Computer case shocking when touched

[SilverCeli]

on my newly built system, it sometimes gives off a big shock when a metal piece is touched. any ideas?

[Bovon]

First, let me ask you if where you plug it into the power source..is it a two slot wall socket or does it have the 3rd. hole for the ground plug on the cable?.. answer this, and we can go further.

[SilverCeli]

its grounded

[Bovon]

Then you possibly have a bad power supply (unless the ground in that wall socket is defective, broken or not attached). If that is not the reason (bad ground) then the PSU must be bad.

Personally, I am leaning heavily towards the ground in your house not being connected or working properly. If it is, that in itself would ground the metal case frame.. and you would feel nothing.

In some way, you must confirm that the ground circuit between that wall socket and the main breaker box is complete.

You can easily take the cover off of the wall socket and see if there is a white and black wire going to the sides of the plug-in and a bare copper wire going to one end and should be under a green screw head, and I believe that bare wire connector is nearest the ground hole in the plug-in.

[SilverCeli]

theres a light on my surge protector that says "grounded" and its lit up

[Bovon]

Then I don't have a clue. Electronics and home small office wiring was part of my job for over 40 years. What I said comes from those many years of troubleshooting and electrical training.

I don't know what turns on an LED in a surge protector..maybe its good, maybe not.

Buy another power supply and give that a shot.

Someone else here may have some alternate input for you.

Lotsa luck.

[stroyal]

Are you geting a shock or is it static electricity?

If you are getting a shock then the part you are touching is not grounded or you are a better ground than your service ground.

[butch81385]

mine did that (and would even turn my computer on) because of the wall socket... my surge protector said grounded but who knows... plugging it into the other socket fixed it for me...

[SilverCeli]

Originally posted by butch81385
mine did that (and would even turn my computer on) because of the wall socket... my surge protector said grounded but who knows... plugging it into the other socket fixed it for me...

I'll give it a shot when i get home from work. Thanks guys.

[Bovon]

Originally posted by butch81385
mine did that (and would even turn my computer on) because of the wall socket... my surge protector said grounded but who knows... plugging it into the other socket fixed it for me...

This was exactly why I advised to remove the wall socket cover plate and look. A simple viewing may or may not turn up anything, but its worth the effort.

In my latter years of work, I trained and inspected wiring done by newbies.. you would probably be surprised at the many wall sockets I found mis-wired, or that ground wire left disconnected either at the wall or in the main breaker box.

Younger...just starting out electricians do not understand the need for that ground wire because when you look in the main box, you will see both the white and bare wire going to grounding posts...so, why connect the bare wire when the white wire does the same thing..not really of course, but thats the way some newbie will think..until he learns the reasons why.

Without a functioning grounding circuit, the system will allow voltage to be applied to the computer frame.