Safety is key!

n3rdych1ck · 12-30-2005, 11:35 PM

Just a reminder to everyone who enjoys working on their own hardware. Remember to unplug your equipment before opening it! no need to put yourself in danger and get an electrical shock! I'm only bringing this up because my fiance is working on his amplifier and I'm worried. He and electronics haven't gotten along in the past.

l4zy · 01-01-2006, 09:37 AM

Extremlely important , i have once opened my cabinet with the power on though , just for kicks.. ain't gonna do it again !

Will.Spencer · 01-01-2006, 04:55 PM

If you do unplug electronics prior to performing maintenance, you must also remember to ground them (and yourself) properly.

XxEtrnlDeathXx · 01-08-2006, 04:38 AM

What exactly is grounding or being grounded? Is it like touching any metal object before working with metallic equipment such as a PC for example to aviod being shocked or breaking hardware?

zandyne · 01-16-2006, 10:06 PM

Yeah, always touch a metal part of the computer, or wear an anti-static wriststrap, before working on your computer. It's that so you discharge any static electricity before it could damage the equipment that you're working on (such as a video card).

john23 · 01-31-2006, 05:38 PM

Anti-static wriststraps are a must. You don't want to zap any delicate parts of your computer.

zandyne · 02-01-2006, 01:34 AM

Yes, always discharge yourself of any static electricity. Even if you do not *feel* any discharged when you touch something delicate (like a video card) it can still cause damage.

john23 · 02-01-2006, 05:49 PM

You must use caution when dealing with items such as video cards or RAM, you may damage something without even knowing it.

zandyne · 02-02-2006, 02:20 AM

I did not use an anti static wrist strap when I had to change video cards. I just kept my hand on a metal part of the case, which is good enough for discharging any static.

dave7 · 03-15-2006, 05:15 AM

I would always use an anti-static device when touching any internal parts of my computer.

zemus · 03-23-2006, 08:57 PM

I would always be wary of static electricity when working with internal parts of my computer.

darviria · 06-16-2006, 05:18 AM

Yeah I'd say the opposite, keep it plugged in for earthing.

The risk of shock isn't much (although you'll still know about it

), since the purpose of the PSU is to step down the voltage, it's not very dangerous, I'm more worried about static than getting a shock off anything. Also, the connectors mostly have pins well out of the way of where you will touch them, PSU molex connectors for example, you can safely touch the connector even if the main system power is on, I hot swap case fans if I need to replace/add/remove them....probably not advisable from a hardware point of view but as it's an always on server I don't have much choice.