Aron Duplock was working on the device with his stepbrother when the electric shock knocked him back and killed him.
The 25-year-old father-of-two, who is from Brighton, was at stepbrother Paul Brown’s flat in Downland Drive, Hangleton, when the accident happened, his inquest heard yesterday.
Fixing computers was a hobby the two shared, Brighton Coroner’s Court was told.Aren't you supposed to be good at a hobby?
They believed there was a problem with the fan in the computer and had to remove what is called the heat sink, which helps to cool parts of the machine when it gets hot.A simple procedure. Unless it goes wrong.
However, the power was turned on while Mr Duplock was working on the computer and a shock of around 400 volts went through his body and killed him.Yup, that went wrong! Still, he had friends who could call the emer...
Oh.
Giving evidence at the inquest Mr Brown and Miss Cutler said they thought Mr Duplock was “mucking around” and pretending he had been electrocuted.
As the current went through his body, he called out to Mr Brown “I can’t let go [of the computer].” The inquest heard that strengthening of ones grip is common when being electrocuted. It was at that point they realised the power was turned on, Miss Cutler said in court.
However, Miss Cutler and Mr Brown then decided to go out for a cigarette.As you do.
She confessed at the inquest that she had panicked when she saw what was happening.
She said that was why she went outside for a cigarette before calling for an ambulance.Of course. Makes perfect sense.
8 comments:
Something very strange here, I would almost say there is an odd fish smell there.
The only place you find that type of voltage in a computer is in the first stage of the switch mode power supply and to get near that you have to remove said power supply and open it which requires unplugging all the cables - internal and external. The other thing is that if a power supply goes bad they are almost impossible to repair without rather expensive equipment which requires knowledge of safety when using.
The coroner recorded a verdict of "Death by Moron"
I agree with Ivan above; my immediate reaction on reading was, this is a laptop, it is capable of running on a low voltage battery and the power input is usually about 20v I believe, where do you find 400v to touch?
@Ivan
@Tees Maid
"...electrocuted while trying to fix a laptop...
The 400v may be present in a cold-cathode (ie pre led) illuminated LCD display, but no heatsink as low current.
Laptop PSUs are external bricks, input to laptop is 12v-22v and low current.
The story is BS, there is no current source in laptop large enough to kill a human. The alleged voltage is a distraction, coroner should be sacked for incompetence.
Then again, bunch of chavs : coroner maybe didn't care, nor do I
#darwin
Bugger. He bred. We're doomed!
@Pcar,
That is why I said there is an odd fish smell there. The last laptop I saw with cold-cathode back lighting was about 15 years ago and even then the frequency of the inverter was so high it would produce a surface effect if you touched i.e. run over the surface of the skin rather through the body.
The mains power brick is, with almost all modern laptops, a sealed unit that needs a saw of some sort to get into.
There is obviously the true events that have not been disclosed and I agree with you that the coroner wasn't that interested.
@ivan,
I wasn't disagreeing with you, but adding to the fish smell.
My reference to 400 volts is due to peeps being obsessed with large numbers. >95% of peeps would suffer no more than brief discomfort from a 30,000 volt shock from a car HT lead.
Simplified: Current not voltage is the killer.
I've survived many 240v AC shocks - highest was blowing a 45 Amp fuse*, not mcb; that one did leave me, hmm, In Shock and I went home.
.
* I removed it to make circuit safe - was on ladders & holding copper sheathing on fire alarm circuit for support - AC didn't detach me, I had to pull hand away by throwing myself off ladder. A painter swapped in another despite instructions to all to not touch - sacked at my insistence.
"Something very strange here, I would almost say there is an odd fish smell there."
The kind you get with dodgy wiring? ;)
"Then again, bunch of chavs : coroner maybe didn't care, nor do I"
Heh! But as anon points out, he'd passed on his genes.
"My reference to 400 volts is due to peeps being obsessed with large numbers. >95% of peeps would suffer no more than brief discomfort from a 30,000 volt shock from a car HT lead."
I think it's the newspaper editors that drive this obsession.
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