Akasa NUC Plato fanless case - chassis grounding

[MQues]

Hi all

I bought a Plato X7D fanless case for my NUC7i7DNHE. It's working nicely and very happy.

The NUC PSU's DC plug is not continuous with the AC inlet earth. This is common with many 19Vdc NUC's. Even if there is an earth prong on the AC inlet, it is not continuous with the DC plug.

So how is the chassis for this fanless case grounded, for safety?

Here is the assembly manual:

http://www.akasa.com.tw/download/manual/A-NUC39%20manu.V1_web.pdf http://www.akasa.com.tw/download/manual/A-NUC39%20manu.V1_web.pdf

I'm not the first to use an Akasa fanless case with a NUC, so I'm hoping the experts out there can help.

Appreciated! :-)

[MLevi]

Your NUC and Akasa case are properly earthed and safe only when:

1. The motherboard is properly fitted to the case (all mounting posts and the screws that hold your motherboard on the posts)
2. The AC power supplying your DC Power Supply Unit is properly earthed ("grounded" for us Yanks)
3. The DC negative wire is the earth for PSUs - typically.

[MQues]

Thanks Mike - I'm very confident # 1 has been done correctly. Let's assume so anyway.

But regarding # 2 and # 3 - as I mentioned, it's very common to have an SMPS (like those included with NUCs) where the AC inlet earth is NOT continuous with the DC plug ground.

That is the case with all Intel NUC's I've had. In fact, my other NUCs have SMPS's where the AC inlet just has 2-prongs, without an AC earth at all.

So how is the chassis earthed in these cases?

Or is it not a requirement since voltage is 'low' at 19Vdc?

Cheers

[MLevi]

Hi Miles

"But regarding # 2 and # 3 - as I mentioned, it's very common to have an SMPS (like those included with NUCs) where the AC inlet earth is NOT continuous with the DC plug ground."

Check out any article on "SMPS hot ground"

These YouTube videos explain it (the theory applies to any SMPS)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmUug3WNIZI AC/DC SMPS Basics (1) - YouTube

Good Luck