custom pc case question

[samisnake]

Hi there,

firstly, I hope ive placed this in the correct section.

a little backstory.

ive got a powermac g5 that im almost finished converting to fit regular pc parts.

the power supply is inside the case, but towards the front.

in order to get the power cable to the psu, ive taken a regular pc kettle lead and chopped the end off, and soldered the wires to the correct terminals on an iec socket.

now the case is bare metal, and i was advised to add a ground wire from the earth terminal to the case.

i want to see whether what i have done in theory is correct and safe.

i have put off finishing the case because i cant bring myself to test something which i believe is safe, but not confirmed by people who know what they are doing!

i had a little accident with an exposed plug a few years back that i never want to happen again.

anyway, onto the pictures of what ive done.

(ignore the crudeness of my drawing!)

the red is the power cable from the wall to the iec.

the green is the iec

pink is the earth from the iec to a screw on the chassis

the yellow is the power cable from the iec to the psu

the blue is the psu

here you can see the finished product, covered with an iec boot.

the case earth wire will be attached to the case, with a screw and nut holding it to the case.

thanks

 

[Doc Hudson]

Hi there, firstly, I hope ive placed this in the correct section.

i had a little accident with an exposed plug a few years back that i never want to happen again.

thanks

Welcome to the forum samisnake, I think we can keep this in the DIY section, (though we do also have an area for PC stuff), as it is probably more DIY electrical question than a PC question. Re your comment about an accident, (I presume an electric shock), if you are doing this home built electronics projects stuff, for added safety it may help if you use a Plug-In RCD adaptor. It will cut off the power if any electricity is flowing to earth. Masterplug RCD Adaptor | Screwfix.com Allow a bit of time for our members who are at work to log on latter for some more constructive response to your question.

Doc H.

 

[samisnake]

thanks for the tip, doc

 

[steptoe]

OK,

from what I can see, and make out,

it looks perfectly acceptable, from an electrical point of view,

but,

I know Jack about computers etc so they may well have their own specific earth leakage requirements,

so it may be better to wait until one of our more computer people turns up.

 

[kme]

If the earth tag is bolted to the frame; I don`t see any issue with it......as long as there IS an earth on the socket / lead in the first place!!!!!!

 

[Manator]

Computers are totally different from what we normally do, for any specialist advise try Modding - bit-tech.net Forums

 

[DarkInferno]

I think I'm still a supermodder on bit-tech.

It's fine... tbh it may even be a bit overkill because the psu will be earthed, and by it's connection to the case it earths the case... but belt and braces are always good...

just to check... you have also run the earth to the psu and not just brought it out to the case? because the psu having an earth is a must.

 

[johninlondon1]

I think you should ensure that you only have a 3 or 5 amp fuse in the plug top as well, not a 13 amp that comes with the kettle lead.

 

[samisnake]

hi guys,

the earth also goes to the psu. the earth is split to the case and to the psu.

the psu isnt touching the case. it will be attached by double sided tape/velcro. thats why i connected the case earth directly.

from the pc side of things, its fine.

its just the electrical side i needed help with.

alot of people who do the same case mod also use an extension inside the case, but not all ground the case directly, which i was a bit worried about.

thanks alot for the help, much appreciated

 

[DarkInferno]

if you have isolated the psu then you should definitely ground the case as well, as you have, otherwise you might start to get weird (signal) noise issues.

But tbh its almost impossible to completely isolate the case, the mobo stand-offs are grounded, and the drives, and some pci(e) cards ground their backplane, but I'd personally definitely have run the earth fly lead to the case as well.

 

[samisnake]

thought id update this.

got the psu fitted and tested, and using the case now.

thanks alot for the help

heres a picture of the finished product

 

[steptoe]

looks good, why didnt apple never think of building a proper PC anyway?

one thing though, why doesnt the fan on the PSU point outside rather than inside the case?

with my limited PC knowledge I always thought the PSU blew hot air out, so why blow it into the case?

even if it is sucking air in then surely it would be getting cooler air from outside than in, :C