New system shot, anything I can do?

[William23]

I just built a new computer a few weeks ago.Well once I had it all together and powered up,I noticed that if I touched any metal part of my case it would shock me.So I checked all my wiring to see if I had everything hooked up right and no bad wires.Everything was OK.So I bought a better surge protector thinking my old one was bad or something.I hooked everything back up but I was still getting shocked if I touched the case or my subwoofer on my speaker system.It was very strange that my sub was doing it too,so I knew it must not be just something wrong with my pc.

Well after a little while I heard a pop from my power supply and my pc went dead.I didn't know what caused it till I checked the outlet on the wall.It only had two wires,one black and one white but no extra ground wire.I'm not sure but I thought all outlets had three wires or sometimes more.One +,one -,and the ground wire. Could this be what caused it ?

The house I live in is pretty old,so I checked some of the other outlets,and they all had the extra ground wire.Just the ones in my bedroom don't.All the other ones looked new like they had been updated.

The house I live in I rent. Is the landlord at fault here or am I just out of luck?.I spent a lot of money on this pc so I was just needing some advice as to what I could do.I tried the processor and video card in my brothers pc and they were both dead.I'm pretty sure the mobo is shot too.I know the power supply is dead because it smells burnt.god only knows what else is bad,so does anyone know if this is something that my landlord should have to fix or not?

thanks,
William

 

[Icepick]

The outlets in the bedroom that are not grounded are definitely a violation of the building code in general and I'd assume electrical and fire codes as well. Since the guy is renting that room out for money it seems logical to me that he'd be responsible for keeping the building up to code at least for safety. Since you were getting electrical shocks your safety was at risk. You're lucky you didn't injure yourself. If those outlet receptacles have three prongs, but the third prong (ground) was not connected as it should have been I'd say you have a strong case against him. Because there'd be no way for you to know it wasn't properly connected without removing the outlet, which you shouldn't do if you don't know what you're doing anyway.

I'd say you have a case against him if there are three pronged outlets in the room and the ground receptacle isn't connected. Not only is your electrical component at risk, but so is your safety.

 

[Chapbass]

Definitely have to agree with icepik here. Thats a definite potential fire hazard and safety hazard in general...

 

[Pohemi]

Go n' git im...I hate slum lords! :disgust:

 

[Fern]

I live in an old house with outdated wiring (two-wire outlets). I can get a very very mild shock from touching the case (I can only feel it if I have a cut on my finger and touch that part to the case).

Likely the house may not be out-of-code, older buildings are usually grandfathered in.

Seems to me since your "shocks" sound stronger than I experience, and I have had no PC problems for the 8 yrs I have lived here, that your PSU is to blame.


Fern

 

[Zero Plasma]

If i'm correct some ps (if not all)need a ground wire to work properly and even say it in there booklet.
I would say if you don't like him and it's more money then you can afford to lose ask him to pay you back or take it out of your rent.But i agree with icepik.

 

[Dru22]

I had a friend who had this done to him too. The landlord said he couldn't do anything about it that he would fix the problem with the outlet. And he was like "What about my $1200.00 computer that i just built that fried?" He was like i'm sorry i can't do anything about it. Well he went to his lawyer (DAD) and sued him over it and won. He won $2000.00 out of it for the computer and the monitor, and his speakers. If the landlord refuses take it to court. You don't necessarily need a lawyer, just go to small claims court and fight it out.

 

[William23]

Well I contacted my landlord about it and he said he would update my wires in my bedroom(It's been over a week and he still hasn't sent anyone out to do it yet),so thats cool.I asked him if he would stand good for the problem and replace my defective components,and he said he would look at his home owners policy and see if he is liable for it. Personally I don't think he is going to do anything,but who knows.

How long should I give him before taking action with the court or whatever? I would like for him to offer to do it with out having to go to court,But he hasn't called me back yet or sent anyone over to fix the wires,so I may have too.

Also I'm alittle scared of him evicting me if i was to take him to court!.Is there a chance he could?

He has been good about fixing things in the past,and he seems to be a nice guy so I'm not sure what he would do.If anyone could advise me on this I would be gratefull.
Thanks,
William

 

[Longkid]

I feel your pain. The house I live in is from 1873 and has horrible wiring though my slum lord made the effort to put in one 3 prong outlet in every room. Ive got some advise, but before you read on know im mearly an informed renter and do not have a firm grasp on law.

First and foremost you need to educate yourself on building code for your particular State and City. If your in college you could try and contact a law professor maybe or the head librarian who could direct you to this information (colleges are such a good resource). Unfortuantly many places grandfather older homes, however, this grandfather doesnt usually cover instances that pertain to fire hazards.

Secondly I would look over the law requarding lawful and unlawful evictions. I live in Philly and courts here look poorly upon slum lords essentially siding with the tenet almost every time so I dont worry about being evicted.

Third I would read my lease over very carefully. He probobly has no legal right to evict you simply because you take him to court.

In any case your situation sucks. Ive been down that past all to often with the moron that ownes my place. Usually to have a case in court your going to need documented proof you had a problem and that the landlord knew about it. I perfer to email my landlord so I always have a hard copy of all conversations. If your on the phone make a note of the conversation with date and time. In my case I needed the heat fixed in my house and the landlord was ignoring me so i took the following steps.

1. Contacted him numerous times about my problem via email and voicemail. Im talking like 10 emails a day.

2. Once I got a response from him saying he was going to fix it I gave him one week to comply. Then I began harassing him again about it.

3. I got someone to give me an estimate on repairs which I scanned and sent to my landlord.

4. Had the work done, send a copy of reciept to my landlord and took the cost off my rent for the month.

He was so angry but PA law required him to provide me with working heat and he didnt and knew he had no case. This may be the same in your case if the wiring is out of code.

Hope this helps.

 

[AluminumStudios]

I've seen 2 to 3 prong outlet adapters that have a metal loop where the ground pin would be that goes into the 2 prong outlet. You can connect a wire to this metal loop then connect it to a ground source. I had issues in an old apartment and used one of these. I actually connected the ground to a nearby radiator (plumbing is generally an ok ground as far as I know.)

Maybe something like this could help?

 

[Blazer]

Hate to here that,todays sys are very expensive ! friend or not you will likely have to sue to recover.

for all that may want to know there is a very inexpensive devise that can be purchased almost anywhere that that can identify{120 volt US} electrical circuit problems before they occure it is called a CIRCUIT TESTER,got mine at walmart / plugs in the outlet like a cord and has LEDs that identify problems,everyone should have one for household use and followup after electrical work has been done.


Hope you can find a way to recover your loss