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  1. 2009-03-09 02:48 #1
    wyred
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    power leak

    So one of my computers seems to have a power leaking problem according to an electrician. It's causing this "Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker" thing to trip whenever there's a thunderstorm in the area.

    Is it because of an old and faulty PSU? Anyone know what are the possible causes?

    For now, the electrician has changed it's sensitivity from 0.03mA to 0.1mA by replacing the unit for me.
  2. 2009-03-09 15:35 #2
    Avanarius
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    I don't know much about electricity but depending on the voltage 0.03mA doesn't seem like very much to worry about. Because the sensitivity was so high, and the electrician actually decreased it (assuming I'm reading this correct) it doesn't seem like too much to worry about immediately.

    Did he tell you about the risks associated or something like that? The only thing I would assume causing it would be the power supply, or something wrong with your outlets.

    Something could also be causing an improper ground in your computer case that's how small of a mA were talking.
  3. 2009-03-11 04:41 #3
    wyred
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    The safety regulation here is that it must be 0.03mA. Anything higher can be fatal.

    The outlets and wiring are about 8 months old.

    What can cause improper grounding?
  4. 2009-03-11 20:03 #4
    Furtwangler
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    are you plugging your power supply into a 3 pronged outlet?
  5. 2009-03-13 03:36 #5
    wyred
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    Quote Originally Posted by Furtwangler View Post
    are you plugging your power supply into a 3 pronged outlet?
    Yup
  6. 2009-03-13 04:15 #6
    mootsfox
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    I don't know much about earth (ground) systems, but let's see if I can explain this.

    Your system uses an iron earth (ground) rod that's about 6-8ft long and buried in your yard or nearby. It uses the ground as a discharge basically, the impedance of which changes based on the wetness of the ground. The Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) will break and cause a loss of power when it assumes a fault. ELCBs are a safety feature, in that a normal circuit breaker can easily kill you before it snaps at 10 or so ampres (not very familiar with 230v systems, I dunno what your breakers are rated at). The ELCB will break on any fault over 0.1mA (23w) as he set it. This is still way more than needed to kill you, but it's safer than needing a full 2kW to break a circuit.

    I've never heard of a computer being "leaky", tends to be things more like motors. I'm unsure of that, I'll look into it a bit.
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