# Unplugged My Speakers While They Were On



## Meteora (Apr 26, 2010)

I have a 30W Hewlet Packard 2.1 Speaker System.

I was replacing them in the house, so I had to unplug them from where they were plugged. I didn't notice that they were on when I unplugged them.

Is this generally unhealthy for the speaker, and what are the possibilities of unlugging speaker systems this way?

Thanks.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

It wont hurt unless your driving them hard and mostly when they are plugged back in, its like plugging in your vacuum when its already turned on you get a spark at the plug as there is a sudden surge of power. The bigger issue is if you were to short the two wires together, that may very easily damage the amp.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
As long the the unit is still working, no worries.
Cheers,
JJ


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

tonyvdb said:


> It wont hurt unless your driving them hard and mostly when they are plugged back in, its like plugging in your vacuum when its already turned on you get a spark at the plug as there is a sudden surge of power. The bigger issue is if you were to short the two wires together, that may very easily damage the amp.


Just like Tony says, ''Not unless you were really driving them. I've done it a thosand times (well not even close) while testing and doing various other things but just don't short the wires together even though your amp should have built in short circuit prevention it's still not good to do.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

I think the greatest danger would be to yourself.


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## Meteora (Apr 26, 2010)

What is shorting the two wires? And driving them hard? Sorry if I didn't understand that.

Lastly, is there something I can check to see if the speakers have short circuit prevention like someone said, thanks!


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## mdrake (Jan 31, 2008)

Meteora said:


> What is shorting the two wires?


Touching the two speaker wires together. 



> And driving them hard? Sorry if I didn't understand that.


Means to play the speakers loudly



> Lastly, is there something I can check to see if the speakers have short circuit prevention like someone said, thanks!


It is actually your receiver or amplifier that would have the short circuit protection and most do.


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## Meteora (Apr 26, 2010)

Ok, my signal source was my Xbox 360.

I get the driving them hard part, but...by the two speaker wires, I guess you mean the wire from each speaker. Well, those are already connected together, and to the subwoofer...I'm not really sure how I can touch them together. Do you mean cutting them then putting them back together? Sorry again for the misunderstanding


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## mdrake (Jan 31, 2008)

For example touching the gold and silver metal tips together would create a short.


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## recruit (May 9, 2009)

As all the above replies, if they are working still then do not worry !


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## Meteora (Apr 26, 2010)

Thank you.

I was wondering by the way, is there any problem with leaving surge protection multi-outlets inside the wall during an event that may cause a power surge in the house (like a thunderstorm), or should I leave the surge protection multi-outlets unplugged from the wall (when I'm not using them of course)? 

Also, I was wondering, is there a type of home wiring system that protects against power surges/outages caused by weather? Or are power surges/outages likely to occur with any home wiring? 

Sorry if my questions seem a lot. I was doing a little research and couldn't find the exact answers I was looking for.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Any decent brand of surge protector has lightning insurance and some type of fuse that can save your bacon. However if you own your own home it is recommended that you insure your grounding is well done. A good electrician should be able to verify this. If lightning hits you directly though. You won't be worrying about the electronics.raying:


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