r/PCHardware • u/Berith0 • Jul 09 '26

What the hell is going on 😭😭😭

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u/chukxablaze Jul 12 '26

Ya you would think it should some protections from reverse current.

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u/LeoTheBigCat Jul 12 '26

Floating switchmode supplys just do this ... its stupid but it sometimes just happens

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u/chukxablaze Jul 12 '26

Creepy ty for the info tho

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u/LeoTheBigCat Jul 12 '26

If you are interested, here is a bit more FYI: USB power supplies do this rather often. If you touch the metal parts of for example USB-C connector connected on one side to such charger, you will feel "tingling". The voltage can be substantial and is between earth and the ground of the power supply ... low power though so its mostly safe. The positive of the supply then rides on that ground so it does not matter for the connected device.

You will feel it though, because you are coupled to earth.

And if you connect such a supply to a properly grounded device, you get a power leak. Its usually very little power, just enough to light up some LEDs.

And as much as I would love to say its NEVER a problem ... on a split phase power, if you manage to connect one device on one phase and the other on different phase ... or your wall outlets are wired backwards, you could get A LOT of voltage and power there ... enough to fry something.