guys are awesome, thanks heaps for the in-depth replies! :) 
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October 29, 2011 10:13:20 AM

with a fork!

oops, this isnt the chunky soup thread
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!