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Re: [ProgSoc] Computer at home a fire risk



On 9/2/05, chlaught@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <chlaught@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Just a question, say you have a safety switch installed, the likelyhood of
> things going wrong would be somewhat reduced, as if anything short
> circuits it turns off the power right?

Jeez - don't they teach you anything in electrical engineering
anymore? saftey switch=residual current device. This checks that all
of the wee little electrons going in through the active wire come back
through the neutral wire. If any come back through the earth wire
(called an earth fault), it cuts the power, before enough of them have
escaped to cause any harm. If the problem is inside the power supply,
I suspect a spark would be 'out of the bag' before the RCD could cut
in, but it might help (not too sure about the times involved here). If
the fault occurs on the computer side of the power supply, the RCD
wouldn't do jack. Well, it would cut the power off once the flames
have melted through the insulation of the wire, but I suspect that may
be a little late (though later damage would be alleviated here).

vik

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