Removing PSU pcb for compact build, safe?

[HunterSailor]

Greetings

I'm in the middle of building a compact media player for my parents out of old pc hardware.

For this project I'm building everything custom so i wanted to know whether it's safe to remove the pcb from the power supply to save space.

I'm doing this to remove unused space and reuse old hardware so I'm not planning to buy a sfx psu.

If i do this is there anything that i should keep in mind?

[comicsansms]

Umm. Don't. 1, unless it's some low end shit, it's going to be just as big as the casing it's in. 2. it's quite dangerous.

 

Really, DO NOT!!!

[networkArchitect]

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "remove the PCB?" Do you mean to remove the metal case from the power supply, and just have the bare PCB exposed while it's running? 

 

If that is what you mean, I would recommend you not do this, ever, unless you are sure you know what you are doing. There are quite a lot of points on the inner-workings of a power supply that will be energized at line voltage whenever the power supply is plugged in. For example, the solder joints on the bottom of the PCB will be live. The heat sinks that have the main switching transistor on them will be live! I repeat, touching the bare heatsinks when the power supply is plugged in will cause a fatal electric shock.

 

This is overall a very bad idea. The casing is there to protect you, and any space savings you might get will be extremely small. 

[HunterSailor]

1 minute ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Umm. Don't. 1, unless it's some low end shit, it's going to be just as big as the casing it's in. 2. it's quite dangerous.

 

Really, DO NOT!!!

But in doing so I'm actually saving space. Also it's some old end psu.

[comicsansms]

Just now, titaniumshield said:

But in doing so I'm actually saving space. Also it's some old end psu.

Don't. Just don't. I cannot stress this enough. It's dangerous (potentially leathal), sounds like you don't know what you are doing. And have I said that it is potentially leathal?

 

Two, if the PSU doesn't take up all the space in the casing, that shows something about the quality, and probably even more of a reason not to open up.

[Bananasplit_00]

As mentioned, a lot of the internals are live at mains voltage, but what hasn't been mentioned is that the rest is, even when not plugged in, still potentially lethal. There are some big ass caps that you do not want to have discharged into you, the rest of the system, or the ones that will use this computer. Get a pico PSU or something, because from what I am reading, you do not seem like an electrical engineer really and are probably not qualified to do this stuff.

[RollinLower]

You're suggesting to remove the protective casing from a high wattage transformer. You could kill people with this idea. DON'T

[comicsansms]

12 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

As mentioned, a lot of the internals are live at mains voltage

*Higher than mains voltage

[HunterSailor]

47 minutes ago, networkArchitect said:

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "remove the PCB?" Do you mean to remove the metal case from the power supply, and just have the bare PCB exposed while it's running? 

 

If that is what you mean, I would recommend you not do this, ever, unless you are sure you know what you are doing. There are quite a lot of points on the inner-workings of a power supply that will be energized at line voltage whenever the power supply is plugged in. For example, the solder joints on the bottom of the PCB will be live. The heat sinks that have the main switching transistor on them will be live! I repeat, touching the bare heatsinks when the power supply is plugged in will cause a fatal electric shock.

 

This is overall a very bad idea. The casing is there to protect you, and any space savings you might get will be extremely small. 

I understand, what I'm gonna ask now might sound stupid and yes I'm not qualified to do this but i there any possibility that i can keep the casing of the psu where it is attached to the pcb and cut the casing from the top and cover it with a thick acrylic sheet to make it a low profile one. Can i do that?

Forgive me for my lack of knowledge about doing so, i just want to know.

[HunterSailor]

1 hour ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Don't. Just don't. I cannot stress this enough. It's dangerous (potentially leathal), sounds like you don't know what you are doing. And have I said that it is potentially leathal?

 

Two, if the PSU doesn't take up all the space in the casing, that shows something about the quality, and probably even more of a reason not to open up.

I understand, what I'm gonna ask now might sound stupid and yes I'm not qualified to do this but i there any possibility that i can keep the casing of the psu where it is attached to the pcb and cut the casing from the top and cover it with a thick acrylic sheet to make it a low profile one. Can i do that?

Forgive me for my lack of knowledge about doing so, i just want to know.

[Bananasplit_00]

1 hour ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

*Higher than mains voltage

really? why does it pump it up? im not all that into PSUs but i know VRMs and this should be the same thing mostly id think, no?

36 minutes ago, titaniumshield said:

I understand, what I'm gonna ask now might sound stupid and yes I'm not qualified to do this but i there any possibility that i can keep the casing of the psu where it is attached to the pcb and cut the casing from the top and cover it with a thick acrylic sheet to make it a low profile one. Can i do that?

Forgive me for my lack of knowledge about doing so, i just want to know.

you can, but you could die in the process if you touch the wrong things, which is basically most of the PCB

[Sovek]

Get a Pico PSU, seriously.... if its just a sub 200W system (I.E. no high end GPU) a pico PSU will be enough. Also, keep in mind that part of the space that the PSU takes up is a much needed FAN!