Silverstone case just gave me mains electric shock!

Dangerous_Dave · 25 Nov 2011 at 01:08

I'm frankly shocked (pun intended) that my Silverstone SG07 has completely unsheathed live mains contacts just sticking out inside it! I have just found out the hard way that this is the case (pun intended), as it's just given me an enormous electric shock in my right hand.

For anyone who might be tempted to comment "you shouldn't go rooting around in a case with the power on", first of all I would say that the PC wasn't on, and the switch on the PSU was in the off position. This was the case itself trying to assassinate me before it even fed the power to the PSU. And besides, this isn't like rooting around inside a hairdryer with the power on: aftermarket PC cases are made for people to use, inside and out. The insides should be completely user safe (no razor blade edges, no finger crushing clamping devices and ESPECIALLY no live electrical terminals just sticking out). TBH Silverstone have gone down in my estimation big time now: build quality is one thing but safety should come before all else.

Dangerous_Dave · 25 Nov 2011 at 01:33

At the back, on the inside of the module that the external power lead plugs into. It's not even particularly space critical there - they could easily have added another half inch on to the inside of that module to fully enclose the connection. Inexcusable design really.

Dangerous_Dave · 25 Nov 2011 at 01:47

I should explain: the design of the case is such that the PSU sits at the front and there is a cable running inside the case from the PSU to a further plug near the back, which the external lead was plugged into. The PSU switch was off, but the mains switch at the wall was on. I got my shock from the inside of the module that receives the external cable, which (it turns out) has unsheathed wires carrying live current sticking out of it.

Dangerous_Dave · 25 Nov 2011 at 08:19

It looks like that's how it's designed to be. Thing is, most PC tinkerers are used to the idea that it's ok to work in the case if the PC is off and the PSU switch is set to the off position. If you do that in this case you could potentially end up dead. I'm just glad it wasn't my left hand (path to ground would then have been through left side of torso).

Dangerous_Dave · 25 Nov 2011 at 15:08

I'm at a different location for the weekend but I'll post a pic on Monday.

Dangerous_Dave · 29 Nov 2011 at 19:39

Picture as promised:

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg250/Vlad_The_Impala/deathcase.jpg

It's about the last few milimetres of the where the wires go into that plug which are unsheathed. Unfortunately these are the few milimetres that stick out the most. But as you can see there's nothing at all behind it so it would have been a simple matter to enclose the whole connection in plastic.