Running with open power supply, any cons?

[Nagorak]

Besides the obvious risk of shocking yourself, is there any other reason not to run with your power supply open? I need to change the fan in one of my power supplies and I was thinking of modifying it to provide for more air flow. While I was looking at it I started thinking, why even bother modifying it when I can just leave the shell off? It's in an older machine and I don't plan on tinkering with it much, or leaving the case open.

So, as long as I am careful and don't mess around inside while the machine is running, is there any reason not to do this?

[CGR]

Might get more dust inside it than usual.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I did that for a while when my old CWT 420W lost its fan - just be sure you don't touch the heatsinks while power is applied ;)

[turd]

Well it would be the same as with a system case where you would have issues of air flow and heat pockets. I would think that you want a path of air directed within the enclosure to go over the components and out . Would you still have that without the cover? Not sure if that would matter with the PSU but I have seen that with some of my air systems that if I take the cover off the case I actually loose some cooling.

[killermiller]

just be sure you don't touch the heatsinks while power is applied ;)
I hate it when I do that.:mad:

[RollingThunder]

Besides the obvious risk of shocking yourself, is there any other reason not to run with your power supply open? I need to change the fan in one of my power supplies and I was thinking of modifying it to provide for more air flow. While I was looking at it I started thinking, why even bother modifying it when I can just leave the shell off? It's in an older machine and I don't plan on tinkering with it much, or leaving the case open.

So, as long as I am careful and don't mess around inside while the machine is running, is there any reason not to do this?

Nag,

From a safety issue that's a little like turning off your car's airbags, isn't it? Would you leave all your electrical outlets exposed in your hose?

[Archer36]

Nag,

From a safety issue that's a little like turning off your car's airbags, isn't it? Would you leave all your electrical outlets exposed in your hose?
From a OC'er point of view, if you leave the outlets exposed its easier in the future to modify or upgrade them :D

[RollingThunder]

From a OC'er point of view, if you leave the outlets exposed its easier in the future to modify or upgrade them :D

True, my side panel is always off ..... :cool:

[Nagorak]

Thanks for the responses guys. I am thinking of maybe not leaving the case off completely, but rather just cutting a large hole in the bottom (it only has a few small openings) and then closing it back up with grating to prevent any unfortunate accidents. I was playing around in the case with the PSU open, and although I think the chance of serious shock is pretty low, I realized that it was kind of stupid even taking the chance.

At the same time, a larger opening should still allow for more air flow into the PSU, but I am concerned about the point raised about whether opening up the PSU would actually allow it to run cooler. I notice where the holes are placed in the PSU seems to be designed to allow the air to flow across the heatsink inside, so altering the intake area would potentially change the airflow so a lot of it bypasses the heatsink.

At the same time, I think in this circumstance maybe opening the PSU up a bit more may be for the best. The PSU in question is a 350w Sparkle in my HTPC, it's low wattage but the HTPC doesn't need that much power. I don't want it to overheat, but the current draw on it is pretty low, it idles around 70w according to my Kill A Watt (I haven't checked full load usage yet, but I am pretty sure it never comes close to maxing out at 350w).

The thing is, since this is an HTPC I have tried to keep the noise down and thus the case doesn't have that many fans, and pretty low noise ones. I replaced the fan in the PSU with a Panaflo Medium Output 80mm and it's basically the only exhaust fan in the whole system. The case is modified so a 120mm intake fan is blowing directly down onto the CPU heatsink (the case is desktop orientation rather than tower), which is right next to the PSU, so I was thinking that if I opened the power supply up a bit more that air would flow over the heatsink and get exhausted through the PSU (thus keeping case temperatures lower and also keeping the PSU cool).

Does this seem reasonable?

[Hl2dxCrt]

just be sure you don't touch the heatsinks while power is applied ;)

Shoot I wouldent risk it unless you never plan to ever touch you while yor system is plugged in. I personl would worry alot about me working on my system with something like that in it.

[JimmyG]

Just remember that even with the power shut off, the capacitors can stay charged for a long time. If you open it up take extreme care when working inside the case.

[Adragontattoo]

Are you jsut trying to get more airflow to the psu?

Externally mount a larger fan?