Electronics > Beginners

are PC power supplies insulated from earth?

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ELS122:
stupid question but is the ground in my pc connected to earth?

wraper:
Of course it is. There is 3 prong mains connector in PSU for a reason.

Zero999:

--- Quote from: ELS122 on January 12, 2020, 04:20:13 am ---stupid question but is the ground in my pc connected to earth?

--- End quote ---
Are you talking about the 0V rail? If so, I believe it's normally connected to earth.

Brutte:

--- Quote from: ELS122 on January 12, 2020, 04:20:13 am ---stupid question but is the ground in my pc connected to earth?

--- End quote ---
That depends on the design of power supply.

If your PC is desktop and it is connected to three-prongs mains receptacle then yes.

But if this PC is a laptop with two-prongs(end to end) supply, or a laptop with three-prongs(end to end) supply connected to unearthed mains receptacle then the answer is: the only connection between earth and GND is via capacitive coupling of a transformer (<1mA) and MOV(>1kV).

Of course this "floating" does not include a situation when you use two-prongs mains supply and ground laptop through USB shield to your printer which might be earthed.

ELS122:
well yeah, now it seems obvious. I just had a brain fart moment I guess.
and also I found out that if your laptop power brick has a square on its label and it has a 2 prong chord it's insulated from the mains, including earth.
otherwise, if it doesn't have that box and has a 3 prong chord it's not isolated!

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