Mild electric shock when touching case screws

[couchpatata]

Hi,

 

While barefoot on tiled floor, I get this very mild tingling sensation when I touch the screws on my Aerocool Xpredator X1. The motherboard standoffs seems to be placed correctly. The PC never crashed on me (after settling on a stable overclock) so I'm assuming it is all good. 

 

The shock goes away when I wear rubber flip-flops.  

 

Is this normal? Should I be worried?

 

Regards,
Potato

[jj509]

You're getting shocked because you're case isn't grounded correctly. When you're bare foot and touch you're grounding the case which is why you feel the shock. When you have on your flip flops you're preventing yourself from getting grounded so you feel no shock. This is not normal at all. Something isn't getting grounted correctly, either your PSU or you're wall outlet.

 

Where is your tower placed at in your room. Is it on the floor or on top of a desk? If it is on a floor is it on top of carpet or the tile floor you mentioned. Do you have a multimeter to test to see if your outlet is grounded properly?

 

Like DEcobra said its not really a BIG problem but it certently isn't one I would want to have.

[couchpatata]

Where is your tower placed at in your room. Is it on the floor or on top of a desk? If it is on a floor is it on top of carpet or the tile floor you mentioned.

 

 

It usually sits on the floor, but this also happens even when I place it on top of a desk. 

 

 

Do you have a multimeter to test to see if your outlet is grounded properly?

 

I'll try this. Any tips on how to do this correctly?

[s3ns3]

 

I'll try this. Any tips on how to do this correctly?

you can only do that with ground testers for accurate results. and the thing is expensive. the good enough self made ground tester is

 

get a 100w light bulb like this with 2 wires. touch a wire on the ground in the wall plug and find the phase. if it lights at the same intensity like when its normal plugged,phase+null, the grounding is good 

[jj509]

It usually sits on the floor, but this also happens even when I place it on top of a desk. 

 

 

 

I'll try this. Any tips on how to do this correctly?

 

Note: if you're a youngster please get your parents or google anything you don't understand unless anyone else on here and discribe it any better.

Messing with electricity will hurt you. Safety needs to be considered.

 

For the multimeter. I'm gonna assume you know how to use one. If not please contact your parents for this (assuming you're young and from USA/NA).

 

Set your multimeter to 200 ACV (thats Alternating Current Volts or V with a wavesine). Put the red probe from the multimeter into your hot side of the outlet. Then take the Black probe and put it in the neutral side. You should get 120v. (Again assuming you live in USA). Once you get your reading then take the black probe and put it in the ground. You should also get 120v. If you don't then you don't have a ground. You may have to wiggle the probe around to make sure you're getting proper connection. How old is your house? If its really old then it may of just never got grounding installed.

 

The more I think about it the more I'm wondering it may be just a PSU issue and the outlet isn't the culprit. I'd unplug your tower from the wall and open up the side panel. Check to see if any PSU cables are touching the case and double check to see if any wire is exposed. If anything pull out your PSU from your tower and plug it in and turn it on (google how to turn on a PSU with no power button). Touch the outer case of the PSU and see if it shocks you then.

[Ertman]

Agree with the above, as it sounds like a grounding issue related to your electrical wiring. It can also be a PSU issue.

A plugin electric circuit tester should be able to test a ground problem in your household wiring without getting too much into multimeter testing.

[couchpatata]

Note: if you're a youngster please get your parents or google anything you don't understand unless anyone else on here and discribe it any better.

Messing with electricity will hurt you. Safety needs to be considered.

 

For the multimeter. I'm gonna assume you know how to use one. If not please contact your parents for this (assuming you're young and from USA/NA).

 

In fact, I do not have any experience with a multimeter. I'll probably ask someone to do it for me. I'm not a kid though. Haha.

 

 

The more I think about it the more I'm wondering it may be just a PSU issue and the outlet isn't the culprit. I'd unplug your tower from the wall and open up the side panel. Check to see if any PSU cables are touching the case and double check to see if any wire is exposed. If anything pull out your PSU from your tower and plug it in and turn it on (google how to turn on a PSU with no power button). Touch the outer case of the PSU and see if it shocks you then.

 

The cable management area of my case is a little tight. The wires tend to get pressed but I don't see any stripped ones. Could this still be an issue? 

 

Also, I'm still having this issue while unplugged and with the power supply switched off.

[couchpatata]

Okay, so I took my system apart and noticed that there were some PWM headers on my Corsair H80i that were exposed (I am using 3-pin SP120's so 1 pin of each header is exposed). I wasn't sure if this is a possible source of the shock so I wrapped each header with electrical tape anyway. I am not experiencing the shock anymore. I hope that did the trick for good.

 

Thanks guys!

[the21robot]

How can I know if I am grounded, I am always paranoid even though I have built computers and junk. I can never find a good place to ground my self. I AM NOT GOING TO STICK WIRES INTO MY OUTLETS. How do you know if you are grounded?

[Oshino Shinobu]

Best way is to use an antistatic wristband and connect it to a large metal object. Other than that, build on something like tiles (not carpet basically) and touch said large metal object now and then to make sure you're not all full of static. 

[kuzimins]

Touch a PSU that is plugged in but not ON.

[the21robot]

Best way is to use an antistatic wristband and connect it to a large metal object. Other than that, build on something like tiles (not carpet basically) and touch said large metal object now and then to make sure you're not all full of static. 

can I connect it to a tv cable? Like the ones that stick out of the wall

[the21robot]

Touch a PSU that is plugged in but not ON.

But paint is not conductive, I am not sure if it grounds.

[Oshino Shinobu]

can I connect it to a tv cable? Like the ones that stick out of the wall

Probably not a good idea. Just attaching it to your case should work 

 

But paint is not conductive, I am not sure if it grounds.

Touching the PSU when it's not turned on works. 

[Benjio]

Unless you are wearing socks and enjoy rubbing them on the carpet when you build computers you shouldn't need to be worried.

[WinNut]

Generally you should be good, I like to grab the leg of a metal chair for a few seconds before screwing around with any ESD-sensitive components.

 

Why would you be scared to stick wires into your outlets? Unless an idiot wired your house/apartment you are not going to zap yourself.

 

You should probably wrap a little tin-foil around your arm and connect it to the GROUND pin on your outlet. If you connect it to HOT you would be toast and I would not mess with NEUTRAL even though it's harmless.

 

Hoped this helped!

[couchpatata]

Why would you be scared to stick wires into your outlets? Unless an idiot wired your house/apartment you are not going to zap yourself.

 

You should probably wrap a little tin-foil around your arm and connect it to the GROUND pin on your outlet. If you connect it to HOT you would be toast and I would not mess with NEUTRAL even though it's harmless.

 

Hoped this helped!

 

 

...I guess it's always better to stay on the safe side especially if you have other options.