I Fried My Tower's Usb System With An Air Ionizer!

[telemetric_au]

ive been using an negative air ionizer my mums had for ages, and its great, ive used one before that actually plugged into a usb slot for power, but this one is bigger, runs off 240v and has 4 output/needles, the device is rated at .2w but i think they generate thousands of volts to do the ionization..


anyway, now my usb doesnt work coz i hat it on the desk with my card reader just by it with its usb connector cable going underneath the ionizer (which sits on a stand)

i went to take a photo but i cant transfer the images  ,

im waiting for my collie to finish compiling emacs, so i can get it to transfer the photo via ethernet ftp which i had to setup to get my sources onto it...

i can get a usb pci card cheap these days i just hope it works...

ive tried booting windows and DSl besides my default Puppy with no luck... thers still power coming out and the modules/chips recognized but nothing plugged in shows up....


THESE THINGS ARE GREAT , THE REALLY FRESHEN THE AIR, ESPECIALLY COMPUTER AIR...

JUST KEEP THEM AWAY FROM ANYTHING "SENSITIVE" ELECTRICAL WISE....

i dont think ill buy one of the usb variants again either...

[Da_Blitz]

its a known problem, the solution is a mesh grill that has been grounded

the only way it wolud have fried it is if its on the output side, so if the card reader wasin the path of the fresh air, if its just across the cable it should be fine (insulation)

still its somthing to watch out for, like for example pulgging in some PDAs, they cant handel thier charging capabilites properly and blow usb ports (like the dells, which dell just ignores).

[telemetric_au]

well im still worknig on getting a photo but unitl then , the reader itself was sitting partially under the ionizer...

now you mention the dell thing, it just so happens im not running a dell but have been using a usb connector cable (non-standard that charges off ebay) ... but ive never had problems before... it is only a collie

now the "damage" has been done i dont see what a metal grid would do as im not een running the ionizer anymore..

[Da_Blitz]

thats true

i got hit hard with the dell problem, blew all onbard usb ports so thats why i use hubs and only allow the keyboard and mouse to be plugged directtly in (sme bioses have problems)

if i blow a hub its fine, one thing to note is cheaper hubs that violate the USB spec are good because they deliver more current and deliver power when the PC is off, only problem is some of mine provide power to the PC if the wall socket has been pulled meaning the hub provides vstandby on the MOBO which has meant the BIOS didnt clear in one case (and hence the PC wouldnt reboot)

[telemetric_au]

mmm im thinking it may be the z on usb, as its never charged properly through that, only just enough to stop going flat, so would make it seem as though it cant get enough power and possibly too much load...

any way just picked up a $3au 5 port card of ebay, fingers crossed... (the ionizerz back on but on teh other side of the room

[Da_Blitz]

hope thats what did it (or not)

i find that on board usb ports most of the time cant handle more than 500ma for all the ports on the back (normally 4) so 125ma per port

[telemetric_au]

sounds more likely to me.... (such that i changed the thread title....)