Question Is it safe to continuity test from a PC case to the PSU earth pin?

[quietSquirrel78]

Hello!
I want to make sure that my case is connected to the earth pin of my PSU plug. I plan to do this by using a multimeter and putting one probe on the case, and the other on the earth pin of the PSU plug, and setting the multimeter mode to continuity testing.
However, I understand that this applies a voltage across the probes - could this be dangerous to do, e.g. could it damage components of the PSU or components inside the case or even damage me?

Would it also be safe to do this on a computer that had been turned on before? I'm not sure if there'd perhaps be any issues with the PSU caps.

Thank you!

 

[jay32267]

You won't hurt anything.
Put one pin on the case.....the other on the prong of the plug.
You should see near zero ohms.....and definitely less than 5 ohms.
If you don't see 0.....and you see like 1-5.....that's the resistance of the leads so don't worry about that.
The voltage across the probes is very small....usually like 2 or 3 volts. It won't hurt anything if you put the probes where you and I said.

 

[quietSquirrel78]

You won't hurt anything.
Put one pin on the case.....the other on the prong of the plug.
You should see near zero ohms.....and definitely less than 5 ohms.
If you don't see 0.....and you see like 1-5.....that's the resistance of the leads so don't worry about that.
The voltage across the probes is very small....usually like 2 or 3 volts. It won't hurt anything if you put the probes where you and I said.

Alright cool - thank you. So would this be using the resistance mode of the multimeter? (My multi has continuity and resistance mode, just wondering if resistance is better to use?)

 

[jay32267]

Either will work.
Continuity mode usually doesn't give you a number....just a beep and/or a light when you have continuity.
If you use resistance mode.....you just want to see something below about 5 ohms....most likely you will see 0,1 or maybe 2.....but if you had long thin leads....then maybe 5.