Comp. Hardware: “Charge”?

subdragonzero: Comp. Hardware: “Charge”?
Story: My office is outfitted with a desktop computer that we use for burning CDs and DVDs. It’s been failing to run its program correctly lately and when I mentioned this, my boss asked if I had “unplugged it for at least a minute” when restarting it. I explained to him that it takes no more than a second for an unplugging to have effect, and that anything longer was redundant. He refuted this, claiming that you had to give time for “charge to pass,” and it simply didn’t happen in less than a minute. Last I checked, capacitors and batteries can hold a charge for months, so he can’t be referring to a charge draining from those.

So my question (for which I’m certain the answer is “none”) is this: What specific difference in effect is there between a computer unplugged for a few seconds and one unplugged for a minute?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Karz
For your specific question, most of the capacitors in PC’s motherboard and power supply would have a discharge path. Once unplugged, they would typically discharge in about 20 seconds or less. So, a PC unplugged after a few seconds still has some retained charge on the capacitors.

The CMOS battery on motherboard is good for 5 years or more but it is mainly powering just the CMOS chip.

But I’m pretty sure you already know that the PC problem you are experiencing at the office is not related to your question. But always think of Rule No. 1 – “The BOSS is always right”, LOL.