- Joined
- Feb 26, 2008
- Messages
- 19
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- 0
- Points
- 1
- Location
- London, Ontario
- Your Mac's Specs
- eMac, G4 B&W
Not sure if this problem is limited to the eMac model only: After moving to an older house(with older wiring), I hooked up my eMac and the peripherals which were powered from different outlets.
The wall socket for the eMac was wired wrong(hot wire & neutral reversed). Normally this wouldn't matter much. However, the motherboard chassis ground now had 110 volts ac applied to it. When I plugged in a USB cable from a printer, the cable ground contacted the USB socket ground (at 110 v) and fuses blew all over.
The end result was a fried printer circuit board and one disabled USB port on the eMac.
If anyone is using an older power source for the first time, spend $5 for a plug-in tester which will tell you of wiring problems.
P.S. Did I mention that this problem is potentially fatal to someone touching a 'grounded' spot on the computer that is actually live?
The wall socket for the eMac was wired wrong(hot wire & neutral reversed). Normally this wouldn't matter much. However, the motherboard chassis ground now had 110 volts ac applied to it. When I plugged in a USB cable from a printer, the cable ground contacted the USB socket ground (at 110 v) and fuses blew all over.
The end result was a fried printer circuit board and one disabled USB port on the eMac.
If anyone is using an older power source for the first time, spend $5 for a plug-in tester which will tell you of wiring problems.
P.S. Did I mention that this problem is potentially fatal to someone touching a 'grounded' spot on the computer that is actually live?
