Is it okay to leave PSU Switch On?

[AlloyJohn29]

So everynight after using my PC, the way I turn it off is Shutting down the PC then switching PSU off and lastly turning off my Powerstrip where the PSU is connected to. Is it safe if I keep the PSU switch on and then turn off my Powerstrip? Is it safe in terms of insurge everytime I turn on my Powerstrip? I have a Corsair CV550

[Hinjima]

5 minutes ago, AlloyJohn29 said:

So everynight after using my PC, the way I turn it off is Shutting down the PC then switching PSU off and lastly turning off my Powerstrip where the PSU is connected to. Is it safe if I keep the PSU switch on and then turn off my Powerstrip? Is it safe in terms of insurge everytime I turn on my Powerstrip? I have a Corsair CV550

A PSU is not designed to be switched off and on again all the time in the way you do.
Leave the PSU switch ON and you can do the same for the powerstrip.

I only unplug my stuff when there is a thunderstorm outside, even though I have protection against it.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Why are you flipping the switch? I'd just shut it down and don't touch the switch. Or just sleep it so it turns on much faster and leaves programs running.

[PowerPCFan]

1 minute ago, Hinjima said:

A PSU is not designed to be switched off and on again all the time in the way you do.

I used to flip the switch off every night for about 8 months but I stopped doing it recently, what damage can it cause? 

[AlloyJohn29]

1 minute ago, Hinjima said:

A PSU is not designed to be switched off and on again all the time in the way you do.
Leave the PSU switch ON and you can do the same for the powerstrip.

I only unplug my stuff when there is a thunderstorm outside, even though I have protection against it.

I mainly turn the powerstrip off because the stupid indicator lights are so damn bright, so is it fine if I turn on and off the powerstrip while PSU switch is on? 

[Hinjima]

Just now, AlloyJohn29 said:

I mainly turn the powerstrip off because the stupid indicator lights are so damn bright, so is it fine if I turn on and off the powerstrip while PSU switch is on? 

Sure, you can do that   I would just use tape over the indicator lights.

[AlloyJohn29]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Why are you flipping the switch? I'd just shut it down and don't touch the switch. Or just sleep it so it turns on much faster and leaves programs running.

I just do it for safety, there may be powersurges or thunderstorms while I'm sound asleep and really dont want my PC to be damaged. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 minutes ago, AlloyJohn29 said:

I just do it for safety, there may be powersurges or thunderstorms while I'm sound asleep and really dont want my PC to be damaged. 

I'd say thats pretty darn rare and not worth the hassle unless you know something specifically is happening that night.

[PowerPCFan]

5 minutes ago, AlloyJohn29 said:

I mainly turn the powerstrip off because the stupid indicator lights are so damn bright, so is it fine if I turn on and off the powerstrip while PSU switch is on? 

Finally I found someone with the same problem as me. The only reason I always shut down my PC, turned off the PSU, and unplugged everything is because they make those lights SO bright! 

 

I would use electrical tape, blocks light well and it's safe for use with electronics. 

[PowerPCFan]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

I'd say thats pretty darn rare and not worth the hassle unless you know something specifically is happening that night.

Sometimes I get power surges in the middle of the day for no reason. You never know!! (I live on the east coast of the US, not giving my exact location for obvious reasons!)

[AlloyJohn29]

3 minutes ago, PowerPCFan said:

Sometimes I get power surges in the middle of the day for no reason. You never know!! (I live on the east coast of the US, not giving my exact location for obvious reasons!)

This is what I'm worried about too, it is very unexpected to get power surges. But welp, it is what it is.

I'll keep the PSU on for now but still turn the powerstrip off and I'll update you guys if my PC explodes . Thanks for the quick replies! Appreciate it. 

[Hinjima]

9 minutes ago, AlloyJohn29 said:

This is what I'm worried about too, it is very unexpected to get power surges. But welp, it is what it is.

I'll keep the PSU on for now but still turn the powerstrip off and I'll update you guys if my PC explodes . Thanks for the quick replies! Appreciate it. 

In my 25 years of PC building and owning I have never turned my PSU off unless I am going to work on the PC..
Right now I don't even turn my PC off, I think last time I turned my PC off was in August =/

[HanZie82]

Just note, the PSU's of today have great capacitors that needs to be charged.
This is a huge spike/drain on the houses power system.
And also the constant charging and emptying fully isnt the best use for those capacitors.
But they should be rated for many power ons and power offs.

But all in all by flipping that switch you're introducing more points of failure.
Just reason for yourself if it outweighs the risk of leaving it connected.

And if you're really afraid of power surges, use a surge protecting power strip.
https://www.amazon.com/GE-Outlet-Protector-Extension-14092/dp/B00DOMYL24/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=Surge%2BProtectors&s=aht&sr=1-6&th=1

 

And also, just don't buy powerstrips with damn lights or switches in them.
They are the biggest point of failure on powerstrips.

[BakaDani]

I used to switch off my PSU when I would be gone for longer periods. What I learned the hard way is that is a perfect way to drain the CMOS battery on your motherboard. When your PSU is switched on, your motherboard draws very little power to keep volatile memory charged instead of using the battery. While on many motherboards, replacing the CMOS battery is easy and cheap, on many others it's a pain to get to (behind shielding, thicc GPU blocking it).

 

 

Personally, I only switch off my PSU when working on the PC or moving/unplugging the PC. I see others mentioning thunderstorms and can understand doing that as well, but in general you should get a surge protector for those concerns.

[mariushm]

Computer power supplies are actually made out of two power supplies, a very small one that provides stand-by power (behaves more or like your phone charger, it consumes practically nothing in idle) and the big power supply that's turned on only when you press the actual button on the case (or the BIOS can turn it on if it receives events  like mouse click or keyboard press, a special network packet coming to the network card - helpful for a network adminstrator to remotely turn on a computer to install updates to it for example - IF these are configured in bios)

 

This stand-by power supply is always on, even when you shut down the computer, and besides powering the chipset on the motherboard (so that it can monitor for power-on events as I explained above)

 

This stand-by power supply  also has the secondary purpose of taking over the role of keeping the bios settings and everything fresh by disconnecting the CR2032 battery installed on the motherboard, to extend that battery's life. If the power supply can't provide this stand-by power (because you unplug or flip that on/off switch), the battery has to be used.

The CR2032 battery is not rechargeable and will typically last for maybe less than a year, if it has to keep those settings without help from the power supply.

 

You don't have to replace that battery so often - it typically lasts for 5+ years, even 10 years - because while computer is running, the stand-by power supply takes over and while shut down and power supply is not turned on, it also keeps powering that circuit saving the battery.

 

So if you keep turning off the power supply, you may have to replace the CR2032 battery on the motherboard more often, could be even once every 6 months or so, depends on battery and motherboard.

 

Also keep in mind that those on/off buttons have a finite life, but usually it's quite big, like in the 5,000 - 10,000 cycles ...

 

TLDR ... you should only flip that on/off switch to protect your computer from bad weather, so if there's heavy storm outside or if you go away for some extended period of time but even then it would be safer to just unplug the power strip from the mains socket to have complete separation from the house electricity  - a lightning strike that manages to get into the house wiring can jump through the air over the button contacts even when the button is on the OFF position.

[Caroline]

As said, the switch will eventually break, but that'll only happen in like 5 years. It can be replaced, same applies to the switch in the strip, but people will often throw away things with broken switches, and that's how I get my hands on them heh.

 

7 hours ago, AlloyJohn29 said:

I just do it for safety, there may be powersurges or thunderstorms while I'm sound asleep and really dont want my PC to be damaged. 

After losing not one but 2 (lame quality) power supplies to night surges I can only recommend switching off and unplugging. Don't straight unplug while leaving the switch on because it'll make a spark when you plug it back in (due to inrush current), and eventually burn the plug pins and socket contacts.

 

If storms are normal where you live do unplug, they are where I live and there's a lot of lightning so I also unplug the modem and landline wire going to it.

My UPS comes with a circuit breaker so I flip that off and then unplug it, as it's a standard component I can go ahead and replace it with a similar one in the rare case the inner mechanism becomes loose, it's around 10 years old now and it's still working, breakers are pretty sturdy compared to regular rocker switches.

 

The CMOS battery will drain but it's just a few cents for a battery that will last you for the whole year vs having to replace a power supply or the entire PC if a lightning hits the power lines.

 

I also find the status LEDs annoying ^^

[AlloyJohn29]

Wow, thanks for the fast replies guys!

I'm going to buy a new powerstrip with surge protection and built-in safety breaker. I'm also going to buy a simple AVR and a new cable for my PSU which has a fuse and is also connected to a fuse protected power adapter for further protection. Now I can keep my PSU switch on. 

Is it overkill? Yes

I don't mind spending for peace of mind. 

 

I Appreciate the advices and explanations! 

[Caroline]

Just to clarify. Fuses will not protect against surges, and most PSUs from reputable manufacturers already come with one. Having fuses wired in series will not increase protection against anything.

 

Some power strips come with a sort of resettable fuse, it works the same way as miniature circuit breakers (current = heat), but this only protects against shortcircuit conditions, it's only meant to protect the wiring from catching on fire, just like regular MCBs.

 

An AVR will only protect against brownouts and some spikes, depending on where you live you might find their ratings in VA or W, always look for the W rating as with this particular device VA isn't equal to W, you get... losses, it's complicated but if an AVR says 1000VA you'll only get around 550-600W of actual power out of it, so if your whole computer uses more than 550W you'll need a better AVR.

If regular brownouts aren't a problem then there's no need for one, it's a device for a specific issue, meant to power single input voltage appliances (say 230V only) or prevent things like lights (incandescents, non-electronic fluorescents, etc.) or motors from dimming during a sag. I use one, it's an older mechanical type AVR from around 1960 by the looks and weight of it, but my computer isn't plugged into it, only a pedestal fan and radio, back in the day it was meant for valve TVs that were very picky about their input voltage.

New AVRs are solid state and about a quarter of the size of mine, but I like it, comes with the needle voltmeters, neon lamp indicator and all.

 

If you have some money to burn go for an UPS, it comes with AVR circuitry, fuses and a bonus battery, all in one box. Large models might come with a breaker, but that's already in the realm of business/commercial devices.

[SansVarnic]

In older machines.. pre-1995 you had to turn the psu. but today just leave it on unless there is reason to do so, thermal shock is a thing and can damage a psu over time.