Electricity on the case [ new fan controller ] - help

PLAfiller · Sep 22, 2017

Hello all,

I was installing today my new fan controller : Lamptron FC2. After I fired the PC, something "touched" me before I close the case. So, I pulled out my "I don't know how it is called in English" and see picture :

With fan controller disconnected from PSU and PC shut down, there is electricity on the inside of the case. I don't know if this was there before, it could have. I recently took the whole PC apart for dust clean up.

Fan controller is this :

OneMoar · Sep 22, 2017

something is shorted obviously, check all connections, wires plugs check the house ground
btw thats called a test-light

Bill_Bright · Sep 22, 2017

This is bad news! Those testers test for "AC" voltage. So the fact you have AC on your case is not good at all. In fact, if high enough, it could be dangerous to small children, pets, the elderly or people with heart pace makers. I sure would not stand in a puddle of water and touch your case! Seriously!!!!

You need to immediately get your hands on a AC Outlet Tester to ensure your outlet is properly wired and grounded. I recommend one with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupt) indicator as it can be used to test bathroom and kitchen outlets too. These testers can be found for your type and voltage outlet you have in Bulgaria (like this F-Type tester) at most home improvement stores. Use it to test all the outlets in the house and if a fault is shown, have it fixed by a qualified electrician.

If your wall outlet is properly wired and grounded, and the power cord to your power supply is not damaged, then it would seem your power supply is faulty and needs to be replaced NOW! I am not kidding!

lZKoce said:
So, I pulled out my "I don't know how it is called in English"

It is called many things, including "voltage probe", "voltage detector", "voltage tester" or how about this, "Voltage Tester Pen Slotted Screwdriver Electroprobe"! :kookoo:

eidairaman1 · Sep 23, 2017

Bill_Bright said:
This is bad news! Those testers test for "AC" voltage. So the fact you have AC on your case is not good at all. In fact, if high enough, it could be dangerous to small children, pets, the elderly or people with heart pace makers. I sure would not stand in a puddle of water and touch your case! Seriously!!!!

You need to immediately get your hands on a AC Outlet Tester to ensure your outlet is properly wired and grounded. I recommend one with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupt) indicator as it can be used to test bathroom and kitchen outlets too. These testers can be found for your type and voltage outlet you have in Bulgaria (like this F-Type tester) at most home improvement stores. Use it to test all the outlets in the house and if a fault is shown, have it fixed by a qualified electrician.

If your wall outlet is properly wired and grounded, and the power cord to your power supply is not damaged, then it would seem your power supply is faulty and needs to be replaced NOW! I am not kidding!

It is called many things, including "voltage probe", "voltage detector", "voltage tester" or how about this, "Voltage Tester Pen Slotted Screwdriver Electroprobe"!

I used a fvd with ATT, something is shorted to ground, id breadboard the system and check every piece of wire to ensure there are no frays, same with the psu if possible.

I would check the outlet source power to ensure no voltage is coming from ground, even polarity too

erocker · Sep 23, 2017

Make sure none of the connectors are touching the dividers/bottom of the drive bay, it's a common problem. If that isn't the case, contact Lamptron for support. Definitely don't apply any more power to it until you find the issue.

PLAfiller · Sep 23, 2017

It's Saturday and I started working on this issue. I tested the PSU cable: it has three wholes- two of them light up, third one doesn't. I guess the ground is OK. I have the PSU plugged into surge protector as well. I took out the motherboard on a piece of insulating material and took out the PSU from the case. When they are out, there is no electricity on the CPU's cooler's screws. When I return them to the case and I touch the CPU's screws, they light up. Also when I check the top of the hard drives, they also light up. And when I pull out the plastic knobs on the fan controller on the front - the metal struts of the controller, they also light up. I don't think it's the PSU, it seems to me something with the PC case is wrong - the stand offs ? the power button? ground ?

erocker said:
Make sure none of the connectors are touching the dividers/bottom of the drive bay, it's a common problem.

- it took me second to understand what you mean, I will check as it is a cable nest in the drive cage. It is totally possible that something is touching.

@Bill_Bright , I will look for such tester. It's nice to have one. If I don't find one locally I can order from UK or Ebay/Amazon, shipping is easy to here. I just need to know the good on-line stores for these things in UK

micropage7 · Sep 23, 2017

lZKoce said:
It's Saturday and I started working on this issue. I tested the PSU cable: it has three wholes- two of them light up, third one doesn't. I guess the ground is OK. I have the PSU plugged into surge protector as well. I took out the motherboard on a piece of insulating material and took out the PSU from the case. When they are out, there is no electricity on the CPU's cooler's screws. When I return them to the case and I touch the CPU's screws, they light up. Also when I check the top of the hard drives, they also light up. And when I pull out the plastic knobs on the fan controller on the front - the metal struts of the controller, they also light up. I don't think it's the PSU, it seems to me something with the PC case is wrong - the stand offs ? the power button? ground ?

- it took me second to understand what you mean, I will check as it is a cable nest in the drive cage. It is totally possible that something is touching.

@Bill_Bright , I will look for such tester. It's nice to have one. If I don't find one locally I can order from UK or Ebay/Amazon, shipping is easy to here. I just need to know the good on-line stores for these things in UK

wait, wait this happened before of after you add the lamptron?
if it happened before, you should check your electric line, need better grounding

PLAfiller · Sep 23, 2017

micropage7 said:
wait, wait this happened before of after you add the lamptron?
if it happened before, you should check your electric line, need better grounding

I have detected it after I installed the controller, but I haven't opened the case in a long time. It is possible this issue was present from before, I just didn't notice it.

Devon68 · Sep 23, 2017

I had that issue. The current is not too strong so it probably cant kill you, but it might kill some of your components. I couldn't fix that PC so I sold it. Dont worry about it, if it was present from before it's not normal but nothing to worry about.

micropage7 · Sep 23, 2017

lZKoce said:
I have detected it after I installed the controller, but I haven't opened the case in a long time. It is possible this issue was present from before, I just didn't notice it.

have you tried easy solution like add grounding for your pc?
i have the same issue, but i dunno where it comes from since i use old branded case with some mods
so far nothing weird happened just tell myself to unplug the cables before cleaning it or i'm gonna get that vibration :toast:

Bill_Bright · Sep 23, 2017

lZKoce said:
I don't think it's the PSU, it seems to me something with the PC case is wrong - the stand offs ?

The case gets it grounding to Earth ground through the PSU and it's power cord. Except what is inside the power supply, there should be NO AC voltages present anywhere inside the case. Period!

If you have an extra stand off under the motherboard, the most likely scenario is DC voltages running through the motherboard would get shorted to ground. That again would NOT put AC voltage anywhere.

The case's front panel power switch should ONLY have +5VDC on it.

jboydgolfer · Sep 23, 2017

I've seen people thread their power supply mounting screws incorrectly & I wonder if you had a long enough screw and instead of using one of the mounting holes (on a psu) you accidentally went into one of the vent holes in a psu, if you could possibly ground onto the case & create a "live" case?

when the Case mounting holes dont line up perfectly with the PSU mounting holes, and instead one or more line up with the PSU's ventilation holes....not saying thats whats happening here for sure, just a thought as this is pretty serious stuff, dont know if it would still run if it happened

TheoneandonlyMrK · Sep 23, 2017

Bill_Bright said:
The case gets it grounding to Earth ground through the PSU and it's power cord. Except what is inside the power supply, there should be NO AC voltages present anywhere inside the case. Period!

If you have an extra stand off under the motherboard, the most likely scenario is DC voltages running through the motherboard would get shorted to ground. That again would NOT put AC voltage anywhere.

The case's front panel power switch should ONLY have +5VDC on it.

Exactly , nothing external of the PSU should see any ac Voltage at all ,you likely have a ground issue in something , it might not even be the pc but you should try and fix it.
Another appliance in your house could also be the culprit of the current but you still shouldn't see this unless the house's ground wiring is defective somewhere in some way but electric regulations varey by country so i suppose this could be wrong info too sorry.
Could try pc at friends or family , just a volt live check , a plug in mains test is essential for you imho and a cheap multimeter or borrowed, volt stick pens are an indicator and should not be relied on ,measuring would be better even uncalibrated.

PLAfiller · Sep 23, 2017

jboydgolfer said:
I've seen people thread their power supply mounting screws incorrectly & I wonder if you had a long enough screw and instead of using one of the mounting holes (on a psu) you accidentally went into one of the vent holes in a psu, if you could possibly ground onto the case & create a "live" case?

when the Case mounting holes dont line up perfectly with the PSU mounting holes, and instead one or more line up with the PSU's ventilation holes....not saying thats whats happening here for sure, just a thought as this is pretty serious stuff, dont know if it would still run if it happened

Mine looks similar : PSU is face down. It has rubber anti-vibration strip. Thumbscrews are mine own, not the original (I have them though). PSU is old, I have it since...pff 2009? 7-8 years or so. I don't have more info until I get a multi-meter or a wall pug test.

eidairaman1 · Sep 23, 2017

theoneandonlymrk said:
Exactly , nothing external of the PSU should see any ac Voltage at all ,you likely have a ground issue in something , it might not even be the pc but you should try and fix it.
Another appliance in your house could also be the culprit of the current but you still shouldn't see this unless the house's ground wiring is defective somewhere in some way but electric regulations varey by country so i suppose this could be wrong info too sorry.
Could try pc at friends or family , just a volt live check , a plug in mains test is essential for you imho and a cheap multimeter or borrowed, volt stick pens are an indicator and should not be relied on ,measuring would be better even uncalibrated.

The main ground strap and rod need to be checked for bonding to the homes breaker box

Replace those case door thumb screws with regular screws. Could have a wire in the psu touching the psu case

OneMoar · Sep 23, 2017

if it was dc the light would't come on thats a a/c only voltage probe there is no lead on the back of it it only works in the presence of a/c

probly one of the legs in the socket shorted or leaking to ground or there is a ground fault some-ware in the home
the problem is NOT in the system if it was the system would be dead

Norton · Sep 24, 2017

lZKoce said:
Mine looks similar : PSU is face down. It has rubber anti-vibration strip. Thumbscrews are mine own, not the original (I have them though). PSU is old, I have it since...pff 2009? 7-8 years or so. I don't have more info until I get a multi-meter or a wall pug test.

Try removing the upper left side screw and recheck for voltage. @jboydgolfer may have hit the nail on the head- that screw is awfully close to the AC incoming X and Y caps

See this pic from the jonnyGURU review of the 600w version of that psu:

micropage7 · Sep 24, 2017

you could try this one

jboydgolfer · Sep 24, 2017

sadly, ive seen it go WAY worse than a live case b4... :eek:

or so i suspect

silkstone · Sep 24, 2017

Check some other appliances in your home to see if it is an issue with the ground of your house. Anything with bare metal will do, dishwasher, washing machine, oven, etc

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Electricity on the case [ new fan controller ] - help

PLAfiller

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

Bill_Bright

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

erocker

*

PLAfiller

micropage7

PLAfiller

Devon68

micropage7

Bill_Bright

jboydgolfer

TheoneandonlyMrK

PLAfiller

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

OneMoar

There is Always Moar

Norton

Moderator - Returning from the Darkness

micropage7

jboydgolfer

silkstone

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