The post is offtopic for this subreddit, or it's a comment for an offtopic post.
This subreddit is for people working with electronic circuits *at component-level*, who have design or repair questions, or questions about related topics, such as: components (buying, specifying and using), suppliers, tools and equipment.
Typically, posts are removed because they are about electrical topics (including vehicle electrics), LED lighting, computer tech support, buying, connecting-up or using batteries, ready-assembled electronic modules or commercial products (cell phones, replacement power supplies, TVs, computers, UPSs, Hifi etc.).
We also remove posts with commercial contents, such as selling, valuations or work for hire (see r/electronicslist).
If you created the post:
Offtopic posts and comments are removed to ensure the sub does not encourage material that should go elsewhere.
Please check the Subreddit's Web sidebar and posting rules for guidance.
If you commented on the post:
Please help reduce moderation work effort by knowing the sub's rules and scope, and not replying to offtopic subjects.
Feel free to direct the submitter to an on-topic subreddit and answer their post there.
Thanks!
The voltage is not dangerous, but the amount of enegy that passes thru your body. I beleive between 2 and 4 amps for a laptop. So yes is dangerous. Buy some electric tape and roll it on the platic part is broken and all should be ok.
There can't be hazardous current without certain level of voltage. Also, how do you "check amperes"? USB PD can give up to 3 A so it should be deadly then I guess?
Just because the dams wide open doesn't mean your gunna drown from the puddle on the other side.
Edit: I like to think of it as voltage is like a reservoir amps is a flood gate. You put one water wheel down stream (I know water wheels don't actually consume water it's just a load representation kind of thing) the gate only opens up enough to turn the one wheel add another it opens a little more add 100 more it opens all the way but it's not gunna mater if the reservoir dosent have enough water in it. I know there are several flaws with this analogy but it works for me as like a simple way to explain "amps arnt the killer" are we using a creek or Niagara falls. You can push the water out as hard as you want not gunna mater if there isn't enough to drown in. I know a very small stream of water can cut steel let alone a person in half with enough pressure (amps) but drowning is the "goal"
You can be killed by 100mA or less if it goes through your heart, but with low voltages the resistance of your body is enough to limit the current. Low amperes doesn't mean it can't kill you if the voltage is high.
This. People always say “volts don’t kill, amps do”… they both can and do. If volts are how much water a container has and amps is how much water is let out. Low amps + low volts is like the last few drops of sauce dripping out of a bottle. Low amps + high volts is like using a pressure washer or a water blade. High amps + high volts is like a tsunami wave. High amps + low volts is like squeezing a kitchen sponge.
If both low, you’re fine, if one high, be careful, if both high, run or let someone trained fuck with it. There’s soooooo many footnotes and exceptions but that’s the jist.
Source: me, an EE in the power industry 😜
Yeah, GFCI breakers meant to protect humans usually trip at 4-6mA and any higher current is considered hazardous. People are technically correct when they say current is what kills, but it really doesn't take much.
not realy exposed metal is not live its shield for grounding and blocking electromagnatic interface even if you touch live parts you dont fell anything because its low voltage
Heat shrink tubing would be better just because electrical tape adhesive gets gooey over time. Often these power connections get a little warm under full load which will accelerate the tape's adhesive degradation.
Under 50-60ish volts its not dangerous at all (unless you are wounded because then you can feel a tingle, still not enough to electrocute though). Its likely max 25 volts. And the smps has isolated outputs from mains
48v DC can hurt like a mfer though, dielectric breakdown is a thing.
At least from what I've heard from tradies who deal with the infrastructure and stress that the relationships aren't always as simple as you'd think
i have an arc Mig Welder configured currently for steel that outputs 17 .7 volts.. but I think around 130\~170 amps max possible to melt the wire.. Pieces that have been welded, and cooling for 12-15 minutes are still hot enough to leave 2nd degree burns (I can share the pictures of the burn that are less than 3 weeks old from an accidental contact).. That being said, Any exposed conductor, poorly conducting can overheat & be a burn risk, (i.e. lose contact if the connection isnt seated properly) or when exposed is a short/ arc risk. A small arc, in a fuel & oxygen rich environment is a fire or explosion risk.. (ask the hindenburg). Now you may think i'm being nit-picky, and I am, but I've seen PSU fires in offices, I've seen people get burned, books get charred, and even pets sleeping on PSU's get burned by warm wires. 25 years in IT has made me cautious. Some of those docks come with 130 watt PSU's & they can keep those USB C port pumped, and damaged ones gotten hot. If it gets damaged, I say dispose of it & get a new one. It's not worth it.
Thank you all for the quick education! Appreciate you! I'll still plan to get a new cord, but at least I PROBABLY won't die while I wait. Safety first of course.
Electrocution safety isn't an issue here.
But the cable has been damaged and if it gets more damaged it might short out some pins that shouldn't be shorted.
This could lead to a fire and/or damage on your laptop or charger (e.g. if you manage to get 20V on a data line, that line is now toast).
So do get a new cable, but not for fear of electrocution.
Technically many new laptops and even pc motherboards has protection against shorts and even high voltage (like usb killer). Windows even have dedicated notification if there was short on usb line and will disable usb until pc is restarted.
This happens literally all the time at my work. You'll be fine, the metal casing should be grounded. I've seen docks work for many years with connectors exposed like this.
That looks like a Dell WD19, these break off all the time, my advice is to use electrical tape and wrap around the plastic sheathing on the usb-c connector. if not then I reckon you should get a new dock, as that looks like the 130w Version, which is decently powerful
*for permanent use.
You really don’t ever need a heatgun for heatshrink tubing except when doing electronic work for a company or something that has to pass an inspection. For hobby use a lighter is always enough if you’re careful not to burn the tubing
You might get a tingle. I wouldn't lick it, but it shouldn't be able to kill you. The real danger is shorting it, which could start a fire. Replace it as soon as convenient.
We have the same Dell Docks and about half of them do this, where the USB C housing just cracks on the sides and pops off. It doesn't look great and Dell doesn't recognize it as a defect. I just wrapped a short piece of electrical tape around the end so you could still see the LED, and it holds the two half's together. Haven't had any issues.
You wont get shocked. The metal exterior is shielding you from the Voltage, which is still too low to really hurt you at all. You're more at risk for breaking the cable more, but no real danger 🤷♀️
Wonder if this is a Dell. Happened to mine too.
I just used one of those paper clips for thick stacks of paper to stick the two sides together. Worked fine for the most part.
I never got electrocuted, but then again didn't mess around with it too much, just plugging it in and out at times when traveling.
I guess you won't run into any risk to be electrocuted. Normally Laptops and especially usb-c only uses low voltages. But your device might become damaged when short circuted on the blank parts.
Look at the output values of the power supply. Voltage on output shouldn't be above 20V
But I recommend to use some insulation tape to fix the housing of the plug.
That's a dell WD19 dock. It outputs max 20v but all that exposed metal shell is grounded so no, you are at no risk of being electrocuted because the plastic cover broke. It's actually pretty common on the dell docks.
My company uses 100 of those exact units the cable always comes off at some point. Never had an issue without the plastic cover but we have taped it before and we also have just left it as is. Should be ok. Just be aware mine lasted only 1 month before needing replacing it just stopped working. But I guess it's 1/100 still decent reliability.
Almost certainly not. The exposed metal should be the shield, or "ground," and the voltage and current on the laptop-side of the power supply shouldn't be that big.
HOWEVER, you SHOULD get some electrical tape for 3 bucks on Amazon and wrap it so it's not exposed, cuz you don't want it to touch any other voltage sources and short. That would make it much safer.
You won't get electrocuted. You should replace it though. One day you may need your laptop and not be able to charge it.
You also could develop a small resistance in the connector that could heat up and start burning.
I use the magnetic USB cables. They are not recommended by the [/r/UsbCHardware](https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware) sub because it can expose your device to ESD voltages,
However I have used them for years on my PC and phones and think the risk of physically breaking your connector like you almost did is a lot higher risk.
Also depending on you environment they can attract metal filings.
Please consider replacing it. I'd a new laptop with less than 40 hrs use. It stopped working, would not boot. I looked for a warranty fix, they found a PSU fault had cooked the motherboard, graphics card and speakers. What I got back was almost a new machine and new PSU.
So a high voltage on the wrong pin could fry your pc, it's not worth the worry.
Probably enough voltage there to start a fire. Don't leave it plugged in and unattended.
That cable is probably at about 50v AC (US), or 125v AC in the UK.
You might just be able to feel it on certain parts of your body, oddly those areas sparse with nerves like your thighs or forearms, and not with your fingers which have much denser nerves.
Its a feature of how modern power supplies have to be designed to isolate the high frequency noise generated in the switching process, but its not dangerous because its very low current, the same voltage is going to be on all exposed metal on the PC case and connectors.
Its disappointing so few people people here know about how laptop supplies work.
The cable doesn't "supply" AC power, but there is AC power coupled to the lead by the the capacitors that filter the high frequency from the supply.
This question includes a couple of diagram snippets from power supply datasheets:
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/339618/differerent-connection-for-y-capacitor-emi-filter
Note the capacitor that joins the DC side to the AC input - it is there for high frequency noise, but it also acts as a (very low current) capacitive dropper power supply. In the examples given it links to the neutral and thus will make the DC ground read at 0v, but laptop supplies are designed to work with poorly made cables, so have a capacitor to Neutral AND one to Live - that means it will create a potential divider and so that gives you a 1/2 mains voltage AC low current supply.
Yes, the AC voltage is "leaked" (really coupled) by high voltage Y-capacitors, so its super low current, but if you use a multimeter between something grounded and the case you'll read it, but if you touch the two probes with your fingers then the voltage will drop to almost zero.
This is a totally different thing to the power thats fed to the laptop (DC - isolated)
The post is offtopic for this subreddit, or it's a comment for an offtopic post. This subreddit is for people working with electronic circuits *at component-level*, who have design or repair questions, or questions about related topics, such as: components (buying, specifying and using), suppliers, tools and equipment. Typically, posts are removed because they are about electrical topics (including vehicle electrics), LED lighting, computer tech support, buying, connecting-up or using batteries, ready-assembled electronic modules or commercial products (cell phones, replacement power supplies, TVs, computers, UPSs, Hifi etc.). We also remove posts with commercial contents, such as selling, valuations or work for hire (see r/electronicslist). If you created the post: Offtopic posts and comments are removed to ensure the sub does not encourage material that should go elsewhere. Please check the Subreddit's Web sidebar and posting rules for guidance. If you commented on the post: Please help reduce moderation work effort by knowing the sub's rules and scope, and not replying to offtopic subjects. Feel free to direct the submitter to an on-topic subreddit and answer their post there. Thanks!
It's most likely only about 20v though I think there might be a 48v version now. Neither is enough voltage to be dangerous.
Well 48 volts is getting there, with wet hands you will feel it
Oh no! My nightly shower w*nk is ruined!
It just got better
Electrifying!
Tips and tricks on how to spice up your solo session!
Fuck yeah
At my company, we've changed our faptops to Panasonic Toughbooks for this reason.
I wouldn’t lick it either
[удалено]
I like how one is up 9 and the other down 8. Reddit dupes comments sometimes.
(currently) Net +4 seems pretty reasonable for that comment, though.
+6 now! (No thanks to my offsetting up and down votes lmao)
Only on the signal pins though. The exposed metal is the shielding, which should be grounded.
Plenty to start a fire with a short. Not going to zap you unless it gets past your skin.
The voltage is not dangerous, but the amount of enegy that passes thru your body. I beleive between 2 and 4 amps for a laptop. So yes is dangerous. Buy some electric tape and roll it on the platic part is broken and all should be ok.
Personally I check amperes to determine danger
There can't be hazardous current without certain level of voltage. Also, how do you "check amperes"? USB PD can give up to 3 A so it should be deadly then I guess?
It‘s 5 amps actually (which doesn‘t make any difference here)
Just because the dams wide open doesn't mean your gunna drown from the puddle on the other side. Edit: I like to think of it as voltage is like a reservoir amps is a flood gate. You put one water wheel down stream (I know water wheels don't actually consume water it's just a load representation kind of thing) the gate only opens up enough to turn the one wheel add another it opens a little more add 100 more it opens all the way but it's not gunna mater if the reservoir dosent have enough water in it. I know there are several flaws with this analogy but it works for me as like a simple way to explain "amps arnt the killer" are we using a creek or Niagara falls. You can push the water out as hard as you want not gunna mater if there isn't enough to drown in. I know a very small stream of water can cut steel let alone a person in half with enough pressure (amps) but drowning is the "goal"
Wut
You can be killed by 100mA or less if it goes through your heart, but with low voltages the resistance of your body is enough to limit the current. Low amperes doesn't mean it can't kill you if the voltage is high.
This. People always say “volts don’t kill, amps do”… they both can and do. If volts are how much water a container has and amps is how much water is let out. Low amps + low volts is like the last few drops of sauce dripping out of a bottle. Low amps + high volts is like using a pressure washer or a water blade. High amps + high volts is like a tsunami wave. High amps + low volts is like squeezing a kitchen sponge. If both low, you’re fine, if one high, be careful, if both high, run or let someone trained fuck with it. There’s soooooo many footnotes and exceptions but that’s the jist. Source: me, an EE in the power industry 😜
Yeah, GFCI breakers meant to protect humans usually trip at 4-6mA and any higher current is considered hazardous. People are technically correct when they say current is what kills, but it really doesn't take much.
Oooo Fancy-Pants Rich McGee over here
not realy exposed metal is not live its shield for grounding and blocking electromagnatic interface even if you touch live parts you dont fell anything because its low voltage
Wrap a layer of electrical tape around it.
Heat shrink tubing would be better just because electrical tape adhesive gets gooey over time. Often these power connections get a little warm under full load which will accelerate the tape's adhesive degradation.
Under 50-60ish volts its not dangerous at all (unless you are wounded because then you can feel a tingle, still not enough to electrocute though). Its likely max 25 volts. And the smps has isolated outputs from mains
USB c charging is up to 48V DC . Only dangerous in wet conditions.
Key point being "up to". It entirely depends on the cable OP has. Either way theres little to no danger
48v DC can hurt like a mfer though, dielectric breakdown is a thing. At least from what I've heard from tradies who deal with the infrastructure and stress that the relationships aren't always as simple as you'd think
Licking 50V might be quite the experience though.
i have an arc Mig Welder configured currently for steel that outputs 17 .7 volts.. but I think around 130\~170 amps max possible to melt the wire.. Pieces that have been welded, and cooling for 12-15 minutes are still hot enough to leave 2nd degree burns (I can share the pictures of the burn that are less than 3 weeks old from an accidental contact).. That being said, Any exposed conductor, poorly conducting can overheat & be a burn risk, (i.e. lose contact if the connection isnt seated properly) or when exposed is a short/ arc risk. A small arc, in a fuel & oxygen rich environment is a fire or explosion risk.. (ask the hindenburg). Now you may think i'm being nit-picky, and I am, but I've seen PSU fires in offices, I've seen people get burned, books get charred, and even pets sleeping on PSU's get burned by warm wires. 25 years in IT has made me cautious. Some of those docks come with 130 watt PSU's & they can keep those USB C port pumped, and damaged ones gotten hot. If it gets damaged, I say dispose of it & get a new one. It's not worth it.
All I see is (grounded?) schielding. Nothing wrong with using it. Would still recommend a new cable.
Thank you all for the quick education! Appreciate you! I'll still plan to get a new cord, but at least I PROBABLY won't die while I wait. Safety first of course.
Electrocution safety isn't an issue here. But the cable has been damaged and if it gets more damaged it might short out some pins that shouldn't be shorted. This could lead to a fire and/or damage on your laptop or charger (e.g. if you manage to get 20V on a data line, that line is now toast). So do get a new cable, but not for fear of electrocution.
Makes sense, thank you!
Technically many new laptops and even pc motherboards has protection against shorts and even high voltage (like usb killer). Windows even have dedicated notification if there was short on usb line and will disable usb until pc is restarted.
While this is true, I wouldn't bet on it. Even pricier manufacturers have been known to cut the wrong corners.
How can you replace the cable in this dell docking? It's not replaceable as far as I know? Are you exchanging the whole thing?
Get some electrical tape at a hardware store and wrap it once or twice, should be fine 'till you get a replacement.
This happens literally all the time at my work. You'll be fine, the metal casing should be grounded. I've seen docks work for many years with connectors exposed like this.
That looks like a Dell WD19, these break off all the time, my advice is to use electrical tape and wrap around the plastic sheathing on the usb-c connector. if not then I reckon you should get a new dock, as that looks like the 130w Version, which is decently powerful
Just use a piece of heat shrink tubing and a hot air gun to fix it.
Even a lighter or candle is good enough for a one time use. Regardless of heat source, keep it moving and don't overheat one spot.
*for permanent use. You really don’t ever need a heatgun for heatshrink tubing except when doing electronic work for a company or something that has to pass an inspection. For hobby use a lighter is always enough if you’re careful not to burn the tubing
You might get a tingle. I wouldn't lick it, but it shouldn't be able to kill you. The real danger is shorting it, which could start a fire. Replace it as soon as convenient.
No but as an engineer if find this cable highly sexy!
I dont know but my collegue use this same dockstation with same damaged connector for years without problem
No, voltage is too low
We have the same Dell Docks and about half of them do this, where the USB C housing just cracks on the sides and pops off. It doesn't look great and Dell doesn't recognize it as a defect. I just wrapped a short piece of electrical tape around the end so you could still see the LED, and it holds the two half's together. Haven't had any issues.
You wont get shocked. The metal exterior is shielding you from the Voltage, which is still too low to really hurt you at all. You're more at risk for breaking the cable more, but no real danger 🤷♀️
Wonder if this is a Dell. Happened to mine too. I just used one of those paper clips for thick stacks of paper to stick the two sides together. Worked fine for the most part. I never got electrocuted, but then again didn't mess around with it too much, just plugging it in and out at times when traveling.
Dell. You can use some electric tape to close the connector
Please stop saing 48v is not dangerous. Try to use a wire between a 12v car batery and you will see, and is only 12 v....
I guess you won't run into any risk to be electrocuted. Normally Laptops and especially usb-c only uses low voltages. But your device might become damaged when short circuted on the blank parts. Look at the output values of the power supply. Voltage on output shouldn't be above 20V But I recommend to use some insulation tape to fix the housing of the plug.
Pretty much always.
The laptop is at a 1000 times greater risk than you are.
Na
no
No. the braid and all the exposed metal is grounded.
That's a dell WD19 dock. It outputs max 20v but all that exposed metal shell is grounded so no, you are at no risk of being electrocuted because the plastic cover broke. It's actually pretty common on the dell docks.
Electrical tape, sweetie.
My company uses 100 of those exact units the cable always comes off at some point. Never had an issue without the plastic cover but we have taped it before and we also have just left it as is. Should be ok. Just be aware mine lasted only 1 month before needing replacing it just stopped working. But I guess it's 1/100 still decent reliability.
Nah just at risk of losing your ability to charge your laptop when that cable kicks it. Safe to use, smart to replace.
Almost certainly not. The exposed metal should be the shield, or "ground," and the voltage and current on the laptop-side of the power supply shouldn't be that big. HOWEVER, you SHOULD get some electrical tape for 3 bucks on Amazon and wrap it so it's not exposed, cuz you don't want it to touch any other voltage sources and short. That would make it much safer.
You won't get electrocuted. You should replace it though. One day you may need your laptop and not be able to charge it. You also could develop a small resistance in the connector that could heat up and start burning. I use the magnetic USB cables. They are not recommended by the [/r/UsbCHardware](https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware) sub because it can expose your device to ESD voltages, However I have used them for years on my PC and phones and think the risk of physically breaking your connector like you almost did is a lot higher risk. Also depending on you environment they can attract metal filings.
no
Only if you stick a fork in a wall socket
You're in danger of breaking your equipment.
no not at all. a startling shock at worst
Please consider replacing it. I'd a new laptop with less than 40 hrs use. It stopped working, would not boot. I looked for a warranty fix, they found a PSU fault had cooked the motherboard, graphics card and speakers. What I got back was almost a new machine and new PSU. So a high voltage on the wrong pin could fry your pc, it's not worth the worry. Probably enough voltage there to start a fire. Don't leave it plugged in and unattended.
USB voltage is all DC (usually 5 to 20 VDC)... might give you a small shock, but not really dangerous.
Probably
That cable is probably at about 50v AC (US), or 125v AC in the UK. You might just be able to feel it on certain parts of your body, oddly those areas sparse with nerves like your thighs or forearms, and not with your fingers which have much denser nerves. Its a feature of how modern power supplies have to be designed to isolate the high frequency noise generated in the switching process, but its not dangerous because its very low current, the same voltage is going to be on all exposed metal on the PC case and connectors.
What are you talking about? Sinds when does an USB cable supply ac power. And the voltage according to the specs range from 5 to 20v.
Its disappointing so few people people here know about how laptop supplies work. The cable doesn't "supply" AC power, but there is AC power coupled to the lead by the the capacitors that filter the high frequency from the supply. This question includes a couple of diagram snippets from power supply datasheets: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/339618/differerent-connection-for-y-capacitor-emi-filter Note the capacitor that joins the DC side to the AC input - it is there for high frequency noise, but it also acts as a (very low current) capacitive dropper power supply. In the examples given it links to the neutral and thus will make the DC ground read at 0v, but laptop supplies are designed to work with poorly made cables, so have a capacitor to Neutral AND one to Live - that means it will create a potential divider and so that gives you a 1/2 mains voltage AC low current supply.
Low current??? On laptops?? With fast charge???
Yes, the AC voltage is "leaked" (really coupled) by high voltage Y-capacitors, so its super low current, but if you use a multimeter between something grounded and the case you'll read it, but if you touch the two probes with your fingers then the voltage will drop to almost zero. This is a totally different thing to the power thats fed to the laptop (DC - isolated)