🚀 go-pugleaf

On Thu, 25 May 2017 09:21:36 +0100, Toby Newman <goo...@asktoby.com>
wrote:

>On 2017-05-19, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I should mention that at the time I was technically inept. I had no
>>> experience and confidence with electronics; I dreaded working with the
>>> innards of any machine, much less anything as technical and
>>> cutting-edge as an early 90s computer! I am also the sort of person
>>> who invariably manages to touch a live wire, and I've had more than a
>>> few painful shocks that have made me wary of dealing with anything
>>> with current (to this day, I always double-, triple- and
>>> quadruple-check to make sure I've yanked all the power cords from a
>>> computer before I open it, and even then I might wait a few hours or
>>> days for the capacitors to drain first. Shock me once, shame on me;
>>> shock me twenty times, and I'm gonna start being really careful ;-).
>>>
>>
>> Funny, with all the computers I've been in, I don't ever remember being 
>> shocked.  I've been cut by the cases and other sharp points more times 
>> than I can count, and every single computer I've owned and upgraded. 
>> I've been mildly burned by overheating components too.
>
>I've never considered the guts of a PC to be hazardous (as long as you
>don't open the PSU cage) because it's only 12V, but I guess that
>doesn't account for faults in the PSU, so it pays to be careful. CRTs
>are a different matter, of course.

It was never an issue of lethality; I mean, there was always the
potential for serious harm, but I never thought I was risking my life
(not even when I first fiddled with a CRT, although I was terrified
when I read of their deadly potential later). But electric shocks HURT
and I seem to attract current like honey to a bear. But hard as it may
be to believe, even I can eventually learn and so I take extra care
these days to avoid the danger. Is that cable really yanked? Yes? Am I
sure? Let me check again :-)

>I guess if the PC case has sharp edges you could bypass your skin's
>resistance and disrupt your heart like this poor guy, who killed
>himself with a 9V battery:

Sharp edges were another bane of upgrading, although one I took much
more in stride. In later years I did much to mitigate the threat by
buying the largest towers I could find; the sharp edges were still
there but because there was so much more space inside it became much
easier for me avoid them.

It did make it difficult to squeeze the beasts beneath the desk
though... but no more ripped up hands makes it all worth it. ;-)