16-year-old killed by unplugged PSU while fixing family PC - Polidicks

[QUOTE=koeniginator;37979006]well technically it doesn't say anything about it being dangerous it just says it's pointless to open[/QUOTE] The exclamation point and lightning bolt are meant to be pretty obvious danger warnings.

PSU filter capacitors still hold enough charge to kill you even when things are unplugged. Sometimes they can have even MORE than what comes out of your outlet. If you're probing something like this and can't be arsed to discharge the caps (Shorting the terminals with some insulated wire, or a resistor) you should at LEAST have one hand in your back pocket. It's the current across the heart that kills ya. Capacitors are these things: [thumb]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5j9uQwode_A/TlEWI8BrEZI/AAAAAAAAAeI/sKfzsQ1DBDI/s1600/capa1.jpg[/thumb]

[QUOTE=SPESSMEHREN;37978812] [B]Power storage boxes[/B] are inexpensive to replace, Bradshaw said.[/QUOTE]WHAT THE FUCK This reporter is a retard. [editline]9th October 2012[/editline] Also has he seen one of them 1000W Corsairs? Damn, expensive.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;37979166]I don't touch PSUs with a ten feet pole and I got semi-serious education on electronics those things plan my demise at night[/QUOTE] I had a noname brand PSU explode and throw bits of molten metal at me when working on a friends computer. Cheap power supplies. Not even once.

Haha I feel really lucky right now. I opened up an old PSU a few weeks ago to see if I could hide something in it.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;37979258]I had a noname brand PSU explode and throw bits of molten metal at me when working on a friends computer. Cheap power supplies. Not even once.[/QUOTE] this is equally scary: [img]http://bitwisecomputerrepair.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/exploded-cd-e1298690084324.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;37979258]I had a noname brand PSU explode and throw bits of molten metal at me when working on a friends computer. Cheap power supplies. Not even once.[/QUOTE]My friend's iBUYPOWER has a power supply made by Coonix. Heard of them? Me neither. Their website has no Web Of Trust rating and they have no Wikipedia page. Needless to say he's replacing it as soon as possible. [editline]9th October 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Sandvich;37979268]Haha I feel really lucky right now. I opened up an old PSU a few weeks ago to see if I could hide something in it.[/QUOTE]What, your cumsock? [editline]9th October 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Ownederd;37979282]this is equally scary: [img]http://bitwisecomputerrepair.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/exploded-cd-e1298690084324.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]Replied to thumb.

[QUOTE=Naaz;37979287]My friend's iBUYPOWER has a power supply made by Coonix. Heard of them? Me neither. Their website has no Web Of Trust rating and they have no Wikipedia page. Needless to say he's replacing it as soon as possible.[/QUOTE] this was the PSU i had in my first "gaming" computer [IMG]http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-39083765508394_2229_501225834[/IMG] needless to say, i replaced it with a antec modular psu in a year because it failed, and continued to build new computers from scratch that day . 580w power suppy

[QUOTE=DesolateGrun;37979185]aren't you supposed to unplug it then press the power button to get rid of the charge[/QUOTE] I think the article was trying to convey that he took apart the PSU itself, which isn't something you should do in the first place

He was probably trying to assemble a super ultra mega extreme modded PSU out of his leftover parts. It IS possible to work with capacitors that hold massive charges, like the ones in old TVs, but you have to discharge them first. If he didn't know that, or didn't know how to discharge them, he shouldn't have been working on a project like that. I bet he won't do it again.

[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;37979357] I bet he won't do it again.[/QUOTE] He's dead.

[QUOTE=Naaz;37979227] Also has he seen one of them 1000W Corsairs? Damn, expensive.[/QUOTE] unless you're running some triple sli setup with a crazy overclocked cpu then you really have no use for a 1000w psu

[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;37979357]He was probably trying to assemble a super ultra mega extreme modded PSU out of his leftover parts. It IS possible to work with capacitors that hold massive charges, like the ones in old TVs, but you have to discharge them first. If he didn't know that, or didn't know how to discharge them, he shouldn't have been working on a project like that. I bet he won't do it again.[/QUOTE]He won't do it again because he's dead.

[QUOTE=Ownederd;37979282]this is equally scary: [img]http://bitwisecomputerrepair.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/exploded-cd-e1298690084324.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] At least when that happens you don't get red hot bits of metal landing on your crotch and forearms. Although I have to admit the sound is freaking terrifying.

How long do power supply caps usually retain their charge for?

[QUOTE=laserguided;37979492]How long do power supply caps usually retain their charge for?[/QUOTE] Anywhere from hours to weeks.

[QUOTE=SPESSMEHREN;37978812] "Too many things are inside that can actually get you hurt," Bradshaw said. "There's some ways that you can get shocked with any electrical device. But if you don't have any basic training, it makes no sense to go inside and do it." [/QUOTE] The only thing that's going to hurt you inside a contemporary computer case is the capacitors in the PSU, as happened here. So as long as you're not cracking open the PSU and diving in without thinking or jumping the rails that go to the motherboard you'll be fine [editline]10th October 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=dass;37978982]Do they mean "disconnect the PSU" or actually "disassemble the PSU itself"? Like, opening it up and starting to remove parts from the inside? If its the latter, then all is explained. [B]Kid had to be an idiot. [/B]Even actual professionals are scared shitless of messing with the interior of PSUs.[/QUOTE] Not necessarily an idiot; ignorance is not stupidity. Many people don't know that PSUs carry charge when the machine is switched off. If he, like so many of us, learned how to build computers from friends, discharging capacitors often isn't something that gets mentioned unless you specifically are discussing opening the PSU. If he'd known about this and said 'fuck it I'll be alright yolo' then yes, he's an idiot. Otherwise he's just ignorant. I've also seen PSUs (often those cheaper ones) that don't have warning labels on the side. [editline]10th October 2012[/editline] I'm actually quite lucky, I think; a friend and I found a cardboard box on the side of the road when we were about 14. There was a CRT and a little stick of RAM in it; everything was a little soggy. I put the RAM in the hot water cupboard and a few weeks later installed it; worked fine. But with the monitor we figured it wouldn't dry out very easily, so we might as well open it up and have a mess around. Either, by some miracle, we didn't touch the big chunky capacitors at the back of the tube or it had discharged itself previously.

Sounds like something my dad would do. Everything that breaks, he has to take it apart and try to fix it himself. Once a computer in my dad's shop stopped working, so he traced the problem to the PSU but didn't stop there, he just went on and opened the thing up and dumped it all for me to figure out but I just went and found the manufacturer of it and ordered a new one. Pretty shitty PSU though, it's some small one specially made for a brand of really small pre-built computers but they died really quickly; now I just go and build him computers from cheap parts on Newegg. $20 cases and $8 keyboards are the best thing since sliced bread for budget computers.

Oh crap, I used to be really curious about my old computer that broke when I was 12, I ended up taking apart the PSU to check out what was inside Glad to be alive

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;37979258]I had a noname brand PSU explode and throw bits of molten metal at me when working on a friends computer. Cheap power supplies. Not even once.[/QUOTE] I was over at my friend's place when I smelled something burning. I couldn't see anything in the room but his dad's computer. Suddenly the fucker bursts into flames and I grab their fire extinguisher and put it out. Upon looking, the whole top/back of the case blew out.

If it was my parents, they'd be like "ban computers"... and thus my siblings would never enjoy vidya games ever again :(

[QUOTE=MIPS;37978895]I've worked on the power supplies in high-end supercomputers. The 150A on the +5v rail will seriously fuck.you.up.[/QUOTE] Like... ...Will you become high?

[QUOTE=Andokool12;37979796]Like... ...Will you become high?[/QUOTE] You won't get high, but you'll go six feet lower.

[QUOTE=Andokool12;37979796]Like... ...Will you become high?[/QUOTE] how do you get high on 150A unless you are a robot

"proficient with computers" my ass he was, you unplug the psu, hold power button on pc for several seconds. Drains the charge.

[QUOTE=Amplar;37979959]"proficient with computers" my ass he was, you unplug the psu, hold power button on pc for several seconds. Drains the charge.[/QUOTE] Or, you know, never take the PSU apart? There's pretty much no reason to ever take that risk for anything.

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stop popping those covers off. I know how to drain the charge and what parts store said charge. It isn't rocket science. [QUOTE=Paradox621;37978876]What possesses someone to strip down a PSU? If you're at the point that you have to salvage individual parts from other power supplies, might be time to invest in a new one.[/QUOTE] Money, usually. I've replaced the fan in mine twice now. I cannot afford a brand new $80 unit and I do not trust a $40 unit to work without frying everything else...after all if an $80 power supply is too expensive the $500 mobo/CPU/Ram assembly is waayy too expensive. So I fix the one I have now. You can also prolong it's life by pulling the cover off and cleaning the heatsinks, which is also something I do. A lot of people don't do this and let their PSU get so dust-clogged it overheats and dies.

[QUOTE=Winner;37980002]Isn't there almost always an LED to indicate when the charge is gone?[/QUOTE] I'm guessing he wasn't exactly working with higher end equipment that has features like this, (not that something like that is common).

[QUOTE=Amplar;37979959]"proficient with computers" my ass he was, you unplug the psu, hold power button on pc for several seconds. Drains the charge.[/QUOTE] That sounds like a pretty risky way of doing it and one that relies on the mobo having the right circuitry surrounding the on/off/standby switch. Personally I'd manually discharge them to be safe.

[QUOTE=Winner;37980002]Isn't there almost always an LED to indicate when the charge is gone?[/QUOTE] Not always. Some motherboards have one that lights up if there's power in the system but not all of them.