Careful when handling a PSU

[Foxxer]

Long story short, a friend of mine wanted to upgrade / mod his PSU by adding couple of LED and basically a better fan, the PSU was running for the past weeks. So he started disassembling the case and I told him to wait for it to discharge by itself. That idiot didn't listen and he said by shorting the capacitors your off the hook, what happened next wasn't funny, seconds later all I saw after the screwdriver fell off, a huge blue arc that hits the wall and splits into two and fades, and lots of smoke, this happened so fast we couldn't react lol. He got away this time, now all of you fellas out there please be cautious. Take your time and don't rush. Feels bad to see a nice PSU going away. 

[TheNinjaNextDor]

I thought he was going to get electrocuted. Too bad.

[Foxxer]

I thought he was going to get electrocuted. Too bad.

 

I wish he did, so he learns from his stupidity. 

[Rorgash]

it takes like 3s for your computer to drain the PSU after you flip the switch.. and maybe a few more to make sure there isnt even a little left... wow..

[mrogicom]

Scarry story. I know that a PSU can hold a charge for several years, so i would suggest just leaving them as they are.

[Manny Calavera]

He didnt get electrocuted?

 

Punch him instead.

[Foxxer]

it takes like 3s for your computer to drain the PSU after you flip the switch.. and maybe a few more to make sure there isnt even a little left... wow..

 

I learnt it the hard way, I was changing my A/C unit running capacitor it was abit dark, and flop. I got shocked. My bones felt weak specially the joints and my whole arm was numb for 15 minutes. 

[Manny Calavera]

it takes like 3s for your computer to drain the PSU after you flip the switch.. and maybe a few more to make sure there isnt even a little left... wow..

 

Scarry story. I know that a PSU can hold a charge for several years, so i would suggest just leaving them as they are.

3s = several years?

[Rorgash]

3s = several years?

maybe if you power it without having it plugged into anything, otherwise you will see the LED's on your mobo go out after a few s

[Blade of Grass]

Please, take caution whenever dealing with AC electronics, just because they're unplugged, does not mean they do not still have power in them: http://www.today.com/tech/teen-electrocuted-while-taking-apart-unplugged-computer-1C6365434?franchiseSlug=todaytechmain

[Tech_Dreamer]

IT'S A SIGN!! THE END IS NEAR!!! :blink:

 

 

 

on the otherhand, glad to know no one got hurt. when you said huge, how huge? i mean put something for scale as for how big it was? :mellow:

[Foxxer]

IT'S A SIGN!! THE END IS NEAR!!! :blink:

 

 

 

on the otherhand, glad to know no one got hurt. when you said huge, how huge? i mean put something for scale as for how big it was? :mellow:

 

Roughly around a finger. It was so fast and blue-ish lol Might be smaller but the speed it traveled made it longer I guess.

[atrash]

What I would normally do after powering down my PC and turning off the power supply is to hit the pc on button several times until I feel satisfied that the power supply has been properly discharged.

[Recon-UK]

I regularly clean my PSU's, you must drain the PSU with components still plugged in, switch the unit off if it has a switch, also remove power lead, turn the PC on.

Touch your PC case and you are good to go, you should never have to touch the internals of a power supply!

[Nickolas47]

Long story short, a friend of mine wanted to upgrade / mod his PSU by adding couple of LED and basically a better fan, the PSU was running for the past weeks. So he started disassembling the case and I told him to wait for it to discharge by itself. That idiot didn't listen and he said by shorting the capacitors your off the hook, what happened next wasn't funny, seconds later all I saw after the screwdriver fell off, a huge blue arc that hits the wall and splits into two and fades, and lots of smoke, this happened so fast we couldn't react lol. He got away this time, now all of you fellas out there please be cautious. Take your time and don't rush. Feels bad to see a nice PSU going away. 

and thats how inFamous started...

[lukeptba]

Lol reminds me of when I made a taser out of a few disposable cameras following a guide from a BBS. That shit used to shock so hard it cut your skin open... Why would you start opening a psu without even earthing it?

[Sauron]

The lesson to be had here is the following: either mod your psu when it's brand new and you never plugged it in, or don't try. there's no reason to risk electrocution for a couple of fancy lights.

[MG2R]

Was the PSU still plugged in? Otherwise, I'm not buying the story.

 

EDIT: even when plugged, it would be highly unlikely that an arc appeared between the PSU and the wall

[dionkoffie]

never, ever modify or just open a psu. Just dont do it! unless you want to be dead.... Like linus said: ´A PSU is some serious business´

[ColourShift]

I always ground myself, and I'm also careful when handling any components of a PC. 

[AlwaysFSX]

maybe if you power it without having it plugged into anything, otherwise you will see the LED's on your mobo go out after a few s

Just because the lights go out doesn't mean the parts aren't still holding a charge.

[The Crazed Child]

This is why electricity scares me even though I work with computers all the time. I would never open a PSU even if I knew that the caps had discharged.

[dionkoffie]

I did it once and i will never do it again.

 

It was a brand new psu 450 watt from idk. I wanted to change the fan because it was too loud so I did it and it worked.

but..

 

after 10 seconds the whole pc just turns off and nothing is happening. I opened the side panel and.....

 

FIRE (just a small flame, my house wasnt on fire)

 

That moment I unplugged all the cables and I blew it out. After that I took the PSU out my pc and placed it outside my house in a big shopping bagg.

 

I was so scared I didnt touched anything of my pc for a month. 

 

Just warn you guys, dont fuck around with it.

[Syntaxvgm]

I modify power supplies all of the time. It's perfectly ok to do. You just need to be careful and know what you are doing exactly what you are doing. This isn't something you learn by doing, nor is it something for the average PC builder. It's seriously dangerous if you are not prepared. Serious research is needed before you think of taking  a tool to a power supply. 

Not only should you be grounded and insulated, you need a dead man's switch. I have a petal that I have to hold down to allow power through. When I test a power supply after doing something to it, I don't have to touch it to turn it off, just lift my foot.  Even if it is something that is simply as replacing a fan, you could have shorted something somehow.

Also keep in mind that a lot of PSUs have a minimum load- jumping them without a connected device can cause problems. Namely fire. Not all power supplies are like this but a lot still are.  Always research the minimum load of your power supply before jumping it. 

[lukeptba]

never, ever modify or just open a psu. Just dont do it! unless you want to be dead.... Like linus said: ´A PSU is some serious business´

Well that's bullshit.

Of course you can mod a psu, I assume he said that so that people don't go opening their psu while it's plugged in, licking a capacitor or something. The stupidity of some people should never be underestimated and as such it's easier to tell people who were previously not thinking about modding their psu to not try it anyway.

 

Just keep a clamp tester and a multimeter handy and make sure you've earthed it and unplugged it first and then if you're confident in what you're doing you can have a go at modding it. Plenty of people replace their psu fans with better quality alternatives, it's just easier to not encourage others to do so because eventually someone will do something stupid and try to blame someone else.