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Having something plugged in but switched off while working on it sounds pretty dangerous. I always unplug things before working on them. It's too easy to think

Having something plugged in but switched off while working on it sounds pretty dangerous. I always unplug things before working on them. It's too easy to think something is switched off when it isn't, or to flick a switch without thinking. (I don't ground stuff that I'm working on)

DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
> Having something plugged in but switched off while working on it sounds pretty dangerous. The switch on the socket physically disconnects the "hot" / live supply from the receptacle for the plug's live pin while leaving the Neutral and Ground still connected (some models might also disconnect Neutral just-in-case your house is miswired, but don't quote me on that). The switches also have a very vibrant red strip that's only visible when the switch is in the On position, never Off - so I can assure you it's the complete opposite of "pretty dangerous". For example: https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/media/images/screen-shot-2016-01-18-at-11.54.39.jpg https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/media/images/screen-shot-201... If you leave a computer or other EM-sensitive appliance connected to mains but with the switch off then the ground connection is maintained, so you can safely use the computer's own chassis to de-static-ify yourself without the need for a fiddly wrist-strap.
- newaccount74 5y ago
  The problem is when you go back and forth between trying if it worked, turning power on and off again, and at some point you become sloppy and forget that you didn't turn it off. I've electroshocked myself twice while working on appliances (not PCs). After going back and forth a few times I thought I had turned off the circuit breaker (which also has a vibrant red strip to show that it's hot) but I didn't and touched the live wire. If you look at safety guidelines for electricians, they require people to have multiple safeguards in place so that a single mistake doesn't kill you. That being said, household voltages probably won't kill you and some people open PC cases while they are running, so there's that. As long as you're not messing with the power supply I don't think PCs are really that dangerous.

DaiPlusPlus 5y ago

> Having something plugged in but switched off while working on it sounds pretty dangerous. The switch on the socket physically disconnects the "hot" / live supply from the receptacle for the plug's live pin while leaving the Neutral and Ground still connected (some models might also disconnect Neutral just-in-case your house is miswired, but don't quote me on that). The switches also have a very vibrant red strip that's only visible when the switch is in the On position, never Off - so I can assure you it's the complete opposite of "pretty dangerous". For example: https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/media/images/screen-shot-2016-01-18-at-11.54.39.jpg https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/media/images/screen-shot-201... If you leave a computer or other EM-sensitive appliance connected to mains but with the switch off then the ground connection is maintained, so you can safely use the computer's own chassis to de-static-ify yourself without the need for a fiddly wrist-strap.

newaccount74 5y ago
The problem is when you go back and forth between trying if it worked, turning power on and off again, and at some point you become sloppy and forget that you didn't turn it off. I've electroshocked myself twice while working on appliances (not PCs). After going back and forth a few times I thought I had turned off the circuit breaker (which also has a vibrant red strip to show that it's hot) but I didn't and touched the live wire. If you look at safety guidelines for electricians, they require people to have multiple safeguards in place so that a single mistake doesn't kill you. That being said, household voltages probably won't kill you and some people open PC cases while they are running, so there's that. As long as you're not messing with the power supply I don't think PCs are really that dangerous.