Need Major help... Please Read

[Felverick]

I built my own computer 2 weeks ago. My case has a mild electric current when you touch it. It doesn't shock me but it feels kinda ticklish. I pulled the mobo out and made sure all the pegs are inplace. I have tried having the tower on carpet, barefloor, cardboard etc and it doesn't help. I returned the case and got another one and i am getting the exact same problem. Im hoping this might be slightly normal for this case, or it atleast won't affect anything as it seems quite weak.

Asus A8N-E Nforce4 Ultra motherboard
Athlon64 3200+
MSI Geforce 6600GT
Western Digital SATA2 120G HD
Antec Sonata 2 case

 

[redhatlinux]

Try to beg borrow or steal a volt meter. You can buy an el cheapo one for about $10 if your lucky. Use it to check that you have good grounds. Using the resistance scale check that your AC ground is common to the case. It almost appears that you have a floating ground. Make sure that the power supply is UL certified.

 

[Felverick]

can you tell me what sort of reading i should get? where should i test the VM? not sure what you mean by ac ground common to the case, put it in simple terms for me?

 

[Harvey]

It sounds like the third prong in your wall socket is not connected to any real ground. If so, you may be able to reduce the "tingle" of current you feel from the case by turning the plug over. You may need a three wire to two wire adapter to do this.

DO NOT do this for long. Any surge protection you are using for the circuit board and case depend on having a strong return path to ground, and any voltage or current spike could fry your board.

You may be able to get away with the kind of adapter that allows you to connect an external wire to some ground such as a water pipe, but that is only a temporary fix. If the wiring in your house is old enough not to have a ground connection, you need to rewire the place (seriously).

 

[theMan]

could be the psu. rma it.

 

[Felverick]

i returned the 1st case and got a 2nd one, so its definatly not defective. i do have it plugged into a 3 prong connector into the wall. Is there any way to tell if my wiring is grounded? I rent this place and it is an old house so it could possibly be that. Ill have to plug it in at a friends house or something. Any other suggestions besides the plug thing? sounds dangerous.

 

[Harvey]

You aren't listening. See my post, above. I'm an electonic design engineer. Trust me. Your machine is not safe until you have a good ground connection for the third wire. :shocked:

 

[Markbnj]

I am not an electronic design engineer, but suspect that current across the outside of your case and ground (you) is bad.

 

[Felverick]

so your saying one of these 3/2 connectors would do the trick for now? im thinking of taking it to a friends and trying it there. house is about 6 yrs old so the wiring is modern.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

You can pick up a cheap 3 prong outlet tester. This will tell you if there's anything wrong with the AC outlet.

 

[Felverick]

ive tried multiple outlets. any idea what the 3 prong>2 prong plug things would be called? i couldn't find any on ebay.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: Felverick
ive tried multiple outlets. any idea what the 3 prong>2 prong plug things would be called? i couldn't find any on ebay.

Don't bother with Ebay. Go to a local hardware store for this. Just tell any clerk who knows what he's doing you need a three wire to two wire AC adapter.

Get one with an external ground tab or wire you can connect to a ground such as a water pipe or radiator.

As I said, before, once you have that, you can also try turning the plug over. That MAY help, but it may not. DO NOT do this for very long. Your machine's power system depends on that ground connection.

 

[gwag]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
You can pick up a cheap 3 prong outlet tester. This will tell you if there's anything wrong with the AC outlet.

this guy is right on, any hardware store sells them for 4$ tells you if the socket is right or not a few things could be wrong but sounds like a ground issue to me.

 

[Felverick]

i bought a multimeter (which i will return tomorrow ) Can you tell me what to set it to be able to see whats being outputted? it has OHM (rx10 rxik) DCV (500 250 10) ACV(500 250 10) 500u 10mDCA 250m 1.5v 9v battery. Went to the store and the clerk said those have never been verified in canada so they are not allowed to sell em