With any electronic equipment there are surges as you plug into a "live
circuit". This is hot plugging. Sooner than later, it is going to
damage some hardware or degrade a chip for later failure.
The basic rule we learned in tube days in electronics, was to turn off
the power first on both ends of systems to be connected.
Then, power back up. Sometimes you get away with hot plugging, but it
is a better safety rule to you and all your equipment, to be consistent
and turn off the Power, while making or checking connections.
Folks got lazy in the transistor age, since they think "oh, it is only a
5 volt circuit". Well, that five volt circuit may have several watts or
fairly high currents involved, on the scale of small spot welders.
Don't trust consumer grade or even industrial electronics to have
adequate surge protection, especially in these days of offshore
manufacturing.
-Stuart Rohre
K5KVH
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