# 'Shocking' Problem In Cabinet



## Vyasram (Dec 20, 2005)

I have amd pc with an ibox cabinet with a vip 500w PS , yesterday onwards my cabinet is shocking with mild voltages. What's the problem ? Does this affect the computer parts ? Please help :roll:


----------



## shariq_pj (Dec 20, 2005)

Check if there's proper earthing your house... Usually this problem gets solved if the earthing is proper...


----------



## d (Dec 20, 2005)

yea check the earthing n u shld do fine......usually the components are isolated from the cabinet..... so they don't hv ne problems even with voltages on the cabinet....i'd recommend u take the smps out of the cabinet n turn it on n c if the smps is giving shock on its own body....otherwise, look for stripped or wearing out power cables...


----------



## Tech&ME (Dec 20, 2005)

Vyasram said:
			
		

> I have amd pc with an ibox cabinet with a vip 500w PS , yesterday onwards my cabinet is shocking with mild voltages. What's the problem ? Does this affect the computer parts ? Please help :roll:



What you need to do is check your UPS Plug that goes into the wall socket.

you will find three pins there. The top big pin is the Earthing Pin. If the Plug is openable, open it and check if the wire (usually GREEN colour) is connected to this pin properly.

Next before you do anything PLEASE CALL A TECHICIAN/ ELECTRICIAN

If the problem presist, ask your Electrician to open the Wall Switch Board and check the earthing wiring there, if it is loose or not connected or has got disconnected , ask him to fix it.

RECOMMEDED : Please do not try to fix ELECTRICAL WIRING problems yourself.

*DISCLAMER :* I shall not be held responsible for things that is explaned here is being done by yourself without having proper knowledge of the subject in question. You are strongly adviced to call knowledgeable persone to perform the above task on your behalf.


----------



## shariq_pj (Dec 20, 2005)

Tech&ME said:
			
		

> DISCLAMER : I shall not be held responsible for things that is explaned here is being done by yourself without having proper knowledge of the subject in question. You are strongly adviced to call knowledgeable persone to perform the above task on your behalf.



Seems very professional to me... 

Jus kiddin...


----------



## pradeep_chauhan (Dec 20, 2005)

swap the live and neutral wires in the mains socket it will solve your problem.


----------



## Tech&ME (Dec 21, 2005)

pradeep_chauhan said:
			
		

> swap the live and neutral wires in the mains socket it will solve your problem.



Do you know what you are suggesting ?

Swapping of live and neutral will not solve the EARTHING problem.

Ya if you thing the lick of current onto the cabinet, will get reversed when swapping the wires, then let me tell you this is very harmful for the computer devices that are attached to the SMPS. 

Current has to flow in a particular direction, from live to neutral and not vice-versa, as you are suggesting here.

The SMPS actually divides the current into chuncks of voltages that are decided by the mobo and the fractions of it are very low, swapping of wires may result in flow of undesired level of current into the mobo.

Performance of the Proc and mobo may deteriorate.

NOTE : Playing and experimenting with a supply of current to a computer system may be very denger since, you loose money after all.

So, think before suggesting anything to anyone.


----------



## krishnathelord (Dec 21, 2005)

Tech&ME said:
			
		

> pradeep_chauhan said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



i dont think so

in ac current the flow of current reverses generally 60-70 times a second, that why it is called alternating current.

the the solution pradeep gave is correct as i have seen leakeages in line if u by mistake reverse the line


----------



## shariq_pj (Dec 21, 2005)

krishnathelord said:
			
		

> Tech&ME said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah man... As far as it's AC current live and neutral points can b swapped...

U may hav noticed many appliances connected to AC current work by plugging it either way...


----------



## ashnik (Dec 21, 2005)

i had same problem.
first of all try to connect ur pc to different wall socket in different room.

then check for current leakage at fridge, geaser, oven etc. i.e. all components with more than 500 W consumption.
If u find the leakage, remove the ups cable from wall socket adn check all above components again.
  1.If now there is no current leakage then check ur  earthing at the wall socket to which u connect ur PC.
  2.If the current leakage persists at above mentioned devices, call the elecritian. In this case, the fault might be virtually newhere in house.

Also check all fuses in UPS, Food processor, Mixers etc. All fuses shuold be max 7 Amp.


----------



## Vyasram (Dec 22, 2005)

thanx guys , my computer's earth connection got broken . Problem solved after fixin it


----------



## mangemayur (Dec 23, 2005)

just to update u guys.. the live and neutral wire can be swapped 
BUT

the switches that we had placed is always on the live wire... so that the circuit breaker is at the entry point only. but if u swap that then the current can come to yr electrical device and will not flow till the circuit gets completed... and u know because of short circuit or any good reason the current can start flowing..

so i will never ever swap the wires untill u know what exactly u are doing


----------



## Tech&ME (Dec 24, 2005)

mangemayur said:
			
		

> just to update u guys.. the live and neutral wire can be swapped
> BUT
> 
> the switches that we had placed is always on the live wire... so that the circuit breaker is at the entry point only. but if u swap that then the current can come to yr electrical device and will not flow till the circuit gets completed... and u know because of short circuit or any good reason the current can start flowing..
> ...



Yes I agree with you. 
And I just do not agree with *pradeep_chauhan* , *shariq_pj*

Let me add here that swapping of wires are not a solution to such problems and besides swapping of wires should not not be done.

Actually, you people just do not understand the usage of this wires.

What happens is the current flows from Live wire to the device and comes back from neutral wire and hence the circuite gets completed.

Now, what you have seen at home is that your TV has only TWO PIN PLUG and hence, you are able to insert it either way into the wall socket, right. But why is this so ?

Because, TV uses Direct Current to run. There is a device inside the TV which converts the AC to DC current and this is also one of the reasons why TVs run on very low voltages.

Ground pins are only necessary when the unit is not double-insulated.


But with a THREE PIN PLUG devices this is not the case. You must connet the RED wire to LIVE and BLACK/BLUE to the NEUTRAL and GREEN/BROWN to the EARTHING PINS only. 

Example 1: Try to swap the LIVE and NEUTRAL wires of your home washing machine. Your machine motor will start rotating in the opposite direction tearing apart your cloths and damaging other parts of your washing machine.

Example 2: Try to swap the LIVE and NEUTRAL wires of your home Water Pump Set. You now know what will happen ?  

Example 3: Try to swap the LIVE and NEUTRAL wires that come inside your home from the POLE. Your METER will start to work in the reverse order ?   :roll:  :roll: ---- NO ELECTRICITY BILLS!!!!

So what exactly it happens when you swap the wires of your COMPUTER SYSTEM ?  

Consider this :

If one were to accidentally swap Neutral and Live at a piece of equipment, this would make the Neutral-Earth voltage *230VAC/50Hz*. This is equivalent to 2.3V at 5kHz, noise-wise, and is a whopping 11.5V at 1kHz when based on typical passive filter responses of 6dB/octave.

So the voltage will increase if you swap the wires this is called electrical noise in physics terms. Which is a hidden voltage which flows onto your system.

In many instances noise spikes, and this includes transients, can have very destructive influences on an installation (even if only as software crashes) but through no fault of the equipment. The equipment designer can only do so much. He cannot control the fool who wires it up! 

In some instances the noise may be many hundreds of volts before it causes even a single hiccup in a piece of hi-tech equipment. In other circumstances not even a volt of noise could cause problems. One cannot set levels; Only deal with cause and effect. 


So, think before your swap that wire ??   



NOTE : Some sentences and terms has been taken from physics books and reference materials.


----------



## grinning_devil (Dec 29, 2005)

@Tech&ME
....lovely explanation there man...... !!!


----------



## d (Dec 29, 2005)

@Tech & Me 


The noise part of it is intriguing. but I have to disagree with the fact that only the TV runs on DC. Most electronic appliances run on DC.....including the computer <tht's wht the SMPS does, converts it to lower voltages and into DC>

Also, interchanging the Live n neutral wires in an AC connection will not do any harm. AC is called as such because the Phase and neutral alternates between the two lines. Of Course, when u interchange earth and phase, then u hv a problem, though i don't kno abt tht. 

You can as well interchange the phase and neutral of the washing machine. no such thing will happen, it will not run in the opposite direction as (i) the direction of the motor is controlled by a circuit board, not by the polarity of AC and (ii) As far as AC is concerned, there is no polarity

Even iv u interchange the wires in ur home pump set, it will run in one direction only, because there are two metal rings called split ring commutators inside all AC motors, to keep the direction of the current in the coil constant, thus keeping the direction of rotation constant.

Appliances like TV's don't hv earth plugs because the high power components are completely isolated and most of the body is plastic. 


Cheers!


----------

