Grisly Discovery For Mother And Sister

[Rimmer]

Grisly discovery for mother and sister

PATTAYA:-- On Friday night police and Sawang Boriboon rescue volunteers were called to a house in Nong Palai sub-district to deal with the aftermath of what appeared to be the accidental death of a 19-year-old Thai male who was apparently electrocuted by his notebook computer.

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2010-03-20

[neverdie]

Wow Ive never heard of someone getting electrocuted from a notebook before. Poor chap, I wonder if he spilt something on it at the time?

Shocking way for his family to find him. RIP.

[Scott]

Very sad. I hope there is some follow-up on this story. I would be interested to know how such a thing can happen.

[bob4you]

I don't think a laptop can kill you as it has a stepdown converter converting 220 to about 20 volts.

[Jdietz]

The brick power supply could have developed a malfunction, shorting the phase conductor to the laptop. Now with of course no safety cut in sight, and bare feet on concrete or tiled floor, that can give you a nasty shock.

[Scott]

I thought the report said the computer was still on. If there was an electrical malfunction, wouldn't it burn the computer out?

[neverdie]

I thought the report said the computer was still on. If there was an electrical malfunction, wouldn't it burn the computer out?

Good point, unless of course some part of it became live and the reason it was still on is it was still connected to mains power. Certain seems odd though.

I heard the other day some guy was electrocuted using his mobile whilst it was plugged in to mains power, maybe its not a good idea with the laptop either.

[Jdietz]

It was a laptop. It is possible that a power supply fault burned out most of the battery charger circuitry, shunting mains power to the chassis, while the laptop still runs happily on battery. Easy check for forensics if that happened, if they can be bothered to bring in a multimeter.

[Jonathanpattaya]

What a hideous story.

R.I.P.

Heartfelt condolences to friends and family.

[neverdie]

It was a laptop. It is possible that a power supply fault burned out most of the battery charger circuitry, shunting mains power to the chassis, while the laptop still runs happily on battery. Easy check for forensics if that happened, if they can be bothered to bring in a multimeter.

I understand the point you are making but no laptop would run for 2 days on battery supply, surely.

[Basil B]

generally speaking all Laptop power supplies are Class II "Double Insulated" normally denoted by a square inside a square

note, in Thailand the use of "Earth" protection is not normal, also laptop power supplies do not normally use earth either so it is possible if the power supply developed a fault that that put a mains "Live" potential on the output "negative" that could make the outer case "Live".

The only way the the "Live" feed would shut down is if a fuse or overload or earth protection device (RCD) tripped, almost certainly there was no earth protection an there was insufficient current to blow a fuse or trip a circuit breaker.

I would suspect that either the power supply had been badly repaired or modified, or it was a dodgy "Made in China" replacement.

Edited March 21, 2010 by Basil B

[syd barrett]

In the official PDN report it mentions that the victim had a burnt hand.

I have had a fair few electrical mains shocks in Thailand, all unpleasant but surely for 230 Volts to 'burn' you would need to remain in contact with the current for some time?

[MAJIC]

I thought the report said the computer was still on. If there was an electrical malfunction, wouldn't it burn the computer out?

Yes and no,all PSUs are wired up in a manner called "Power good"220-240 12v stepdown, this is a cable that sends out a signal in a split second that circulates the Mother board etc, if there is a problem the PSU is instantly shut down to prevent frying your computer components.

Maybe this PSU has been modified in some way,it clearly warns against opening the unit "This unit has no serviceable parts" or words to that effect.

[MAJIC]

I thought the report said the computer was still on. If there was an electrical malfunction, wouldn't it burn the computer out?

Yes and no,all PSUs are wired up in a manner called "Power good"220-240 / 12v stepdown, this is a cable that sends out a signal in a split second that circulates the Mother board etc, if there is a problem the PSU is instantly shut down to prevent frying your computer components.

Maybe this PSU has been modified in some way,it clearly warns against opening the unit "This unit has no serviceable parts" or words to that effect.

Old style Monitors SVGA etc are different,and I was always taught at college never to open one even to replace an internal blown fuse as the metal chassis can be electically charged for up to 24 hours prior to taking the case off,and can electrocute one.

[dudemeister]

Perhaps he fell asleep with the notebook on his lap - and swamped himself, notebook and charger and all!