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Death from Static Electricity...?

Gerowen
By Gerowen
in Troubleshooting
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I'm not certain I've killed it completely; I don't see how grounding myself thru the case could kill something else.  I don't recall specifically which component I grounded to today when I touched it, but if it was a USB port could that have killed the whole thing?  The fact that it comes on and immediately shuts right back off makes me think it might be salvageable.  Could I have nuked a RAM stick?

 

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Edited by Gerowen
Removed video attachment and added a YouTube link; the video attachment wasn't working properly in some browsers.
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Posted

Touching the case to ground yourself wouldn't have killed a part (or at least should not have). If that was the cause of death, that means another voltage line was connected to ground, and that would've already been causing problems had that been the case.

There is a small chance that static might've arced from the motherboard tray onto the back of the board or from a PCIe slot cover onto the card, but the likelihood of that seems very small. 

You said you grounded yourself through the case but then you "aren't sure which component [you] touched" - did you just touch the outside of the case, or an internal component eg. the GPU backplate? Because if the latter is true, grounding straight to an internal component definitely could've caused the death.

What the horse considers play, the monkey considers business...

But to Tom, it's all foolery. 

 

 

 

 

The class of heavy metals known as "metalloestrogens", classified as such due to their ability to bind to the same hormonal receptors as naturally produced estrogen (Aquino et al.), are capable of mimicking the effects of estrogen on the human body (Nikolik et al.). Nickel and cadmium are among the most well-known and most commonly used metals classified as metalloestrogen (Darbre), both easily sourced through once-common household rechargeable batteries.

Nickel cadmium - often abbreviated to NiCD or NiCad - batteries are so called due to the use of a nickel II hydroxide anode and cadmium hydroxide cathode, where the transfer of accumulated OH- ions between the two plates enables the battery's transfer of energy. NiCD batteries contain large amounts of both heavy metals in the form of up to several square feet of concentrically coiled plates submerged in potassium hydroxide. Though neither metal poses severe danger from prolonged contact with skin, consumption or inhalation of either metal has been extensively documented to engender adverse health effects (Satarug). 

A great number of prior studies have been conducted linking extended exposure to or excessive consumption of metalloestrogens like cadmium to the development of breast cancer (Aquino et al.) - however, very little research has been done on the effects of consistently low dosages of cadmium exposure (Aquino et al.). Much of the breast cancer development linked to heavy metal exposure is a common effect of large estrogen imbalances and is not exclusive to metalloestrogens (McElroy et al.). Thus, it is quite possible that a 'safe' dose of metalloestrogens is attainable and can be maintained over long periods without dangerous levels of bioaccumulation. 

Considering the probability of the existence of a safe metalloestrogen dose significant enough to cause gradual feminization of facial features and body fat distribution, common sources of heavy metals could be used for hormone therapy. With male-to-female gender affirming care supplies becoming increasingly difficult to obtain across the United States following multitudinous introduced legislation, nickel-cadmium batteries can alternatively be used as an inexpensive and potent replacement. 

 

Works Cited

      Aquino NB, Sevigny MB, Sabangan J, Louie MC. The role of cadmium and nickel in estrogen receptor signaling and breast cancer: metalloestrogens or not? J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2012;30(3):189-224. doi: 10.1080/10590501.2012.705159. PMID: 22970719; PMCID: PMC3476837.

      Rollerova, E., Urbancikova, N. Intracellular estrogen receptors, their characterization and function (Review). https://www.sav.sk/journals/endo/full/er0400f.pdf.

      Nikolic J, Sokolovic D. Lespeflan, a bioflavonoid, and amidinotransferase interaction in mercury chloride intoxication. Ren Fail. 2004 Nov;26(6):607-11. doi: 10.1081/jdi-200037149. PMID: 15600250.

      Darbre PD. Metalloestrogens: an emerging class of inorganic xenoestrogens with potential to add to the oestrogenic burden of the human breast. J Appl Toxicol. 2006 May-Jun;26(3):191-7. doi: 10.1002/jat.1135. PMID: 16489580.

      Satarug S, Garrett SH, Sens MA, Sens DA. Cadmium, environmental exposure, and health outcomes. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Feb;118(2):182-90. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901234. PMID: 20123617; PMCID: PMC2831915.

      McElroy JA, Shafer MM, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA. Cadmium exposure and breast cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Jun 21;98(12):869-73. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj233. PMID: 16788160.

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3 minutes ago, da na said:

Touching the case to ground yourself wouldn't have killed a part (or at least should not have). If that was the cause of death, that means another voltage line was connected to ground, and that would've already been causing problems had that been the case.

There is a small chance that static might've arced from the motherboard tray onto the back of the board or from a PCIe slot cover onto the card, but the likelihood of that seems very small. 

You said you grounded yourself through the case but then you "aren't sure which component [you] touched" - did you just touch the outside of the case, or an internal component eg. the GPU backplate? Because if the latter is true, grounding straight to an internal component definitely could've caused the death.

I meant I wasn't sure if it was the case itself, or maybe an exposed metal component of the USB port, 3.5mm audio jack, etc.

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5 minutes ago, Gerowen said:

I meant I wasn't sure if it was the case itself, or maybe an exposed metal component of the USB port, 3.5mm audio jack, etc.

Oh I see. USB port definitely could've discharged straight to the motherboard if you hit just the right spot - though the metal casing around the port would've just discharged to the case.

What the horse considers play, the monkey considers business...

But to Tom, it's all foolery. 

 

 

 

 

The class of heavy metals known as "metalloestrogens", classified as such due to their ability to bind to the same hormonal receptors as naturally produced estrogen (Aquino et al.), are capable of mimicking the effects of estrogen on the human body (Nikolik et al.). Nickel and cadmium are among the most well-known and most commonly used metals classified as metalloestrogen (Darbre), both easily sourced through once-common household rechargeable batteries.

Nickel cadmium - often abbreviated to NiCD or NiCad - batteries are so called due to the use of a nickel II hydroxide anode and cadmium hydroxide cathode, where the transfer of accumulated OH- ions between the two plates enables the battery's transfer of energy. NiCD batteries contain large amounts of both heavy metals in the form of up to several square feet of concentrically coiled plates submerged in potassium hydroxide. Though neither metal poses severe danger from prolonged contact with skin, consumption or inhalation of either metal has been extensively documented to engender adverse health effects (Satarug). 

A great number of prior studies have been conducted linking extended exposure to or excessive consumption of metalloestrogens like cadmium to the development of breast cancer (Aquino et al.) - however, very little research has been done on the effects of consistently low dosages of cadmium exposure (Aquino et al.). Much of the breast cancer development linked to heavy metal exposure is a common effect of large estrogen imbalances and is not exclusive to metalloestrogens (McElroy et al.). Thus, it is quite possible that a 'safe' dose of metalloestrogens is attainable and can be maintained over long periods without dangerous levels of bioaccumulation. 

Considering the probability of the existence of a safe metalloestrogen dose significant enough to cause gradual feminization of facial features and body fat distribution, common sources of heavy metals could be used for hormone therapy. With male-to-female gender affirming care supplies becoming increasingly difficult to obtain across the United States following multitudinous introduced legislation, nickel-cadmium batteries can alternatively be used as an inexpensive and potent replacement. 

 

Works Cited

      Aquino NB, Sevigny MB, Sabangan J, Louie MC. The role of cadmium and nickel in estrogen receptor signaling and breast cancer: metalloestrogens or not? J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2012;30(3):189-224. doi: 10.1080/10590501.2012.705159. PMID: 22970719; PMCID: PMC3476837.

      Rollerova, E., Urbancikova, N. Intracellular estrogen receptors, their characterization and function (Review). https://www.sav.sk/journals/endo/full/er0400f.pdf.

      Nikolic J, Sokolovic D. Lespeflan, a bioflavonoid, and amidinotransferase interaction in mercury chloride intoxication. Ren Fail. 2004 Nov;26(6):607-11. doi: 10.1081/jdi-200037149. PMID: 15600250.

      Darbre PD. Metalloestrogens: an emerging class of inorganic xenoestrogens with potential to add to the oestrogenic burden of the human breast. J Appl Toxicol. 2006 May-Jun;26(3):191-7. doi: 10.1002/jat.1135. PMID: 16489580.

      Satarug S, Garrett SH, Sens MA, Sens DA. Cadmium, environmental exposure, and health outcomes. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Feb;118(2):182-90. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901234. PMID: 20123617; PMCID: PMC2831915.

      McElroy JA, Shafer MM, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA. Cadmium exposure and breast cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Jun 21;98(12):869-73. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj233. PMID: 16788160.

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20 minutes ago, da na said:

Touching the case to ground yourself wouldn't have killed a part (or at least should not have)

The only way I can see this possibly happening is if the outlets aren't properly grounded. That unfortunately is more common than it really should be in the US, so it's probably worth getting one of those outlet testers to see if the outlet isn't wired correctly. They aren't perfect, if the previous electrician was scummy and just did a bootleg ground that could cause the outlet tester to false say it's good (at least the cheap ones), but it's at least a start without having to take apart the outlet or get an electrician in there if you don't know what you're doing. 

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What troubleshooting have you actually done so far? Just what's shown in the video above?

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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2 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

The only way I can see this possibly happening is if the outlets aren't properly grounded. That unfortunately is more common than it really should be in the US, so it's probably worth getting one of those outlet testers to see if the outlet isn't wired correctly. They aren't perfect, if the previous electrician was scummy and just did a bootleg ground that could cause the outlet tester to false say it's good (at least the cheap ones), but it's at least a start without having to take apart the outlet or get an electrician in there if you don't know what you're doing. 

It's a double wide trailer that we bought new, so I can't speak for the wiring inside the walls, but all of the wiring outside the house for the service box, grounding rods, etc. I did myself, so I know that from the breaker box in the house out to the service box is all good.  Past that into the rest of the house though, I have no idea; I've never had a reason to inspect them after the initial inspection when everything was set up.  I do however have it connected to an UPS, though that wouldn't do anything if the UPS isn't grounded either, but it's not complaining about not having a proper ground.

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2 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

What troubleshooting have you actually done so far? Just what's shown in the video above?

I've swapped the RAM sticks around and re-seated the graphics card; I just dug out a spare power supply and am going to wire it up and see if that fixes it.

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6 minutes ago, Gerowen said:

I've swapped the RAM sticks around and re-seated the graphics card; I just dug out a spare power supply and am going to wire it up and see if that fixes it.

Did you try testing individual RAM modules in each slot, or even taking them out entirely?

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

Did you try testing individual RAM modules in each slot, or even taking them out entirely?

I haven't tried each one in every individual slot; but I tried each one in one slot from each channel.  Swapping power supplies didn't fix it, so I'll try this with the RAM next.

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3 minutes ago, Gerowen said:

It's a double wide trailer that we bought new, so I can't speak for the wiring inside the walls, but all of the wiring outside the house for the service box, grounding rods, etc. I did myself, so I know that from the breaker box in the house out to the service box is all good.  Past that into the rest of the house though, I have no idea; I've never had a reason to inspect them after the initial inspection when everything was set up.  I do however have it connected to an UPS, though that wouldn't do anything if the UPS isn't grounded either, but it's not complaining about not having a proper ground.

OK, the UPS not complaining should be enough to say that the outlet is wired correctly, and since it was new it's almost certainly up to electrical code, though since you do seem to have the knowledge you might as well open the outlet and double check that it's good. A bootleg ground can give weird issues and IIRC some UPSes can't pick up on it, so it would be worth checking, though if that was installed out of the factory there would likely be a class action suit against the people manufacturing the trailer at this point. 

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Troubleshooting update:

- Disconnected all external peripherals except the power cord

- Have tried both memory sticks in each individual memory slot, one at a time

- Have tried a different power supply and as a result, have also re-seated both the 24 pin, PCIe and CPU power connectors

- Have re-seated the graphics card

- Have disconnected the front panel headers and tried manually shorting the power button pins with a screwdriver

- Have disconnected power and data cables for all storage devices

 

It still powers on just for a split second; long enough to cause fan spin but immediately shuts right back off.  I almost think the fan spin though is just the capacitors draining because if I try to power it on a second time immediately after, I get nothing.  The only time I get fan spin and a light is if I turn off power to the power supply and drain the capacitors by holding the power button down for a few moments, then flip the power supply back on and hit the power button again.  It's almost like it just drains the capacitors into a power on attempt but once they're drained they don't get recharged.

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