Can unplugged electronics be dangerous?

[RichardR]

I think I remember that video.

IIRC the "danger" came from them all being power supplies of dubious quality, potentially old, pre-wired with the wires also being involved in the jumble/being bent/crushed/worn/cut.

I think his concern was that when plugged in and used they may go on fire! Heck, even NEW dubious power supplies go on fire sometimes.

Generic PSUs may also lack the same levels of protection that a more modern reputable PSU would have, like over power/over temperature/over current so they may supply more power than they are supposed to, or more power at a particular voltage than designed, encouraging fire.

[dalekphalm]

On 1/22/2020 at 1:48 AM, Olic2 said:

I don't remember the video specifically but in one episode of Scrapyard Wars, Linus was was looking for parts and came across a bunch of PSU units just kind of jumbled together in a box. He pointed out that it was hella dangerous, and that it could kill someone if something happened. Can someone smarter than me explain what's dangerous about that? Thanks in advance.

They were PSU's without the shroud (the exterior casing). That can be incredibly dangerous because Power Supplies have very large capacitors in them, and sometimes it can take a really long time for the capacitors to drain.

 

The risk is that you accidentally touch the wrong thing, bridge the capacitor, creating a short, and basically electrocuting yourself.

[mr moose]

The answer, as nearly always, is yes and no.

 

Capacitors can and do store large amounts of power.  Do the ones in any given PC PSU matter?  Open one up and measure it if you want to know for sure.   It really depend on the circuit and how it was powered down.

 

 

[Bombastinator]

4 minutes ago, mr moose said:

The answer, as nearly always, is yes and no.

 

Capacitors can and do store large amounts of power.  Do the ones in any given PC PSU matter?  Open one up and measure it if you want to know for sure.   It really depend on the circuit and how it was powered down.

 

 

Yep. Could it be safe? Absolutely.   Is it though?  How safe? Dependent on who’s actions?