Static electricity

[motor]

Hello everyone.

Recently ive built a new pc and now there is electricity through the case. When I touch it it shocks me. Is there any way to stop it and if I don't will it damage my parts ?

[YoFavRussian]

You're discharging directly to ground, you should be fine. It's a buildup of static, there isn't really much that you can do.

[Jurrunio]

You didnt use the motherboard standoff properly so some of the charged contacts are touching the case, charing the case up.

 

4 minutes ago, YoFavRussian said:

You're discharging directly to ground, you should be fine. It's a buildup of static, there isn't really much that you can do.

That's totally a Russian way of dealing with things

[motor]

So is there anything I can do?

[YoFavRussian]

5 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

You didnt use the motherboard standoff properly so some of the charged contacts are touching the case, charing the case up.

 

That's totally a Russian way of dealing with things

Oops, lol, if that's the case, they should probably install the standoffs correctly. Don't know if it's static or if it's a small amount of AC passing through.

[Mira Yurizaki]

3 minutes ago, motor said:

So is there anything I can do?

Make sure whatever environment you're in doesn't have low humidity and you're not touching/rubbing things that are prone to static buildup.

 

Other than that, there's nothing much else you can do.

[YoFavRussian]

4 minutes ago, motor said:

So is there anything I can do?

Is it like static, or is it just every time you touch the case you get shocked. Did you install standoffs behind your motherboard when you built your PC.

[Jurrunio]

5 minutes ago, motor said:

So is there anything I can do?

check if you have missed any standoff. They are the supports of the board mounted onto the case

[motor]

It's a small amount of electricity and sometimes it shocks me. The motherboard standoffs was correctly pre installed.

[mariushm]

All of the above is wrong.

 

The case or metal parts of your computer may zap you because it's how the power supply is designed in the first place... but you wouldn't feel anything if the psu is properly plugged into a grounded mains socket.

 

Computer power supplies MUST be plugged into a grounded mains outlet, the earthing wire must exist and be properly connected in that outlet. 

When that happens, that electricity discharges safely to ground and you won't get zapped.

 

Power supplies intentionally let some electricity leak because it makes them produce less electric radiation (less noise which could affect VGA monitors, AM/FM radios, wireless stuff)

 

[Jurrunio]

Just now, motor said:

It's a small amount of electricity and sometimes it shocks me. The motherboard standoffs was correctly pre installed.

All of them? For ATX boards there's at least 6, I think mine has 8

[YoFavRussian]

Just now, mariushm said:

All of the above is wrong.

 

The case or metal parts of your computer may zap you because it's how the power supply is designed in the first place... but you wouldn't feel anything if the psu is properly plugged into a grounded mains socket.

 

Computer power supplies MUST be plugged into a grounded mains outlet, the earthing wire must exist and be properly connected in that outlet. 

When that happens, that electricity discharges safely to ground and you won't get zapped.

 

Power supplies intentionally let some electricity leak because it makes them produce less electric radiation (less noise which could affect VGA monitors, AM/FM radios, wireless stuff)

 

Makes sense, but I was just wondering if it was static or what you said, lack of grounding causing the leak to energize the case.

[motor]

4 minutes ago, mariushm said:

All of the above is wrong.

 

The case or metal parts of your computer may zap you because it's how the power supply is designed in the first place... but you wouldn't feel anything if the psu is properly plugged into a grounded mains socket.

 

Computer power supplies MUST be plugged into a grounded mains outlet, the earthing wire must exist and be properly connected in that outlet. 

When that happens, that electricity discharges safely to ground and you won't get zapped.

 

Power supplies intentionally let some electricity leak because it makes them produce less electric radiation (less noise which could affect VGA monitors, AM/FM radios, wireless stuff)

 

At first that was the problem and there was a big electricity leak but then I fixed this and now I have a small amount that when it goes off it needs some time to appear again (sorry for my English).

[motor]

6 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

All of them? For ATX boards there's at least 6, I think mine has 8

It had pre installed 6 and I installed another 2

[Mira Yurizaki]

Looking at this more...

 

If it was a stand off issue, then the computer would've either not turn on or fried itself by now. What's the purpose of the stand offs? To prevent the traces and solder points on the back side of the motherboard from touching the chassis, which is normally metal. Chassis is normally connected to ground or at least is the ground reference. So basically if there was a stand off issue and one of those traces or solder points was touching the chassis, you'd have a short. Also if the case was energized, the only way you'd get shocked is if you have a better pathway to ground. Even if you were touching an energized case with wet fingers, unless you have a better path to ground, electricity isn't going to pass through you. I don't remember which video it was exactly but ElectroBoom has done things like lick conductors, stick his fingers in water with live connections, or whatnot to prove a point (obviously you shouldn't try this at home).

 

Now assuming everything is properly connected and you're getting zapped by touching the case, then this points more to you having a static build up. If you discharge static on the chassis by touching it, you will still feel it regardless. If you don't want to feel it, you can discharge your static by holding something metal and touching that to the thing you discharge static on.

 

EDIT: One more thing to add, the stand off mounting points on the motherboard are typically tied to the ground plane of the motherboard. So even if a ground pin were touching the chassis, it wouldn't matter.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Mira Yurizaki

[Jurrunio]

4 minutes ago, motor said:

It had pre installed 6 and I installed another 2

What PSU is that? 

[motor]

4 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

What PSU is that? 

Tx 550m

[mariushm]

Forget about standoffs.

Yes, you need standoffs , and make sure you have standoffs only where you actually have holes in the motherboard.

You don't want to have standoffs where there's no hole, touching traces or other stuff on the motherboard.

 

Standoffs are metal and the holes on motherboard usually have a metal ring, because the motherboard actually WANTS to be connected properly through the standoffs to the case.  Everything is ground referenced : the power supply is connected to ground using the earth pin in your mains outlet.  The case of the power supply is connected to ground. The case of the PC is connected to ground because the power supply case is screwed to the computer case.

The motherboard's ground is connected to ground through the standoffs.

 

Everything going to the motherboard  and internal components is 12v or less, so even if a standoff was improperly touching something in the back YOU WOULD NOT FEEL IT on the case.

But no ... the case is grounded ... if there was something under standoffs you would have some DC voltage shorted to ground, which would either shut down the power supply (over current protection), or that trace or solder joint touched by the standoff would heat up to the point where that trace would break or that component would start burning up making a hole in the motherboard.

 

The power supply leaks AC voltage but at very tiny current, which usually is safe for humans. It's not pleasant but it won't kill you. That's why it feels like static electricity.

 

[motor]

2 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Forget about standoffs.

Yes, you need standoffs , and make sure you have standoffs only where you actually have holes in the motherboard.

You don't want to have standoffs where there's no hole, touching traces or other stuff on the motherboard.

 

Standoffs are metal and the holes on motherboard usually have a metal ring, because the motherboard actually WANTS to be connected properly through the standoffs to the case.  Everything is ground referenced : the power supply is connected to ground using the earth pin in your mains outlet.  The case of the power supply is connected to ground. The case of the PC is connected to ground because the power supply case is screwed to the computer case.

The motherboard's ground is connected to ground through the standoffs.

 

Everything going to the motherboard  and internal components is 12v or less, so even if a standoff was improperly touching something in the back YOU WOULD NOT FEEL IT on the case.

But no ... the case is grounded ... if there was something under standoffs you would have some DC voltage shorted to ground, which would either shut down the power supply (over current protection), or that trace or solder joint touched by the standoff would heat up to the point where that trace would break or that component would start burning up making a hole in the motherboard.

 

The power supply leaks AC voltage but at very tiny current, which usually is safe for humans. It's not pleasant but it won't kill you. That's why it feels like static electricity.

 

Will it damage my components?

[Mira Yurizaki]

6 minutes ago, motor said:

Will it damage my components?

If all you're doing is touching the case, no, you're not going to damage your components. The electricity is going straight to ground.

[YoFavRussian]

8 minutes ago, motor said:

Will it damage my components?

Shouldn't, as he said by nature a lot of power supplies do this. I've never noticed this but mine is properly grounded.

And if it's static then it's going straight to ground assuming your PC is grounded, but either way it should be safe for your components.