Cleaning PC fan...

niceguyrichy

Quincy wrote:

As seen as nobody knows the OPs level of competency its best to play safe and unplug the PC, also I have had a belt from a digital camera capacitor so a PC is a tad more risky IMHO.



Proposterous or not I value life more than a PC

bleh, biggest jolt you'd get from a pc would only wake you up a little

never ever gonna kill you.

Quincy_3

niceguyrichy wrote:

bleh, biggest jolt you'd get from a pc would only wake you up a little

never ever gonna kill you.

Its the falling back and smacking your head on the sideboard is the one to watch for.

marka87uk

Quincy wrote:

As seen as nobody knows the OPs level of competency its best to play safe and unplug the PC, also I have had a belt from a digital camera capacitor so a PC is a tad more risky IMHO.

I thought a camera capacitor actually stored quite a lot of voltage... In the hundreds of volts I think?

niceguyrichy

marka87uk wrote:

I thought a camera capacitor actually stored quite a lot of voltage... In the hundreds of volts I think?

damn right.
I used to develope films for a living, and those dispossable jobs with the flash could give you a proper good zap if you weren't carefull opening them up :eek:

incidently much worse than anything you'd get off the inside of a comp

Quincy_3

Jeez it burnt me blooming finger a treat, never again.

moonrakerz

My answer was perfectly simple, although obviously far too complex for niceguyrichy. To be completely safe when working on anything powered by a high voltage - unplug it first.
The reason I made the original post was, that very morning an electrician pointed out to me that the socket he was adding extra sockets to WAS wired incorrectly. For the last twenty years anything plugged into that socket was live, even when the switch on the wall was "OFF". I don't think that is too difficult to understand.

Could I suggest a suitable epitaph for niceguyrichy's tombstone ?

"It's OK, the power's off" (Assuming the Great White didn't get him first !)

The basis of your electrical knowledge is based on taking films out of disposable cameras ? I'll stick with pulling the plug out !

Hope my post was of use to someone !

niceguyrichy

yes , but do you understand what a PSU does??

even if you are unlucky enough to have a badly wired socket (I wire all mine myself so I know they're all ok), the most that'll ever get you inside your pc is 12V (and only if you're supremely unlucky).

moonrakerz

niceguyrichy wrote:

yes , but do you understand what a PSU does??

even if you are unlucky enough to have a badly wired socket (I wire all mine myself so I know they're all ok), the most that'll ever get you inside your pc is 12V (and only if you're supremely unlucky).

I am sorry to "pull rank" but I am a qualified electrical engineer, thus I do know what a PSU is, and how the many different types work.

Your sockets may be wired correctly - but is the moulded plug on the appliance ? Yours could be the " Friday afternoon" PC. Did your wife break the plug and replace it, without telling you, and get the brown and blue mixed up ?

Many years ago I heard of someone (and I know this be true !) who was poking around in a 440V motor starter with a pencil - holding it by the point, and it didn't have a rubber (sorry - eraser) on the end. He survived, but learnt a very painful lesson.
The point I am trying to make is that there are some people who will poke a pencil, or a jeweller's screwdriver, through the grille on the PSU. I know this should perhaps qualify them for a "Darwin award" but I would feel happier if they pulled the plug out first.

My son is an industrial abseiler, the chance of his rope breaking is infinitesimally small, but he still uses two ropes. To me, pulling the plug out is that second rope !

Don't forget:- if the voltage is high enough, you don't have to go to it - it will come to you !

niceguyrichy

feel free to pull rank, I'm a comp tech, so i feel I know a think or 2 myself

and imo, anyone stupid enough to poke a conductive item into a power supply deserves to get the shock of their damn life

djohn2002uk

Another one here who spent 90% of his working life in the electrical industries, commercial and domestic and I go along 100% with moonrakerz, in fact I go so far as to say that as no one knows anything about the OP except that he's afraid of electrocuting himself, then niceguyrichies advice is downright dangerous. Telling someone who obviously doesn't know the difference between a power supply (which also contains a fan) and any other part of the PC, that it's OK to take the cover off and have a poke around is both foolhardy and irresponsible.
Worse still, it could have dire consequences, not only for the OP but for this site and (if he really is in the trade) niceguyrichy.