Case from plastic

[remzy]

I was thinking about making a case from plastic and I need some help. Could there be any interferences from other electrical signals that would otherwise be blocked if the case was from some kind of metal? 

[Naeaes]

1 minute ago, remzy said:

I was thinking about making a case from plastic and I need some help. Could there be any interferences from other electrical signals that would otherwise be blocked if the case was from some kind of metal? 

It can be dangerous:

The metal case is the grounding point in the PC. Should there be any short anywhere, it's grounded to the case and from there to the PSU casing and from there to the ground wire and there on.

Say, there's a short that connects the power button to the live AC wire. If the case was metal, the current would drain thought ground and blow a fuse before you even touched anything. But with plastic it'd keep the circuit open until you touched the button, drain though you to the ground and very likely kill you. There are no fuses built into the PSU itself. The fuse is either in the wire or in your fuse box in the apartment or both.

It can be super annoying:

A box made of thin sheet plastic acts much like the sound box in a guitar. Amplifies everything. Especially the continuous sounds like the humming from fans and such. So if you go there, insulate it with foam to keep the sound in check or make it of thick and hard plastic.

It causes cancer:

Not actually cancer, i think, but you suspect right. There's a health risk involved in prolonged use due to electromagnetic radiation. There's a very powerful electric magnet in the power supply. The PSU has it's own enclosure, but according to a bunch of studies, it's not enough. I only know this because a lot of boutique PC builders don't use windowed cases due to some EU regulations and I believe no OEM manufacturer has them either.

[Corrupt_Liberty]

2 minutes ago, Naeaes said:

It can be dangerous:

The metal case is the grounding point in the PC. Should there be any short anywhere, it's grounded to the case and from there to the PSU casing and from there to the ground wire and there on.

Say, there's a short that connects the power button to the live AC wire. If the case was metal, the current would drain thought ground and blow a fuse before you even touched anything. But with plastic it'd keep the circuit open until you touched the button, drain though you to the ground and very likely kill you. There are no fuses built into the PSU itself. The fuse is either in the wire or in your fuse box in the apartment or both.

It can be super annoying:

A box made of thin sheet plastic acts much like the sound box in a guitar. Amplifies everything. Especially the continuous sounds like the humming from fans and such. So if you go there, insulate it with foam to keep the sound in check or make it of thick and hard plastic.

It causes cancer:

Not actually cancer, i think, but you suspect right. There's a health risk involved in prolonged use due to electromagnetic radiation. There's a very powerful electric magnet in the power supply. The PSU has it's own enclosure, but according to a bunch of studies, it's not enough. I only know this because a lot of boutique PC builders don't use windowed cases due to some EU regulations and I believe no OEM manufacturer has them either.

A couple things...

• While the metal case is a ground, it's only use in a PC is to block electromagnetic fields generated by the computer.  The PSU itself is grounded and there are no harmful voltages outside of the PSU.  12V DC is the highest voltage you'd have to worry about and skin resistance is too high to allow it to pass.
• Sound will actually be less of an issue than in a cheap steel case. You won't have to worry about cheap steel panels rattling together and it certainly absorbs the noise better.
• There are no health concerns that have been proven due to exposure to EMF.  You will be exposed to more EMF during a 1 hour cell phone call or microwaving popcorn than you would be by a PC in a plastic case. And OEM's do manufacture PC's with windows.

However...

• EMF can affect other electronics (but probably won't be noticeable in most cases).  EX. Un-shielded speakers can pick up the EMF and relay it as sound.  Monitors can pick up the interference and show up as lines on a display (less of an issue with todays displays)
• Heat build-up can be an issue if you do not properly ventilate the case. Plastic is a poor conductor of heat and therefore all heat transfer must be handled by fans.  Fan grills also usually have more restriction in a plastic case because the slots cannot be made as large and close together as they are in steel.
• Dust management will be a pain.  You will be constantly cleaning your case.

All that being said, there are several acrylic cases already on the market.  Check out FrozenCPU or Performance PC's.