Static in tower case

[asanthadenz]

There is static running all over the metal parts of my case, as in if i touch my case on the back or in the inside i get this slight electrical surge

The rootcause:
- DVI Cable and the HDMI cable (hdmi connected to my LCD TV)

When only i remove both of them the case no longer has any static

My question is, is it safe to leave it like that?

Thank you

[Jetster]

Thats not static. You mean you get a small shock when you touch the case? Do you live in an old home? And no its not safe to leave it like that. Unplug and get it checked out. It might be an extension cord, bad plug, ground. And so on

[asanthadenz]

Sorry, got the words all wrong

Yes i get a small shock when i touch the case. I live in an apartment. Its fairly new..

[INSTG8R]

Yep I'm with Jetster. This is not static. You have a grounding issue somewhere. What country are you in?

[micropage7]

Originally Posted by asanthadenz

Sorry, got the words all wrong

Yes i get a small shock when i touch the case. I live in an apartment. Its fairly new..

what you mean with fairly new? the shock or it happen when you move to apartment

[Jetster]

He lives in fairly new apartments. But we don't know what country yet. Its only happend when it hooked up to his TV and monitor.

[asanthadenz]

I live in Malaysia, and yes it only happens if i have either my monitor connected to my video card via DVI or my HDMI cable connected to my LCD TV

Flooring in my apartment is ceramic tiles

[INSTG8R]

Malaysia...Hmm not totally familiar with power standards there. How many "pins" are on the plug for the PSU?
When you get a chance go into the UserCP and fill out your System Specs. Makes thing easier to know what we are dealing with

[Jetster]

Do you have surge protector on your TV and PC/Monitor

[Fourstaff]

Originally Posted by INSTG8R

Malaysia...Hmm not totally familiar with power standards there. How many "pins" are on the plug for the PSU?
When you get a chance go into the UserCP and fill out your System Specs. Makes thing easier to know what we are dealing with

Malaysia uses standard 3 pin UK style.

Originally Posted by Jetster

Do you have surge protector on your TV and PC/Monitor

Surge protectors just cut the power when the current gets too big, and that feature can be found in the appliance's plug (assuming standard UK 3pin), and also the PSU. Earth trip can be found in your home's "power box".

The last time I received an electric shock from my case my PSU died within a week. If this is the same situation I suspect the PSU is on its last legs. OP if its possible try to test with another PSU and see if it happens.

[Doc41]

I had a case like that with my cousins "case", it was a grounding issue with the PSU, i just installed a grounded (3-pin) power cable to the PSU and the case stopped shocking him,
don't know if it's the same issue with OP but as far as i know it is a grounding issue

[silkstone]

S.E. Asia doesn't have the best electricity supply. Here, most houses have no ground whatsoever it's impossible to buy a 3prong plug. The mains grounding is pretty much a joke.

It usually isn't a problem, just be careful when opening your case. unplug everything before you start grabbing components etc.

One way i used to solve this issue was to gound my case using an old speaker wire. I connected it to one of the screws in the back of the case and ran it to the copper water pipe.

one thing i worry about with grounding though, is that electricity is constantly being used, even when your machine is off, unless you disconnect it from the mains.

currently, i have a ups connected to the mains with a 3-prong plug (the apartment has a ground line) and then that goes to my printer, monitor and computer. No more shocks and everything is individually grounded without having electricity flowing from non-grounded equipment to grounded equipment.

Edit - i'd wager that if you go around your house and touch the metal part of any electrical appliance, you will get a small shock. But with most things now using double insulation you are less likely to notice it.

[INSTG8R]

Originally Posted by silkstone

S.E. Asia doesn't have the best electricity supply. Here, most houses have no ground whatsoever it's impossible to buy a 3prong plug. The mains grounding is pretty much a joke.

It usually isn't a problem, just be careful when opening your case. unplug everything before you start grabbing components etc.

One way i used to solve this issue was to gound my case using an old speaker wire. I connected it to one of the screws in the back of the case and ran it to the copper water pipe.

one thing i worry about with grounding though, is that electricity is constantly being used, even when your machine is off, unless you disconnect it from the mains.

currently, i have a ups connected to the mains with a 3-prong plug (the apartment has a ground line) and then that goes to my printer, monitor and computer. No more shocks and everything is individually grounded without having electricity flowing from non-grounded equipment to grounded equipment.

Edit - i'd wager that if you go around your house and touch the metal part of any electrical appliance, you will get a small shock. But with most things now using double insulation you are less likely to notice it.

Well that explains it. Exactly as I suspected. Hopefully the OP will take your advice and do the Speaker Wire Trick. I had to do with something at some time I had to that trick with(Really old receiver/amp if I recall)Simple and effective

[Jetster]

Reminds me of that picture in the Taiwan floods of kids on there computer siting in 2 feet of water

[westom]

In Iraq, US soldiers were even killed by the shower. Because so many Iraqi contractors had no idea how to safety ground and earth ground. Grounding to water pipes is a safety threat. The 'tingle' from leakage inside a computer is less of a threat than grounding any appliance to water pipes.

If grounding is necessary to avert damage, then other problems still exist inside that hardware. That ground is only a secondary protection layer; made irrelevant by what should already be working properly inside the appliance. Solve the defect; do not cure symptoms. Of course, a static electric shock is completely different from the 'tingle' created by something completely different.

[Wrathier]

I had that issue before. Stopped when I switched PSU. - I think it was the PSU. I brought the motherboard, CPU and graphic card with me to a new build. That was in Denmark 5 years ago.

[silkstone]

Originally Posted by westom

In Iraq, US soldiers were even killed by the shower. Because so many Iraqi contractors had no idea how to safety ground and earth ground. Grounding to water pipes is a safety threat. The 'tingle' from leakage inside a computer is less of a threat than grounding any appliance to water pipes.

If grounding is necessary to avert damage, then other problems still exist inside that hardware. That ground is only a secondary protection layer; made irrelevant by what should already be working properly inside the appliance. Solve the defect; do not cure symptoms. Of course, a static electric shock is completely different from the 'tingle' created by something completely different.

Originally Posted by Wrathier

I had that issue before. Stopped when I switched PSU. - I think it was the PSU. I brought the motherboard, CPU and graphic card with me to a new build. That was in Denmark 5 years ago.

Logically, you would assume that there were another issue. However, every electrical appliance with metal parts (counting at least 6 computers with different PSUs) have had this issue. It leads me to believe that it is not a problem with the equipment, but the power system in general.

I'm pretty sure it's due to the neutral wire not being balanced properly with the ground.

[Wrathier]

I'm pretty sure it's due to the neutral wire not being balanced properly with the ground.

You might be right. But the next build used same power outlet + cable.

I think that the problem is, that the scews you use to tie the motherboard with sometimes transferes low current to the chassis.

This is pure speculation, however I think it is very plausible.

[Arctucas]

@asanthadenz,

Is the PC and the monitor plugged in the same receptacle outlet?

[silkstone]

Originally Posted by Wrathier

You might be right. But the next build used same power outlet + cable.

I think that the problem is, that the scews you use to tie the motherboard with sometimes transferes low current to the chassis.

This is pure speculation, however I think it is very plausible.

That could be the case, although i would be surprised as it has happened with 3 seperate cases and 4 different motherboards that i have had over the years. Also any other household appliance that has metal inside usually has this issue. I imagine that the inside of the equipment the ground is connected to the neutral.

"Since the neutral point of an electrical supply system is often connected to earth ground, ground and neutral are closely related. Under certain conditions, a conductor used to connect to a system neutral is also used for grounding (earthing) of equipment and structures. Current carried on a grounding conductor can result in objectionable or dangerous voltages appearing on equipment enclosures, so the installation of grounding conductors and neutral conductors is carefully defined in electrical regulations. Where a neutral conductor is used also to connect equipment enclosures to earth, care must be taken that the neutral conductor never rises to a high voltage with respect to local ground." - wikipedia

I'm pretty sure that the electricity systems here, the neutral is not connected to ground at the electricity transformer, like it should be.