AC power on front panels

Interestingly, there is no fuse holder at that location (bridged with a jumper). Instead, there is a standard 1-1/4" glass fuse holder in the back panel. Certain spots of the power supply board I've glued-over with insulating plastic (salvaged from the HV section of various power supplies over the years). Very bad design indeed. The pads at the top are very close to the metal cage and the HV traces on the power supply board are uninsulated. -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of William Maddox Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 12:21 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: AC power on front panels I don't think there is anything intrinsically unsafe about the switch itself, which is rated for line voltage and likely UL approved. The idiocy of the IMSAI design is that the switch is connected via PC traces to solder pads at the top edge of the board where the wiring to the power supply attaches -- live line voltage exposed at a location that just invites contact while one is otherwise careful to avoid the power-supply internals. I've seen people put a few strips of electrician's tape over the pads to insulate them, though a fold of fishpaper and hot-glue might be less likely to fall off with age (??). Another piece of bad design is the bare metal fuse clip that is so close to the edge of the power supply PC board that I would be concerned about the possibility of contact with the case cover, e.g., if the case was sufficiently deformed. Another fishpaper might be a good idea there. --Bill