Person dies from electrocution after fixing and unplugged computer.

  • Thread starter Gdog96
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What is there to sell inside a power supply? Why not just sell the whole PSU as one unit and not risk getting electrocuted?

Still, a shocking death.
 
What an electrifying story, but I'm not shocked that he didn't know what he was doing. With a lot of these people, it just doesn't compute that they may not know everything.
 
Let me guess... he touched a capacitor inside a PSU or a CRT monitor. Those things should only be repaired by actual repairmen...
 
NissanSkylineN1
Let me guess... he touched a capacitor inside a PSU or a CRT monitor. Those things should only be repaired by actual repairmen...
Click to expand...

This.

This should be common knowledge that you NEVER under ANY circumstance touch those things. The amount of charge those things hold is unbelievable, especially in a CPU power supply.

Shame this has happened but to be honest who hasn't pulled apart an electrical device at some point in their life because they had an 'I can fix it' attitude.
 
Isn't it possible to discharge the capacitors?

Can't imagine what his family is going through.
 
It is possible to discharge them by grounding, but its kinda tricky. Capacitors all have different speeds and capacities...so you don't really know when its drained unless you use a voltmeter. and when a kid looks at one and says "Oh, its only 100 microfarads!" and goes and touches while discharging. Bam. He's shocked.
 
It's sad, but it should be commen sense how far you should go with or without special training.
I'm a trained electrician, but even I let my fingers off circuits I have no idea about e.g. high voltage systems.
 
I thaught it was common knowledge to not tinker around with capacitators....

I also opened my PSU when it fried, because back in the days they had swappable fuses, but rarely do nowadays.
Thermaltake has lifetime warrenty on PSU (which I also only found out after mine burnt and after opening it :lol:). So it isn't worth opening at all anymore.

But maybe just maybe, the boy was knowing what he was doing and it all was a stupid accident.
I knew a guy who did know about spare electronics and built his own PCB...

Also this:
who hasn't pulled apart an electrical device at some point in their life because they had an 'I can fix it' attitude.
Click to expand...
this most of the time, gives us great knowlegde
 
kikie
Isn't it possible to discharge the capacitors?
Click to expand...

Yes, and it's one of the first things they teach you in electronics schools. You use a device called a shorting bar. Nothing fancy, just a piece of metal with an insulated handle, a wire and a clip.

I've worked on equipment that can take a chunk off the end of a quarter inch screwdriver.
 
It's truly a sad thing. This has happened before in my area. When a cardiac arrest happens it's not funny at all.
 
Can you get electrocuted in the same way if yo touch a capacitor on a GPU or motherboard for example, even when unplugged, or is it just power supplies and CRTs?
 
A GPU has only supply for 3.5V, 5V or 12V, like most of the other components in your PC.
It's like touching a car battery, the resistance of your body is too high, that a dangerous current could flow.
In a 230V part e.g. the PSU or a CRT that's a different story.
 
^ Voltage isn't necessarily what kills you. It the amperage.
 
Gdog96
Can you get electrocuted in the same way if yo touch a capacitor on a GPU or motherboard for example, even when unplugged, or is it just power supplies and CRTs?
Click to expand...

The capacitors on the motherboard and GPU's are not a problem. It's the big caps in the PSU(sometimes the size of a golf ball or larger) or CRT that are a problem. The caps hold a charge(which is the reason why a PC would flash a led for a second if you were to try to boot it without it plugged in the outlet) and the larger the size the more charge(Amps) it can hold. Which would explain why someone can get killed by touching a part in a PSU.
 
Sad loss for the family.
Lesson here guys, if you don't know enough about electrical circuits don't try to fix it yourself.

I am wondering if the poor kid had a heart condition though that contributed to this.

Cheers Shaun.
 
Nothing inside the PC has enough voltage (3V,5V,12V) or even amperage to kill you, its only really whats inside the PSU that you have to watch out for.

Usually unplugging the machine then pressing the power button a few times discharges the PSU's capacitors quite well but they are never really safe to fiddle around with. In theory if he had gotten a shock with the PSU still plugged in the wall but not ON he probably would have survived because it would have been grounded.
 
Robin.
Nothing inside the PC has enough voltage (3V,5V,12V) or even amperage to kill you, its only really whats inside the PSU that you have to watch out for.

Usually unplugging the machine then pressing the power button a few times discharges the PSU's capacitors quite well but they are never really safe to fiddle around with. In theory if he had gotten a shock with the PSU still plugged in the wall but not ON he probably would have survived because it would have been grounded.
Click to expand...

As TB mentioned it's the current (amperes) that kills not the voltage.

You need both though for it to be fatal, think of the voltage as the pressure that pushes the current through. A good example is a car battery capable of delivering around 400 odd cold cranking amps. Put your arm across it and you'll be fine. The 12v doesn't have the grunt so to speak to overcome your bodies resitance. Now if you where to put a wire coathanger (low resistance) across the terminals expect some fireworks.

In the above scenario replace the 12v with 240v and with 400 amps you are toast.

As for discharging a cap, yeah you can short it out but if it's big enough be sure to wearing good gloves and safety glasses. The better way is to use a suitable resistor across it to discharge the stored energy.

Don't think I'm calling you out Robin, I'm not. Just that your first sentence was a little mis-leading. You may also know everything I've just typed anyway ;).

Cheers Shaun.
 
I currently am doing a course on computer maintenance, and first rule is even before moving a computer, make sure there are Anti-Static Mats and ESD Electrostatic wrist bands, both rubber objects to put down to make sure any static charge is safely channeled away.
 
Furinkazen
I currently am doing a course on computer maintenance, and first rule is even before moving a computer, make sure there are Anti-Static Mats and ESD Electrostatic wrist bands, both rubber objects to put down to make sure any static charge is safely channeled away.
Click to expand...

It's not ESD that killed him, it was the huge charge held in the caps. ESD kills components, not people.
 
Very sad to hear. However, I think we all know that it was more than likely his own fault, not taking proper safety precautions...

Says the guy who often pulls PSU's apart and takes all kinds of shortcuts and risks to get the job done... just ignore me.
 

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