Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum

Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: commandcom on September 15, 2005, 02:58:22 pm

Title: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: commandcom on September 15, 2005, 02:58:22 pm: I was fiddling with my running cab last night and my hand brushed up against the power supply. I was surprised to receive a very mild electrical shock from it (it's mounted on the side of the cab, not in a PC case). Nothing hair-raising, just a mild pins-and-needles type of thing on the tips of my fingers.

I thought a power supply would be grounded through the AC house wiring. Do they also need to be grounded by some other means? Or is there something wrong with the unit itself? The power supply is brand new.
Title: Re: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: Ken Layton on September 15, 2005, 06:12:46 pm: Could be something wrong with the wiring inside your cabinet. It's also a possibility that your house wall outlet has a fault (not/neutral reversed).
Title: Re: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: LiquidFire on September 15, 2005, 06:37:46 pm: Follow Ken's lead. Get a simple tester at Home Depot to test the polarity of your outlets. If you have a hot/neutral reversed condition it could be a larger problem elsewhere in your home, like near water. Better to be safe.
Title: Re: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: commandcom on September 16, 2005, 09:35:43 am: Interesting. The house is only three years old, so I'd be surprised if there was some sort of fault with the internal wiring (but then again, you never know). Another consideration is that I'm using one of those 3-prong to 2-prong adapters to plug the power string into my crappy extension cord. Since these types of adapters (i think) effectively removes the ground from the circuit, might this be the root of my problem?
Title: Re: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: Ken Layton on September 16, 2005, 10:10:42 am: Quote from: commandcom on September 16, 2005, 09:35:43 am
Interesting.
Title: Re: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: Stingray on September 16, 2005, 11:05:44 am: Easy solution then. Buy a three prong extension cord.

-S
Title: Re: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: RayB on September 16, 2005, 11:31:33 am: Quote from: commandcom on September 16, 2005, 09:35:43 am
Interesting.
Title: Re: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: spystyle on September 16, 2005, 12:10:00 pm: You might use an ATX power supply tester. I use one on every computer I build/repair. You'd be surprised how many functioning power supplies are bad (which causes weird anomolies)

http://castle.pricewatch.com/s/search.asp?s=atx+tester

Dig it?
Craig

(http://www.pricewatch.com/images/o/LK2oRijHjQzKqJGPOaV68+r4Tto=.jpg)
Title: Re: Shocking Power Supply
Post by: commandcom on September 16, 2005, 08:04:00 pm: Bought a heavy duty 3-prong extension cord from Home Cheapo to replace the well-I-guess-this-will-have-to-do cord I was using previously. As Jane's Addiction might say, "Nothing's Shocking" now.

Thanks for your help.