my case shocks me

B

Budzman

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 9, 2001
Messages
1,035
If I touch my case I can feel electricity. Kinda feels like when you put your tongue on a dead 9v batterey. It's not that strong, like I can keep my finger on it and feel the electricity.

Could it be from using a non properly grounded outlet or is there something else causing this.
 
Budzman said:
If I touch my case I can feel electricity. Kinda feels like when you put your tongue on a dead 9v batterey. It's not that strong, like I can keep my finger on it and feel the electricity.

Could it be from using a non properly grounded outlet or is there something else causing this.
Click to expand...
Yes, it most likely from using a "bad" AC outlet. Call an electrician.

This is NOT from a mobo touching the case! :p
 
It seems like you must have something dumping AC into your ground. It could be the computer, or an appliance near the computer. Probably your best bet is to go to Radio Shack or anyplace with electrical supplies and buy a electric socket tester. That will tell you if you have a problem on your ground. Not a bad thing to have around.

Does the computer shock you when it isn't on but still plugged in? If it doesn't, that tells you it's definitely the computer. If it does, it doesn't tell you much. Barring the use of a tester, you could plug it in in a different room, like the kitchen, which is almost certain to be on a different circuit.

This condition could be pretty dangerous. It might mean that your ground has gone high resistance, or there is something dumping lots of current into the ground. Either way, bad things such as fire or electrocution, could result.
 
Budzman said:
Can this cause any damage to any computer components?
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Yeah, after the outlet catches on fire and burns down the portion of the house that the computer is in... I wouldsay that would damage some computer components pretty badly.
 
Well my dad is the brilliant electrician. LOL you try telling him to call a real electrician.

He's a oldschool cheap as f*ck fix it yourself guy.
 
It sounds like the wall outlet isn't really grounded. Most PSUs have a couple of disk capacitors wired between the ground lug and the hot and neutral lines, and when the PSU isn't grounded, those caps each drop half the voltage and send it to the case. At least those caps are small enough to prevent a dangerous amount of current to leak, but caps can fail, especially if they're not UL certified. Certified ones are usually shiney orange or light blue.
 
Interesting, I've never seen a 110 volt "appliance" that has anything wired to the grounding conductor, other than the metal parts of the unit. Don't think it could get UL approval if the ground was acting as part of the operation of the unit. Very dangerous having current purposely induced on the grounding conductor for operation.

To the OP, if you have a multimeter, you can check at the outlet and see if you have voltage between the hot and ground. If you do then the outlet is grounded, however this in no means indicates the quality of the ground, meaning loose terminations etc can exist, and you'll still get a reading with either the meter or an outlet tester.

If there is no voltage between hot and ground = no ground. You can also take the meter and put a lead on the case and the other to a good known ground. If you have voltage present, then there is a problem with the PSU and case.
 
larrymoencurly said:
It sounds like the wall outlet isn't really grounded. Most PSUs have a couple of disk capacitors wired between the ground lug and the hot and neutral lines, and when the PSU isn't grounded, those caps each drop half the voltage and send it to the case.
Click to expand...

Really? Why? What is their purpose?

I would expect MOVs from hot and neutral to ground, but capacitors?

If the outlet is grounded, where is the "voltage sent to"? Half the voltage of what? Since there are two capacitors, wouldn't we be back to 100% of "the voltage", then?
 
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