Should i turn off power button of my PSU?

Unproductive Guy · March 1

I ended up buying a 1200VA fast-charging Prolink 1201SFCU UPS, I've never use UPS before. I wonder if, when I turn off my PC, should I also turn off the UPS but still plug it into the wall? I've read many forums where people suggest keeping the UPS connected to the wall, but there's a debate about whether to power it on or off.

Here's the thing: my house has a grounding issue, causing static electricity to shock me when I touch my PC cases even when its not turned on but still plugged into my UPS. So, I wonder if it's recommended to turn off the UPS while I leave my system if i go to sleep mode or when it's not in use.

I also found a forum that said I should turn it off, but it was about APC UPS, not Prolink. Does anyone have knowledge about Prolink UPS or any thing could helped out and whether it's better to keep it on or turn it off when the PC is not in use? sorry for my housing grounding problem, my country had these weird "trend" so not many houses installed grounding on their houses.

OddOod · March 1

Wow, that's.... terrifying.
The lack of grounding does reduce your options pretty significantly. If you are handy and lucky, you might be able to ground to your house water supply. Wouldn't recommend that but I'm pretty sure it would be less unsafe.
As for UPS strategy, honestly, I'd leave it alone and just flip the power switch on the the PSU which should (depending on the make and model of PSU) completely isolate the PSU from house power.
The static charging is a bit mystifying. Are you getting zapped by other electronics in your house? Do you have a lot of dry air or carpets in your house?

Unproductive Guy · March 1

2 hours ago, OddOod said:

Wow, that's.... terrifying.
The lack of grounding does reduce your options pretty significantly. If you are handy and lucky, you might be able to ground to your house water supply. Wouldn't recommend that but I'm pretty sure it would be less unsafe.
As for UPS strategy, honestly, I'd leave it alone and just flip the power switch on the the PSU which should (depending on the make and model of PSU) completely isolate the PSU from house power.
The static charging is a bit mystifying. Are you getting zapped by other electronics in your house? Do you have a lot of dry air or carpets in your house?

I'm only experiencing static on my PC and monitor cable, and I also feel it when I touch my monitor's VGA cable. I don't use a carpet. the floor is ceramic, and the UPS is placed on a small table aboev the floor, not directly touching the ceramic surface. I'm not sure about the humidity level.

>>> Since you mentioned i need to turn it on, and If I leave the UPS on, should I unplug my PC and monitor instead? is it safe to do that like unplug and plug when i need to use pc? when my PC and monitor are turned off, the static is still present. I plan to fix the grounding issue but not soon.

Caroline · March 2

That shouldn't happen and wasn't earthing related. Did a qualified electrician gave you that info or are you simply guessing/reading stuff on reddit? Static and leaking power aren't the same, static only shocks you once, if you have bad wiring then it shocks you for as long as you touch it.

On 3/1/2024 at 11:21 PM, Unproductive Guy said:

, my country had these weird "trend" so not many houses installed grounding on their houses.

Soviet style huh? I had the same issue, but here's the catch: we don't have earthed sockets or plugs, so it couldn't be that kind of fault, turned out it was due to a literal hundred years of electricians coming to "fix" stuff and using whatever wires they could find to add spurs, new lights, etc. to the point the entire upper half of the house was powered from a single junction box in the living room. We had cloth insulation, random 60s rubber wiring, my room had exclusively yellow wires for some reason, the ceiling fan didn't work, and turning the light on would cause the staircase lights to stop working, and of course my computer would shock me if I was barefoot.

I rewired everything one room at a time during the pandemic and now the shocking issue is gone, not sure which of the wiring messes was causing it, but it's fixed now so that did it (^人^) now it's all proper splices and I even used different colours for the wires, red and black my beloved.

I always suggest calling a qualified professional to do an inspection and fix the issue, the "just don't touch it" advice would help if you're really broke but it's not ideal.