[POLL] Is doing this dangerous?

[PowerPCFan]

Just if you’re curious, I don’t do this, I was the curious one and wanted to know other people’s thoughts on this questionable thing.

Edit: here's an image of what I was picturing when I said "Right next to where you sleep"
(image generated by Kapwing AI)

 

[TheShortTimer]

Just if you’re curious, I don’t do this, I was the curious one and wanted to know other people’s thoughts on this questionable thing.

I've done it for years and haven't suffered any mishaps so far. 🤷‍♂️

Cue the inevitable reply...

 

[doctor_dog]

You asked, so here are my $0.02 . Like most things in life (at least in my xp) the answer isn't yes/no, it's a grey. I think it's fine under the vast majority of circumstances. I assume you're talking about laptops since you mentioned power supplies, but if not then this list of possible bad endings will be smaller.

Devil's in the details though: Are you plugging it in to charge it (e.g. battery installed)? Is the circuit close to being overloaded already? Is it in a janky extension cable? What kind of circuit overload protection is installed at the charging location/residence? What kind of charger are you using? (e.g. OEM Apple vs. off-band) Is the charger ETL/UL listed/certified? How old is the wiring in your residence? Etc =)

I can only brainstorm 3 plausible disastrous outcomes:
1) Battery explosion/fire due to faulty charging circuit/software (if fitted)
2) Laptop overheats/shorts out/catches fire (if running)
3) Power supply fails and explodes/catches fire/shorts out

So if you have a battery you trust, an OEM charger in good physical condition, and you're laptop isn't on and is well ventilated I think your odds of having something go sideways with your PPC are negligibly higher than having your cell phone/new laptop plugged into the same circuit where you sleep.

If in doubt, unplug it!!

 

[micahgartman]

@PowerPCFan I see you have a "wind tunnel" in your collection. Do you leave it on all the time? I SAID DO YOU LEAVE YOUR MDD ON ALL THE TIME?!?!

 

[crimsonRE]

@PowerPCFan I see you have a "wind tunnel" in your collection. Do you leave it on all the time? I SAID DO YOU LEAVE YOUR MDD ON ALL THE TIME?!?!

Bwaaahaaaahaaaa.....good one.😆

Personally, I've been leaving virtually every machine plugged in, but not turned on (well, most of the Macs are in sleep mode), for 2 decades now. Includes a multitude of UNIX workstations (Sun, SGI, NeXT) in addition to Macs (beige G3, MDD, Cube, G4 iMac, PBs galore, iBooks)... I have yet to have a problem with this, using bog standard U.S. housing wiring (house built in 1996).
As far as having them powered up - I only run the UNIX boxes while I'm down in the computing cave actually using them. No PS problems but I have had hardware failures if I've left them on unattended, say, overnight...☠️

 

[PowerPCFan]

@PowerPCFan I see you have a "wind tunnel" in your collection. Do you leave it on all the time? I SAID DO YOU LEAVE YOUR MDD ON ALL THE TIME?!?!

[thinks for a bit] Hmm… maybe… ok fine. I do.

(At least I used to, but now that I am experiencing some power supply issues, I don’t.)

 

[eyoungren]

Whenever you go to sleep or leave your home/apartment you should first go outside and flip all your circuit breakers so that power to everything is shut off.

If no electricity is flowing in the house/apartment at all - there is no danger.

👍

 

[minik]

I leave a PowerBook 520c (powered off) plugged into power all the time at work for no good reason. 😁

 

[PowerPCFan]

You asked, so here are my $0.02 . Like most things in life (at least in my xp) the answer isn't yes/no, it's a grey. I think it's fine under the vast majority of circumstances. I assume you're talking about laptops since you mentioned power supplies, but if not then this list of possible bad endings will be smaller.

Devil's in the details though: Are you plugging it in to charge it (e.g. battery installed)? Is the circuit close to being overloaded already? Is it in a janky extension cable? What kind of circuit overload protection is installed at the charging location/residence? What kind of charger are you using? (e.g. OEM Apple vs. off-band) Is the charger ETL/UL listed/certified? How old is the wiring in your residence? Etc =)

I can only brainstorm 3 plausible disastrous outcomes:
1) Battery explosion/fire due to faulty charging circuit/software (if fitted)
2) Laptop overheats/shorts out/catches fire (if running)
3) Power supply fails and explodes/catches fire/shorts out

So if you have a battery you trust, an OEM charger in good physical condition, and you're laptop isn't on and is well ventilated I think your odds of having something go sideways with your PPC are negligibly higher than having your cell phone/new laptop plugged into the same circuit where you sleep.

If in doubt, unplug it!!

I wasn’t talking about laptops, but I agree with everything you said.

 

[micahgartman]

I leave a PowerBook 520c (powered off) plugged into power all the time at work for no good reason. 😁

We need pics of that beautiful Blackbird!

 

[dmr727]

We need pics of that beautiful Blackbird!

That was definitely one of my favorite series of Powerbook, and hard to find models still in good shape these days!

 

[Analog Kid]

You asked, so here are my $0.02 . Like most things in life (at least in my xp) the answer isn't yes/no, it's a grey. I think it's fine under the vast majority of circumstances. I assume you're talking about laptops since you mentioned power supplies, but if not then this list of possible bad endings will be smaller.

Devil's in the details though: Are you plugging it in to charge it (e.g. battery installed)? Is the circuit close to being overloaded already? Is it in a janky extension cable? What kind of circuit overload protection is installed at the charging location/residence? What kind of charger are you using? (e.g. OEM Apple vs. off-band) Is the charger ETL/UL listed/certified? How old is the wiring in your residence? Etc =)

I can only brainstorm 3 plausible disastrous outcomes:
1) Battery explosion/fire due to faulty charging circuit/software (if fitted)
2) Laptop overheats/shorts out/catches fire (if running)
3) Power supply fails and explodes/catches fire/shorts out

So if you have a battery you trust, an OEM charger in good physical condition, and you're laptop isn't on and is well ventilated I think your odds of having something go sideways with your PPC are negligibly higher than having your cell phone/new laptop plugged into the same circuit where you sleep.

If in doubt, unplug it!!

Seems to me having the fire start where you can quickly detect it and put it out would be an argument in favor of keeping it next to the bed...

 

[GMShadow]

@PowerPCFan I see you have a "wind tunnel" in your collection. Do you leave it on all the time? I SAID DO YOU LEAVE YOUR MDD ON ALL THE TIME?!?!

NO I'M NOT A DOCTOR, WHY WOULD YOU ASK?

----

For me it depends. I'm usually more cautious with a new machine and only leave them plugged in when I'm there, especially if it's been sitting for a long while prior to me getting it. After a while, once I've got a better feel for the machine and feel good about it, I may be more okay with leaving it plugged in while I'm gone. And yeah, desktops are less of a worry than laptops/iDevices for me - it's not the power circuitry that usually worries me, it's the batteries.

 

[Siliconguy]

Whenever you go to sleep or leave your home/apartment you should first go outside and flip all your circuit breakers so that power to everything is shut off.

If no electricity is flowing in the house/apartment at all - there is no danger.

👍

Then all the food in the refrigerator spoils except in the winter, in that case the pipes freeze and burst.

Also the breakers are inside the house in most cases. You can pull the meter out of its socket, but you are not allowed to put it back in, you have to call the power company to do that.

 

[PowerPCFan]

NO I'M NOT A DOCTOR, WHY WOULD YOU ASK?

----

For me it depends. I'm usually more cautious with a new machine and only leave them plugged in when I'm there, especially if it's been sitting for a long while prior to me getting it. After a while, once I've got a better feel for the machine and feel good about it, I may be more okay with leaving it plugged in while I'm gone. And yeah, desktops are less of a worry than laptops/iDevices for me - it's not the power circuitry that usually worries me, it's the batteries.

Interesting, I’d feel (mostly) fine sleeping with my PowerBook G4’s battery under my pillow, but I would never sleep with a plugged in desktop power supply under my pillow… not that I would ever put these things under my pillow, just using it as an example.

 

[eyoungren]

Then all the food in the refrigerator spoils except in the winter, in that case the pipes freeze and burst.

Also the breakers are inside the house in most cases. You can pull the meter out of its socket, but you are not allowed to put it back in, you have to call the power company to do that.

It was a joke. 😀

In any case, every house I've ever lived in has had the breakers in a box outside.

And I live in Phoenix, AZ. Not much risk of burst pipes here. Although if you have fish you do want to have the A/C on during the summer (which means power). We found that out our first year here. After a week of vacation we came back to cooked fish. It can hit 118º to 123º in August.

 

[micahgartman]

That was definitely one of my favorite series of Powerbook, and hard to find models still in good shape these days!

This sweet beast came across the auction block recently. If only I could spare a kidney...

Apple Macintosh Powerbook 550c PPC 603e/117MHz Color Black Operation Confirmed | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Apple Macintosh Powerbook 550c PPC 603e/117MHz Color Black Operation Confirmed at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[msackey]

I can only brainstorm 3 plausible disastrous outcomes:
1) Battery explosion/fire due to faulty charging circuit/software (if fitted)
2) Laptop overheats/shorts out/catches fire (if running)
3) Power supply fails and explodes/catches fire/shorts out

[...]

If in doubt, unplug it!!

There is a MUCH more likely scenario than any of the 3 listed above that would cause a disaster. OP said the PowerPC is plugged right next to where they sleep. Depends on if OP sleeps with mouth open or closed, and if the mouth waters like a dam, it could be quite disastrous if a flood's a comin' from that mouth.

You know....electrocution...

Just sayin'

 

[MallardDuck]

Just if you’re curious, I don’t do this, I was the curious one and wanted to know other people’s thoughts on this questionable thing.

Edit: here's an image of what I was picturing when I said "Right next to where you sleep"
(image generated by Kapwing AI)

View attachment 2221006

I wouldn't use any lithium ion battery from that era in any product, anywhere in my home. Even if it holds a charge, they're really old and lithium dendrites are a thing....after that many years, the risk of a short circuit is far from zero.

 

[PowerPCFan]

I wouldn't use any lithium ion battery from that era in any product, anywhere in my home. Even if it holds a charge, they're really old and lithium dendrites are a thing....after that many years, the risk of a short circuit is far from zero.

I wasn't aware of these things... my Powerbook g4's battery lasts for 3.5 hours sometimes (original battery!) but recently I had some issues (really bad issues!!) and they seemed to stop when I removed the battery so maybe it shorted?! I wrote a "story" about it, you can read it here: https://48-121.000webhostapp.com/story/PowerBook Adventures.html (long URL, lol)

 

[scarlett7447]

I have 3-4 PowerPC Macs plugged in and working 24/7 near my bed (desktops and portables) and I would say it's fine, although I've serviced all of them and have a bit more confidence in them

 

[AphoticD]

My routine is typically;
1. Shutdown any idle desktop computers in the house before going to bed.
2. Switch their power off at the wall.
3. Throw dust covers over the displays and towers.
4. Shut down any laptops which aren’t needing to be in use - as in no unsaved work or not in the middle of a project.
5. Put my few “active” laptops to sleep with the intention to use them over the next day or so.
6. Roll up any laptop power supplies and store them away together in a drawer / out of sight.
7. Slip The “active” laptops into their protective sleeves and stack them on top of my desk.
8. For my non-active laptops, I’ll remove the batteries where possible and store the batteries in sealed tubs - I tend to try to rotate usage and attempt to keep some charge in many of them.
9. The non-active laptops are then stored in protective sleeves without batteries on a rack which houses many (100+) PowerPC and early Intel portable Macs.
10. If we aren’t downloading anything, I’ll typically switch off the modem / Wifi router and wireless broadband receiver as well as put the phones onto Airplane mode while we sleep.


Although this is my personal routine, the short answer to the poll is “No, it’s fine.” - I’ve never had a problem with running my PowerPC (and Intel) Macs all night long for prolonged periods in the past, nor have I had any issues leaving things plugged into power.

I just choose to respect my belongings by showing appreciation, packing things away when not in use and covering things up - I do the same for my music equipment, books, CDs, tools, cars, motorcycle, trailer, caravan, garden equipment and so on. It’s not just the electronics that get special treatment.

It sometimes drives my wife nuts, but she can do what she wants with her stuff, and I’m sure deep down she admires my patient approach 🙂

 

[eyoungren]

My routine is typically;
1. Shutdown any idle desktop computers in the house before going to bed.
2. Switch their power off at the wall.
3. Throw dust covers over the displays and towers.
4. Shut down any laptops which aren’t needing to be in use - as in no unsaved work or not in the middle of a project.
5. Put my few “active” laptops to sleep with the intention to use them over the next day or so.
6. Roll up any laptop power supplies and store them away together in a drawer / out of sight.
7. Slip The “active” laptops into their protective sleeves and stack them on top of my desk.
8. For my non-active laptops, I’ll remove the batteries where possible and store the batteries in sealed tubs - I tend to try to rotate usage and attempt to keep some charge in many of them.
9. The non-active laptops are then stored in protective sleeves without batteries on a rack which houses many (100+) PowerPC and early Intel portable Macs.
10. If we aren’t downloading anything, I’ll typically switch off the modem / Wifi router and wireless broadband receiver as well as put the phones onto Airplane mode while we sleep.


Although this is my personal routine, the short answer to the poll is “No, it’s fine.” - I’ve never had a problem with running my PowerPC (and Intel) Macs all night long for prolonged periods in the past, nor have I had any issues leaving things plugged into power.

I just choose to respect my belongings by showing appreciation, packing things away when not in use and covering things up - I do the same for my music equipment, books, CDs, tools, cars, motorcycle, trailer, caravan, garden equipment and so on. It’s not just the electronics that get special treatment.

It sometimes drives my wife nuts, but she can do what she wants with her stuff, and I’m sure deep down she admires my patient approach 🙂

I think you would be driven absolutely insane in my house. 😀

Everything is left on. Only laptops allowed to sleep and screens allowed to switch off. Desktops are on 24/7, full power. A legacy of sleeping a G5 at work and coming in to find it frozen. I have backups that go off in the early AM hours. Also, I want instant gratification when I push a button - not waiting for boot/login.

Router and modem are on 24/7. We have connected devices. Phones, again on 24/7. We need/want to be reached if (god forbid) there is an emergency at 2:30am or so. Also, the kids go to their rooms at odd hours (and so does my wife). Shutting the router/modem off would disturb my sleep - angry family members outside my door with pitchforks and torches!

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

I wouldn't say inherently dangerous. No more than any other potential electrical fire. There's also the EMF, Or Wifi signals that has yet to be proven if you want to go down that rabbit hole. I have my iPhone as my alarm clock so it's near my head. I guess. On my night stand. But if electrical fire is really a concern. Why not just plug it in to charge at the desk or what have you?

 

[PowerPCFan]

I think you would be driven absolutely insane in my house. 😀

Everything is left on. Only laptops allowed to sleep and screens allowed to switch off. Desktops are on 24/7, full power. A legacy of sleeping a G5 at work and coming in to find it frozen. I have backups that go off in the early AM houses. Also, I want instant gratification when I push a button - not waiting for boot/login.

Router and modem are on 24/7. We have connected devices. Phones, again on 24/7. We need/want to be reached if (god forbid) there is an emergency at 2:30am or so. Also, the kids go to their rooms at odd hours (and so does my wife). Shutting the router/modem off would disturb my sleep - angry family members outside my door with pitchforks and torches!

I agree! @AphoticD would be driven insane in my house too. And yes, contact is necessary!!

My routine is typically;
1. Shutdown any idle desktop computers in the house before going to bed.
2. Switch their power off at the wall.
3. Throw dust covers over the displays and towers.
4. Shut down any laptops which aren’t needing to be in use - as in no unsaved work or not in the middle of a project.
5. Put my few “active” laptops to sleep with the intention to use them over the next day or so.
6. Roll up any laptop power supplies and store them away together in a drawer / out of sight.
7. Slip The “active” laptops into their protective sleeves and stack them on top of my desk.
8. For my non-active laptops, I’ll remove the batteries where possible and store the batteries in sealed tubs - I tend to try to rotate usage and attempt to keep some charge in many of them.
9. The non-active laptops are then stored in protective sleeves without batteries on a rack which houses many (100+) PowerPC and early Intel portable Macs.
10. If we aren’t downloading anything, I’ll typically switch off the modem / Wifi router and wireless broadband receiver as well as put the phones onto Airplane mode while we sleep.


Although this is my personal routine, the short answer to the poll is “No, it’s fine.” - I’ve never had a problem with running my PowerPC (and Intel) Macs all night long for prolonged periods in the past, nor have I had any issues leaving things plugged into power.

I just choose to respect my belongings by showing appreciation, packing things away when not in use and covering things up - I do the same for my music equipment, books, CDs, tools, cars, motorcycle, trailer, caravan, garden equipment and so on. It’s not just the electronics that get special treatment.

It sometimes drives my wife nuts, but she can do what she wants with her stuff, and I’m sure deep down she admires my patient approach 🙂

This seems highly unnecessary, but if you're ok with it, that's great... I'm guessing all of your computers are in great condition if you put dust covers on them before bed... it seems like you're the type of person that takes care of their things, which is a great thing! I just unplug my PPC Macs and go to bed... I leave my wifi on and I keep my devices that I use every day OR that are newer than 2013 plugged in.