PC Proves Fatal
Posted 08/01/07 at 08:31:31 AM | by One4yu2c
The dog days of summer are upon us, which means not only keeping ourselves cool, but our PCs too. As we all know, ambient temperatures have a direct impact on how hot our components get, and even the best laid airflow schemes can find themselves lacking if your air conditioner's on the fritz. But who thought it could be fatal?
I've always been aware of the dangers of opening up a PSU, even one that's unplugged, but up until now, I've never heard of anyone being electrocuted from having their case open. But that's exactly what happened to one unfortunate 20-year-old student in Shanghai who opted to remove his PC's cover to cool the processor rather than run the air conditioner. While details are scarce, authorities suspect that the victim, Wu, brushed his sweaty legs against the internal components or wiring, causing the fatal electrocution.
Freak occurence or not, play it safe this summer and find alternative ways to keep your PC cool. Not just for your own safety, but if you own pets, those dangling, colorful wires can make awfully tempting chew toys. So rather than whisk your side panel to the side, run the air conditioner, invest in some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste, pick up a third party heatsink/fan combination, tidy up those wires for increased air flow, add a case fan or three, and above all else, find some time to turn the PC off and get outside in the sun! Just don't forget your SPF 45.
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No joke, I know someone who
Submitted by corpkid on Mon, 2007-08-06 13:22
No joke, I know someone who died via electrocution working on his PC.
Word has it (and this was about 10 years ago) that my buddy and this guy (both of whom I went to High School with) were sharing a dorm at college. My friend came back from class and found his roommate dead slumped over a fried computer. It was determined the cause of death was indeed electrocution.
Since I have a 3-year old
Submitted by Cache on Sun, 2007-08-05 19:05
Since I have a 3-year old (formerly a 2-year old), the PC sits up on my desk because if I let it sit on the floor she would always hit the power button. Let me tell you, nothing ruins a good shot at someone in BF2142 during a tight game like the PC shutting down.
That said, I tend to leave the PC enclosed--I know the AC is expensive, but I'd rather be comfortable than deal with a system that gets buggy during a heat wave.
Submitted by jcollins on Fri, 2007-08-03 10:54
My assumption was that he just didn't have a girlfriend...
Submitted by Jeffery on Fri, 2007-08-03 06:53
I have about three PC's sprawled out on my workbench at any given moment. Real enthusiasts don't use cases! ;)
110/220 Voltage doesn't matter.
Submitted by chaosdsm on Thu, 2007-08-02 09:54
Whether running 110V or 220V doesn't matter. Neither voltage is enough to kill you without some amperage running through it. It's the Amps that kill, not the volts. The human body can withstand more than 200,000 Volts, which is how people can live through being struck by lightning, but 10Amps at 0.1V can kill you.
Also, the Wattage is the same for both 110 & 220 volt systems, meaning that at 220 Volts, only half of the amperage is used (Amps times Volts = Watts), making it LESS likely to kill you.
Take my gaming PC for example, it pulls 280Watts from the wall outlet, at 110V, that's 2.545 Amps, in Europe, at 220V, it still requires just 280Watts to run, but at 220V it only needs 1.273 Amps to supply that 280 Watts of power.
I'm guessing that there was more involved than what we are seeing in that story.
It only takes 100mA to stop
Submitted by Humpfester on Thu, 2007-08-02 06:01
It only takes 100mA to stop the human heart and with this guy sweating, well it was a accident waiting to happen.
Submitted by Velheru on Thu, 2007-08-02 03:31
Its not the voltage that kills you, its the amperage. Actually, ive been hit with both 110 and 220 on multiple occasions ( I do some construction and electrical work and am usually too lazy to turn off the breaker lol) But the point being that the difference between voltage would do it...however, the difference between the US using AC and everyone else using DC...now that might be a different story, never grabbed a bare DC wire that was live.
Submitted by taroogs on Thu, 2007-08-02 01:49
I, too, have left the side of my PC Case open for more than a year already to help in the ventilation. However, I placed the case away from where it will easily be touched by the person using it. So far, the only problem I've had with this set-up is the faster rate of "dustification" of my PC's innards. But that is something easily taken care of.
Submitted by vaemor on Wed, 2007-08-01 17:54
..Summer is almost over.. just pointing this out - because all that talk of summer is idiotic imho. (unless you live in Australia or something..) For gosh sakes, there's only two months left until it's October! lulz
Only two months? Oh noes! Where's the 'delete blog' button!?!?
Submitted by One4yu2c on Wed, 2007-08-01 20:40
There's still 10 days left in the dog days of summer time period, and at least a month to get outside and catch a last minute tan.
I do believe we call this
Submitted by TheMurph on Wed, 2007-08-01 14:37
I do believe we call this getting "pwnd." ;)
Submitted by dethdeks on Wed, 2007-08-01 12:59
how the hell did he get his leg in his case to brush up against the components?
[quote]Wu, brushed his sweaty legs against the internal components or wiring, causing the fatal electrocution.[/quote]
last time i checked unless you got a human sized case or your a foot and a half tall theres no damn way to get your leg to touch the internal components and even if you do have a mid sized tower. theres at least 4 inches in before any components stick out of the mobo. even if i tried i couldnt get my leg to touch any components unless i was kicking the mobo with the bottom of my foot but who the hell would do that?... any one else think this is a spoof?
Submitted by One4yu2c on Wed, 2007-08-01 14:29
Ironically enough, my case is sitting here with the side panel off, and has been that way for about the past three weeks (I'm getting ready to move my system to a bigger chassis). Unless you're a cable management guru, it's very easy to envision a dangling wire or three outside the case. And if the wires were exposed for some reason (a faulty PSU can melt the coating, I've seen this first hand), then you'd be coming into direct contact.
If he touched the components (the authorities just used the word wiring, I threw in the possibility of internal components), then I really don't have an answer. I suppose he could have tripped, or had a non-traditional chasses (not rectangular, but cubed) where taking the cover off would expose the whole kit-n-kaboodle.
Case always open lately.
Submitted by Talcum X on Wed, 2007-08-01 08:49
The wife and I have been trying to conserve energy lately. The monthly bill has been a bit much, so we don't run the AC unless we really need to, like today, high of 94. My side pannel has been off for months as it gets very warm in the 'puter room, an mine has an annoying beep it makes as a warning when a upper limit is reached ( it's made by my cooler master fan controller) and goes off quite often, case open or not. But, and this is a big BUT, my case is on my printer stand off to the left, open side facing wall (with spare bed leaning against wall) It's perfectly safe, nothing exposed to any wandering, sweaty appendages. If you don't try to be on the next Darwin Award passed around this year, I'm sure you should not be near the hot wires while it's on.
**********
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
Submitted by Mr E on Wed, 2007-08-01 08:37
Well, it's *almost* impossible for it to happen here in the 'States. China, like Europe, uses 220V outlets, while we use 110V. It's pretty tough to kill yourself with only 110V, although if you're careless you could receive a nasty shock, no doubt!
Nice map of outlet voltages, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Map_of_the_world_coloured_by_voltage_and_frequency.png
Submitted by beteks on Wed, 2007-08-01 07:13
The guy should know better that computers don't like Liquids unless it's vegatable oil. But it's a
little scary because i sometimes open the side panel to get air to the cpu.
Submitted by Brett Schealler on Wed, 2007-08-01 08:03
i've opened up my case for weeks on end and never had any problems. even used to take apart power supplies and monitors if one was careful. Still this is something i never would have thought of.
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